Song Bird

Steph Casey found a way to boost both her joy and her creativity when she invited other local songwriters to collaborate in a monthly group

- Monique McKenzie

On the third Monday of every month, Steph Casey puts the kettle on and prepares her home for special guests. The singersongwriter is expecting 10 aspiring musicians from all walks of life to knock on the door, guitars in hand, and gather in her cosy Kapiti Coast living room as the sun goes down. They’ll share some laughs over cups of tea before getting down to business performing among a ‘songwriters’ circle’ – a safe space wh ere artists can give and receive feedback to fine-tune their musical creations.

Having spent a lifetime crafting and perfecting her own music, and being all too aware of the challenges that songwriters face, Steph decided three years ago that she wanted to give back. Consistently producing new material is no mean feat, and the songwriters’ circle encourages each member to write and bring along an original tune each month.

“One of the reasons I set up this group was for my own motivation; sometimes I’ll be lucky to write one song a month. It’s all great and awesome to come up with an idea but you’ve actually got to do the hard graft, nut it out and make it a complete song, and that’s the real discipline for a lot of people. I thought it would be really nice to have a nurturing, welcoming space where we could share songs, get feedback and create a wider community. It’s also a bit of a social catch-up and we have a lot of laughs,” she says.