John McCutcheon's Songwriting Camp
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Register in the store. Join Grammy-nominated folk musician and songwriter, John McCutcheon, for an intense, intimate songwriting Master Class at The Mountain Retreat & Learning Center in Highlands, NC. Join other songwriting lovers for this remarkable event at an even more remarkable place. In between sessions enjoy breathtaking views of the Smoky Mountains, healthy, delicious homemade food, and camaraderie.
THIS WORKSHOP WILL INCLUDE:
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2025 Songwriting Camp
August 3-7 
John and the other participants created a space that was both safe and challenging. I grew so much as a songwriter! The natural beauty played a key role in the learning process. A phenomenal experience! -- Kim, Georgia
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I am just starting my songwriting journey, so was completely daunted about claiming the title of songwriter and signing up. I could not have imagined that I’d not only gain amazing tools that assured me I can write, but that I’d find a lifelong family who embraced and fiercely loved every person in that hallowed circle of rockers. Truly an experience like no other. -- Susan, Tennessee The Camp, your approach, your passion, your personable way, your generosity have left a mark… a really good mark… on my soul. -- Doug, Georgia The meditation on political music alone was worth the price of the entire Camp. -- Sheldon, Connecticut |
John McCutcheon’s first award-winning song was titled The Ponderosa No-Cream-in-My-Coffee Blues, penned at the greasy spoon of the same name in his Wisconsin hometown. He was all of 15 years old and it won him his high school talent show. “My best friend claims that he still has a cassette of the song,” McCutcheon recently disclosed, “and if we ever have a serious falling out it’s going right up on YouTube.”
Since those early creative days John McCutcheon has gone on to write hundreds of songs and garnered more than his share of accolades. His eclectic catalog of ballads, historical songs, children’s songs, love songs, topical satire, fiddle and hammer dulcimer instruments, and even symphonic works are among the broadest in American folk music. His thirty-six albums have earned 6 Grammy nominations. His songwriting has been hailed by critics around the world; his song Christmas in the Trenches is considered a classic and was recently named one of the 100 Essential Folk Songs.
“What sets McCutcheon’s songs apart is that he’s actually writing about something!” observed well-known folk music DJ Bob Blackman. Whether it’s a musical snapshot of a day in the life of an Alaskan salmon fisherman, a child’s pondering the loss of her first tooth, remembering a moment that was omitted from our history books, lampooning the latest foibles on the national political scene, or celebrating the joy of old love McCutcheon’s songs are always about something small and, at the same time, something much bigger. “All big things start with little things,” he observed, “the way in which a song is able to open up the universal from the personal is one of the great joys of writing.”
In addition to his own writing, John has collaborated with some of the major songwriting talents in the folk music world including Tom Paxton, Si Kahn, Holly Near, Steve Seskin, and Tom Chapin. In 2006 he released an album of collaborations entitled Mightier than the Sword, in which he co-wrote songs with some of his favorite authors, including Barbara Kingsolver, Wendell Berry, Rita Dove, Lee Smith, and Carmen Agra Deedy. He has worked in the Woody Guthrie Archives completing some of Guthrie’s unfinished songs and has composed musical settings of poetry by Pablo Neruda and Jose Martí.
With his deep roots in American traditional music, his approach to writing reflects both a simplicity and a layered complexity that creates songs that are always more than they seem. “He is a master at the difficult craft of the ballad,” touted the Boston Globe. “Storytelling with the richness of fine literature,” added the Washington Post. “One of our country’s best songwriters,” said Pete Seeger.
Since those early creative days John McCutcheon has gone on to write hundreds of songs and garnered more than his share of accolades. His eclectic catalog of ballads, historical songs, children’s songs, love songs, topical satire, fiddle and hammer dulcimer instruments, and even symphonic works are among the broadest in American folk music. His thirty-six albums have earned 6 Grammy nominations. His songwriting has been hailed by critics around the world; his song Christmas in the Trenches is considered a classic and was recently named one of the 100 Essential Folk Songs.
“What sets McCutcheon’s songs apart is that he’s actually writing about something!” observed well-known folk music DJ Bob Blackman. Whether it’s a musical snapshot of a day in the life of an Alaskan salmon fisherman, a child’s pondering the loss of her first tooth, remembering a moment that was omitted from our history books, lampooning the latest foibles on the national political scene, or celebrating the joy of old love McCutcheon’s songs are always about something small and, at the same time, something much bigger. “All big things start with little things,” he observed, “the way in which a song is able to open up the universal from the personal is one of the great joys of writing.”
In addition to his own writing, John has collaborated with some of the major songwriting talents in the folk music world including Tom Paxton, Si Kahn, Holly Near, Steve Seskin, and Tom Chapin. In 2006 he released an album of collaborations entitled Mightier than the Sword, in which he co-wrote songs with some of his favorite authors, including Barbara Kingsolver, Wendell Berry, Rita Dove, Lee Smith, and Carmen Agra Deedy. He has worked in the Woody Guthrie Archives completing some of Guthrie’s unfinished songs and has composed musical settings of poetry by Pablo Neruda and Jose Martí.
With his deep roots in American traditional music, his approach to writing reflects both a simplicity and a layered complexity that creates songs that are always more than they seem. “He is a master at the difficult craft of the ballad,” touted the Boston Globe. “Storytelling with the richness of fine literature,” added the Washington Post. “One of our country’s best songwriters,” said Pete Seeger.
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The price of the camp is $975.
INCLUDES:
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John led us on a wonderful, magical, musical journey. It was a great opportunity to relax, have fun and learn the craft of songwriting in the beautiful mountains of East Tennessee. — Allan, Tennessee I’ve been attending music workshops for over twenty years, and I’ve gone to my share of writers’ workshops as well, but this was a chance to step timidly beyond my comfort level and combine both interests. Twenty-one songwriters, from those who had never written a song to others who were already recording artists, gathered for five days at the place where civil rights leaders trained Rosa Parks and adopted “We Shall Overcome” as their anthem. John demonstrated the forms of traditional music and the craft of songwriters such as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Jean Ritchie, and others. We practiced writing to prompts and in assigned templates, alone and with partners, and we performed for each other at warm, supportive open mike sessions every evening. Somehow John found time for private coaching sessions which despite my fears were NOT terrifying critiques but full of positive suggestions. -- Kathryn, California |