Songwriting Workshop + Concert with Brian Laidlaw

November 12 @ 7:00 pm11:00 pm

Accomplished musician, poet, educator, and 2015 Art in the Park musical guest Brian Laidlaw returns to Lanesboro for a unique evening workshop and performance combo at the High Court Pub. Come early, bring your instrument, and join Brian for an intimate songwriting workshop + Q&A (open to writers of all ages and ability levels) in the newly renovated third floor loft meeting space of the High Court Pub. Stay and socialize in the pub following the workshop as Brian performs on the High Court’s mezzanine stage from 9pm to 11pm with his Family Trade bandmate Ashley Hanson. Both the concert and the workshop are free and no advance registration is necessary for the songwriting workshop. Although, interested workshop attendees are encouraged to e-mail Brian at: blaidlaw@gmail.com.

Originally from San Francisco and currently based in Minneapolis, Laidlaw studied Creative Writing as an undergraduate at Stanford University, where he first began setting his poems to music; after graduating in 2005 he spent several years working seasonal jobs in the Sierra Nevada and touring nationally as a solo folksinger.

In 2008, Laidlaw moved to Minneapolis to earn an MFA in Poetry at the University of Minnesota. His poems have now been published in journals including New American Writing,The Iowa Review, Handsome, Volt, Quarter After Eight and dozens of others. He also had poems in the Arcadia Projectanthology (Ahsahta Press), song lyrics in American Songwriter Magazine, and a Songwriting Consultant credit on the Grammy Award-Winning album Can You Canoe? by The Okee Dokee Brothers.

For several years, Laidlaw was a member of the Songwriting faculty at McNally Smith College of Music in St. Paul. During that time, he put out a number of albums and EPs, most recently a 7” vinyl record with his band The Family Trade, released by Hymie’s Vintage Records’ new silaidlaw_workshop_webngles label.

In late 2014, Laidlaw released a hybrid poetry/music project called Amoratorium, a vinyl LP with a companion poetry chapbook in the liner notes (Paper Darts Press). His first full-length collection of poems,The Stuntman, was published – also with a companion album of music – by Milkweed Editions in 2015. A follow-up collection called The Mirrormaker is also forthcoming with Milkweed.

This is workshop and performance is presented by Lanesboro Arts and the High Court Pub and is generously supported by a 2016 Artist Initiative Grant award to Brian Laidlaw by the Minnesota State Arts Board in November 0f 2015.

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