Jimmie Dale Gilmore plays the Horse this Tuesday. WMUA DJ Jeff Wagenheim reports on a recent songwriting workshop with Gilmore

My wife and I just got back from Omega Institute, a holistic retreat center in upstate New York. It was Arts Week, with workshops ranging from African drumming to tap dancing, gospel choir to flying trapeze (!). I took a workshop in surrealistic poetry, while my wife did songwriting with Jimmie Dale Gilmore. Jimmie’s approach to teaching songwriting is to break up the class into groups of three or four, each responsible for writing a song and performing it in front of an audience of hundreds at the end of the week. The focus, then, is dual: songwriting AND collaboration. Some groups sail through the process with grace and ease; others slog along, every step a struggle. But at week’s end, though—never fail--seven new songs tear down the house art the camp’s showcase. “A miracle,” Jimmie always says.

Almost as essential as the daytime workshop is the evening song circle, where class participants and others (like me) go round and round with songs we’ve written or songs we love. It’s huge fun, a chance to fall in love with new songs or old songs you didn’t know existed, or to sing along to ones you’re excited to hear again.

Jimmie has been teaching this workshop each summer for at least 10 years, and it does wonders not just for enrollees but also for him. Several times I’ve seen him perform right after the Omega week, and he’s always refreshed and energized in these shows. Tomorrow night should be a treat. --Jeff Wagenheim (Listen to Jeff's delightful show, Strange Bedfellows 10-Midnight every Tuesday on WMUA 91.1FM)

Tickets for Jimmie Dale Gilmore with special guets the Lonesome Brothers at the Iron Horse, Tuesday 7/22 at 7PM are still available. Click here.