Solo: Women Singer-Songwriters in Their Own Words

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Book Reviews of Solo: Women Singer-Songwriters in Their Own Words

Book Review: SOLO:a book of wisdom from today's female singer-songwriters
Summary: 5 Stars

Editor Marc Woodworth has done a fine job of presenting these outstanding women as intelligent and wise -- or perhaps it could be said that they didn't need any help from Woodworth to come across that way? Woodworth has given each songwriter a clean slate to talk about themselves and their work, and ech artist shines. The end product is a compendium of "selected wisdom", if you will, that flows fluidly from the pages. To the reader, it feels as though one were listening to each artist chat about life, over a coffee at the local cafe. Gone are the cliched phrases and anecodtes that all too often mar books about artists in the music industry.

The remarkable thing that Woodworth has managed to accomplish is to present these women as human beings, not just as songwriters. While they talk about their craft a great deal, each comes across as being very experienced (or embattled!) in matters of the heart. Very often a given artist chats about her upbringing, how they got into music, and their various influences, topics that I found very interesting. Each artist is very honest about mistakes they have made, not only on a practical level but on a emotional one as well, information that I suspect would be difficult to glean from male singers!

Because the book reads like a "book of conversations", and not a "book of discussions about each artist's individual style", I found even the writings of artists I don't like to be very interesting. For example, I'm not a huge fan of Mary Chapin Carpenter, but she had some very intelligent things to say. Someone else who I don't recognize writes that "I realized it's okay to feel multiple ways about a certain thing," a concept that struck me as being very true and very human. The book is full of these little observations about life and human behaviour.

Overall, I was very impressed with the content of the book and the way in which it was assembled. The layout is very aesthetically pleasing and the photos are beautifully done. Thanks to Marc and Emma on a job well done.

Summary of Solo: Women Singer-Songwriters in Their Own Words

History & Criticism Books

• Subjects > Arts & Photography > Music > History & Criticism
• Reference
• Theory, Composition & Performance
• Biographies & Memoirs > Arts & Literature > Entertainers
• Humor & Entertainment