This is New Zealand Music Month, a concept that has become rather vague and nebulous.

It seems largely to consist of as many Kiwi artists as possible trying to put out albums in May, resulting in a huge glut of local releases and many worthwhile smaller albums getting lost in the crush.
I think there's something weird about the whole idea.
Certainly there was an aim to it when it first started, because only a few years ago it was pretty hard to actually hear Kiwi music, other than the stalwart ‘classic hits' from Crowded House, Hello Sailor, and other heavy hitters. Unless you lived in a city with a student radio station, that was about yer lot.
But these days, with commercial radio playing the latest middle-of-the-road New Zealand releases, things have at least settled into some sort of equilibrium and I think a case could be made that NZ Music Month is actually doing as much harm as good. Every month should be – just by definition – New Zealand Music Month. It should be so much part of the fabric of everyday life that a special showcase is unnecessary.
That said, it's good to see that some people are taking the concept and doing something really useful with it.
The Bay of Plenty Polytechnic is one such organisation, and they recognise what I said at the beginning of this column – it's all about songwriting.
If you're in a band, or if you are a solo artist, a lot of things will help. It will help that you're good at what you do, playing your instruments, singing, performing on stage. It will help if you look good. But, useful though those skills are, they are worth nothing if you don't have a decent song to sing. So many of these Idol wannabes sink without a trace immediately after their big win for exactly that reason – no songs. Conversely, there are many examples of people without those other gifts who are successful because they do write great songs.
And songwriting is where the money is.
That's not to suggest that songwriters necessarily get rich but, if a band does 'make it”, the guy who writes the songs is the one who makes the money.
We could take, as an example, that local songwriting factory Split Enz. They had a swag of hit songs, from 'My Mistake” to 'Six Months in a Leaky Boat”, 'I Got You” and a dozen others. One could argue that the sound of those songs, and the sound of the band, was largely thanks to Eddie Rayner. It's his keyboards and his arrangements creating that hit single magic.
But the songs themselves were written by those clever Finn brothers and that's who got the money. The dosh you get for playing gigs is nothing compared to the sort of loot that rolls in when one of your songs hits the top of the charts and is used in a movie or for an advertising campaign.
So the polytechnic is celebrating NZ Music Month by hosting Pat Pattison, one of the world's leading songwriting teachers, in Tauranga.
He's doing two sessions, one for teachers and musicians on May 13, running from 12.00 to 6.00pm and one for music students on May 14 from 10.00 till 2.30pm. The former costs $50, the one for students is $10.
And who is Pat Pattison?
He's is a Professor at Berklee College of Music where he teaches lyric writing and poetry and played a central role in developing Berklee's unique songwriting major, the first such degree offered anywhere in the world. He has taught the likes of John Mayer, Gillian Welch and Rob Hotchkiss (Train) and his songwriting books are considered essential tomes on the subject. He also presents songwriting clinics around the globe.
I've read a lot of his stuff and it really impresses me. If you want to see what sort of inspiration he can supply, check out this online article about verse development in songs - www.musesmuse.com/patart.html
This looks like a fantastic opportunity for all Tauranga songwriters. For more information and registration details contact Lynda Wing at 544 00920 ext 7002.