This masterclass with RTÉ Folk Awards Album of The Year 2024 recipient and Meteor award-winning songwriter John Spillane will get to the heart of songwriting and storytelling. John will focus on helping participants to lose whatever inhibitions and fears they may have about writing songs, while also sharing tricks of the trade on verse, chorus, repetition and rhyme. Songwriters should be prepared to sing and embrace the joy of the process.

“At my songwriting workshops we actually write songs. Having attended a few workshops where the participants play their songs to be criticised by experts who talk down to them, I was inspired to invent a novel approach, where we all sit down and write finished songs in one session. This teaches many lessons, including finishing things, which is often a big problem for writers. I create a space where all negativity, all criticism and judgment are locked outside.”

John is a musician, songwriter, performer, recording artist, storyteller, poet and dreamer. A native of Cork, he lovingly describes the county as “the centre of the universe” and a source of huge creative influence throughout his career. John’s music is inspired by and encapsulates Irish traditional music in its contemporary form – a reflection of Ireland today. With an extensive back catalogue beginning with the 1997 album The Wells of the World, his songs have been covered by Christy Moore, Sharon Shannon, Sean Keane and many others.

Booking essential, as places are limited.