ericprincessdragon

The Challenge(s) – Overview

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ericprincessdragon

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Something that comes up across many entries on this site are songwriting groups and challenges. What this means is essentially an organized period of group or individual songwriting with set deadlines and accountability. Participating in these groups and challenges has been essential to my creative development over the last decade.

Writing requires that I maintain a level of close connection with myself. More specifically, writing songs has become a process of connecting with my emotions – allowing myself to feel deeply and reflect, while opening up to whatever creative ideas come through that connection. Often I am too occupied, stressed, exhausted or distracted to allow this process of feeling for long enough to externalize it in a meaningful way. These groups provide a gentle but firm push to return to feeling and creating. The accountability, the community, the deadline – together they consistently push me beyond what I could usually summon on my own.

I do write all the time and finish songs occasionally on my own. But I’ve found that doing regular blocks of intensive writing like this brings a necessary balance to my creative life. I can go months without the focus to sit down and finish things, and then reach a point where all the inspiration, insights, little notes and voice memos I’ve been accumulating come to a head and make their way into raw material for these intensive periods. Something about the group brings enough of a social atmosphere, spirit of support and accountability that changes what I’m able to do.

Over the last decade I have participated in the following challenges and groups:

Note: I will be updating this list over time with hyperlinks to entries detailing the background behind each of these challenges and each of the songs. Some of the songs have their own entries already and will be linked in the list below.

July 2017 Song A Day Challenge – The one that started it all, 26 songs written and recorded during my last full month living down in Ontario, California – mostly recorded at Rad Pro Studios.

  1. Ten To One
  2. Following
  3. Will Hide
  4. Bad Kitty
  5. Young Love
  6. Insomniac Stupor Rag
  7. Sister
  8. The Witch & The Wizard
  9. Sharks Not Sharks
  10. Bar Rats
  11. Chasing Cars
  12. Flower Man
  13. Cynics In Love
  14. No Body
  15. Tinder Babies
  16. The Challenge
  17. Elemental
  18. Where The People At?
  19. Clip Show
  20. Don’t Talk To Me About Pizza
  21. Face Stealer
  22. Forty Thousand Spirits
  23. Hicks
  24. Unplugged
  25. Expressing Frustration At Soundcloud
  26. Destination Fever

July 2018 Song A Day Challenge – Second round of the song a day challenge, recorded at home in Port Orford, OR

  1. An Uplifting Indie Pop Song
  2. His Royal Mop
  3. Little Dreams
  4. Easy Quick Song
  5. 13th (Unlucky Day)
  6. Monster
  7. Unplugged
  8. Eight Plays (For the Ukraine)
  9. We Thirsty
  10. Water > Gold
  11. UFO
  12. Hearing Loss
  13. Missed Connections
  14. Men And Ladies
  15. Trash Day
  16. Mind Game
  17. Tails
  18. Stanky Town
  19. Our Lucky Ears
  20. Crow
  21. Expiration
  22. I’m Silent (As CO)
  23. Tree Sap
  24. Tongue Dry As A Bone
  25. Songwriter’s Hangover
  26. Casual Encounter
  27. Milk & Cookies

February 2019 Short Songs – Song A Day Challenge –

  1. Not Doing Anything
  2. Ol’ Moon
  3. People (Scary)
  4. A Walk In The Park
  5. Dreamer
  6. White Glow
  7. One Way Staycation
  8. Been Here Too Long
  9. King Struggle
  10. Man Children
  11. Wah-Wah
  12. Demon Girl
  13. Jet
  14. V Day
  15. Me & The Gang
  16. Everybody’s Band
  17. Birds N Bees
  18. Somewhere New
  19. Da Hero & Da Foe
  20. Something Different
  21. iBabies
  22. Go On
  23. Om Busted My Lip

July 2019 Song A Day Challenge

  1. New Moon In June
  2. Salt Of The Earth
  3. Arms
  4. Them Good Days
  5. Keanu Shrinks
  6. Big Goals
  7. Family Tree
  8. God Damn Those Dudes
  9. Shortie
  10. Bane
  11. Let Me In
  12. Fickle Tickle
  13. Little Cocoon
  14. Walk Far (You’ll Find Him)
  15. It’s A Trap
  16. Dirty Bleeding Heart
  17. Rude Bear

Tim Bulster’s Song-A-Week Groups

Round 1 – Fall 2023 (Oct 8 — Nov 27)

  1. Dust
  2. Mints
  3. Undertow
  4. Halloween
  5. Another Day Another Dime
  6. Acaso
  7. My Opinions
  8. Been Missin’

Round 2 – Winter 2024

  1. Gutter Baby
  2. Pretzels
  3. The Funky Jake
  4. Paradise
  5. Can’t Abide
  6. Summer

Round 3 – Fall/Winter 2024 (Sept 8 — Dec 21)

  1. Off The Wall
  2. No Box
  3. Climb And Fall
  4. Ring Any Bells
  5. Heaven Is Wasted
  6. Bringer Of Badness

Round 4 – Winter 2024/25 (Dec 8 — Jan 13)

  1. Past Times
  2. Perfect Time
  3. Good Company
  4. Venom
  5. We’re Sinking

Round 5 – Fall 2025 (October – Nov)

  1. Only The Lucky Grow Old
  2. Needle Out
  3. Sweetheart
  4. Gregory
  5. Nazare
  6. Heart

Round 6 – Winter/Spring 2026 (Feb 1 — Mar 9)

  1. Only Murder
  2. Something Beautiful
  3. Fallen Giant
  4. Werns
  5. Maytag Land
  6. Our Golden Days Have Passed

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