With equal measure paid to lyrics and music, songwriters will leave with the analytical tools to better refine and focus their own writing, while the non-writing song lover will leave with a greater appreciation for the magic that makes songs work. Though we will occasionally get a little technical, no songwriting experience or musical training is required. Our workshop will culminate in the collaborative re-writing of a pre-existing pop song.

Jesse Mank is a multimedia artist who has written, recorded, and published over 400 songs for his long-running conceptual art project: Hussalonia. When he’s not making art for art’s sake, he is a high school English teacher at Buffalo Seminary. He lives and works in the Buffalo area with his spouse, author Janet McNally, and their three daughters.