For Kelly Hunt, writing music requires visualization.
“I can sort of paint a picture in my mind's eye,” Hunt said. “I liken it to, like, I start with a movie reel in my mind, and then I start to put into words what I'm seeing and what it makes me feel.”
For musician Arthur Dodge, songwriting isn’t an assignment or a 9-5 job. It normally starts with toying around with a guitar, and sometimes inspiration strikes when he’s not expecting it. The melody usually arrives first.
“If a lyric doesn’t come pretty soon after the music arrives, then it kind of gets put aside,” Dodge said. “I might go back and mess with it later, but it's generally something that you know comes really quickly.”
Wanting to bring more music to the Lawrence Public Library, musician Christopher Molla and fellow musicians created the 780 Songwriters Circle. (In the Dewey Decimal system, 780 is the designation for music books.)
Four times a year, the circle enlists a panel of artists to discuss their process of writing, take audience questions, and offer an acoustic performance. The second session takes place June 10, with Hunt and Dodge as two of the panelists.
“We really wanted to get more into a combination of a performance and conversation about it, to just explore the processes involved behind making a song,” Molla said.
780 Songwriters Circle, 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, June 10 at the Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vermont St., Lawrence, Kansas 66044.
- Chris Molla, musician and cofounder, 780 Songwriters Circle
- Kelly Hunt, musician
- Arthur Dodge, musician
