SongCycleHOUSE
A word of mouth song lab
where ideas lead
and instruments follow.
Bring a notebook.
[ in person or remote ]
Nashville, Tennessee
House Edition No. 1
The House
Most songs begin not as performances—
but interruptions.
A phrase arrives.
A melody insists.
A blank page stares back.
A title appears after a conversation refuses to end.
Songwriters recognize these hidden moments.
SongCycle simply keeps the chair empty until they arrive.
The Doorways
Some writers begin with a phrase.
Some with a melody.
Some with someone else’s song.
Some arrive carrying an instrument.
Some arrive carrying a notebook.
Some arrive carrying nothing.
One song begins another.
A favorite lyric.
Three familiar chords.
A borrowed rhythm.
A question that won’t leave.
Learn a song.
Forget it just enough.
Listen for what remains.
Some writers count measures.
Some count syllables.
Some count neither.
Write by hand.
Type it.
Hum it into your phone.
Draw it first.
Some songs ask for Nashville Numbers.
Some for lead sheets.
Some ask for no notation at all.
Some are written before breakfast.
Some wait twenty years.
No two beginnings look alike.
Every beginning belongs.
Enter anywhere.
Every songwriter enters through a borrowed doorway.
The Workshop Table
Every table sits in a different room.
Sometimes we listen.
Sometimes we write.
Sometimes we untangle a chorus that has been brewing for years.
Sometimes we begin with a chord.
Sometimes, one word.
Pull up a chair.
Bring a song.
Bring half a song.
Bring nothing at all.
We’ll begin somewhere.
The instrument is never the lesson. Listening is.
One-On-One Sessions
Small Workshops
Lyric Lab
Hook Lab
Song Conversations
Lead Sheets
Nashville Numbers
Piano
Guitar
Bass
Banjo
Mandolin
Ukulele
Dulcimer
Field Notes
The Empty Chair
A song waits somewhere.
Pull up the empty chair.
Let’s begin.
© House of SongCycle 2026
