Singing the song that is in you

Louisa BranscombAfter a week off for UD Women’s Basketball, The Music Room returned tonight with a great interview with Louisa Branscomb, a songwriter whose big hit, “Steel Rails,” has been recorded over 60 times. But she’s a wonderful songwriter with many a great song to her credit.

Louisa is also a charming story-teller as you can hear in this interview. But you’ll also enjoy hearing some of her thoughts on song-writing, how to work with personal images and details to create a song that speaks to other people.

If you ever get a chance to sign up for one of her song-writing workshops, do so. She makes everyone feel welcome and is known for running some of the most collaborative workshops around.

The Interview

Interview with Louisa Branscomb (Recorded 11/6/13; original broadcast date: 11/19/13; host: Mandorichard). 20:40, 19.8 MB. Note: the version uploaded here contains excerpts from the music tracks used in the broadcast. We may upload other snippets of the interview that were a lot of fun, but were trimmed from the broadcast version.

The Music

The following music appeared on this episode of The Music Room:

  • Artist / Song / Album (or note) / Label (or source) / Date
  • Alison Krauss / Steel Rails / I’ve Got That Old Feeling / Rounder / 1990
  • Dale Ann Bradley with Alison Krauss and Steve Gulley / I’ll Take Love / I’ll Take Love [From the Pen of Louisa Branscomb] / Compass / 2011
  • Cheryl White with Sharon White and Buck White / That’s What Texas Was For / I’ll Take Love [From the Pen of Louisa Branscomb] / Compass / 2011
  • Claire Lynch / Dear Sister / Dear Sister / Compass / 2013