Award-winning Ottawa singer/songwriter Lynn Miles teaches the occasional songwriting workshop, but says the gift is something you either have or you don’t. “I firmly believe you can’t teach songwriting,” she says. “I can tell people how I do it, but there are no rules.”
Whatever it is, with about 600 songs under her belt, she clearly has it. (“Not much,” says the 52-year-old, “considering I’ve been writing for 40 years.”) She culled material from notebooks, cassette players and GarageBand files to record solo acoustic material for Black Flowers, Volumes 1 and 2, and plans to record further instalments. “I love the idea that they go back to the very essence, the beginning of what I do,” she says.
2010’s Fall For Beauty (True North) sees Miles reaching beyond personal experience and touching on themes that resonate with listeners, like spousal abuse (the Oprah-inspired Love Doesn’t Hurt) and the transience of modern relationships (Jim Bryson duet Goodbye).
Though the material is serious, Miles is a great entertainer – she was hilarious at the Juno Songwriters Circle in March. “I love making people laugh,” she says. “I’ve been trying to write a funny play for several years now called How To Fail In The Music Business.” Here’s wishing her continued success.
Lynn Miles plays Hugh’s Room (2261 Dundas West), Friday (June 24), 8:30 pm. $20-$22.50. HR. See listing.
