songwriting – San Diego Folk Heritage

First Thing’s First with Eve Selis

This Saturday May 2nd, San Diego Folk Heritage is excited to welcome not one, but five stellar musicians to our Encinitas stage in the form of local Americana act Berkley Hart Selis Twang, featuring notable songwriters Jeff Berkley, Calman Hart, Eve Selis and Marc “Twang” Intravaia and special guest opener Barbara Nesbitt (a former San Diegan who now calls Austin home).

In the interest of folk heritage, we challenged each songwriter to revisit their personal music heritage and recall their first songwriting experience. So far you’ve heard from Barbara, Jeff, and Calman. Here’s Eve’s first songwriting memory:

Eve Selis: The first song I ever wrote was with my older sisters and our neighbor. It was 1971 and I was 8 yrs old. We wrote it as a surprise for our dad’s 38th birthday. My mom paid $100 for all 5 girls to go into a recording studio and then had a 45 rpm record made for our dad. My sister Lee played guitar on it. I can’t remember what it was called – possibly “Laugh, Sing, Live.” But I do remember the lyrics. It’s very cheesy and sugar sweet but the entire experience obviously made an impression on me even if I didn’t know it at the time.

The first record I ever bought was Jesus Christ Super Star and I loved to listen to Simon & Garfunkle, Loggins & Messina, Seals & Crofts and of course, Barbara Streisand because my older sister Gabrielle owned every album of hers and was in charge of the record player! It wasn’t until I heard the song “You’re So Vain” on the radio that I knew I wanted to be a singer when I grew up. My sister Jeanne found the original recording reel while moving my mom and gave us all cassette tapes for Christmas one year.

Chorus:
Laugh and people will laugh with you
Sing and people will sing with you
Live and people will live with you – ooh
AhAhAh

Share your love my friend
And it will never end
Give all the love you can
And lend a helping hand

Chorus

Here’s more from Eve on the topic of songwriting and performing…

First Thing’s First with Calman Hart

Calman Hart: The first song I remember writing was called “I Love Her”. It was 1970 and I was 11 years old. This was when pop radio wasn’t broken down by genre. In one afternoon you would hear The Beatles, The Guess Who, Bobby Sherman, Santana, The Kinks, The Temptations, CSN&Y, Elvis Presley and Anne Murray, all on the same station. “Fire and Rain” was big. I decided I wanted to be James Taylor. 1970 was also a year when Walter Cronkite was coming on the TV each night and showing us horrible pictures of the Viet Nam war, which was in full swing. As a kid in the fifth grade, it was hard to fully understand all that the war meant, but I understood enough to be terrified that I might one day be drafted and sent off to fight in a war that no one seemed to believe in. The words are understandably corny and juvenile; yet they are also charmingly heartbreaking to me because when I think of them, I remember the anxiety I felt. I still remember the melody and all the words:

When they took me away from my broken down shack
I told her that I’d be coming back
And she said she’d wait for me till she died

I love her, yes I do
I love her, more than you
I love her, yes I do
I love her, more than anything else

All you are is a bloody fight
You really don’t know what is wrong or right
And you’re gonna keep going till one side dies

[chorus]

Here’s a lovely live performance of Calman’s song “It’s Going to be Okay” from last year’s Acoustic Alliance anniversary party.

First Thing’s First with Jeff Berkley

In the interest of folk heritage, we challenged each songwriter to revisit their personal music heritage and recall their first songwriting experience. Over the next few days, we’ll be revealing their answers one by one!

Jeff Berkley: “I do remember writing my first song. Maybe I was 17? It was about love and loss. I don’t remember it or the title even. I recorded it on my dual cassette deck that had an input for mic’s and guitar cables. I’m not sure where that is? I was inspired by so much different music from Bauhaus to Dylan. From The Replacements to Woody Guthrie. Pink Floyd, Nick Drake, James Taylor, ACDC, all sorts of stuff. A song called “Not My Heart” I wrote when I was 19 was the first time I wrote a song that I thought was good. That song ended up on a Berkley Hart record called Crow that came out just a couple years back. It was inspired by The Waterboys Room To Roam Record! There’s a song called “A Bang On The Ear” that I love!!!! It moves the same as “Not My Heart” did when i wrote it in 19…”

Here’s one of our favorite Jeff Berkley-penned songs from a 2014 house concert performance:

Check back in tomorrow for the next installment of our series with Calman Hart! For more info/tickets for Saturday’s concert, click here.