Welcome to the Craft
Of all the cultural forms, music is the most personal. We use songs to tell other people who we are. We use songs to tell ourselves who we are. Music, like no other medium, gets under our skin and stays there, becoming a part of us. Songs mark life passages and have the power to bring us back to a particular moment in time. But, no matter how much music comes to define our identity, we still know very little about how our favorite tunes are born. The songwriting process, different for every writer, is largely hidden from view. It’s one of the great paradoxes of popular music: we know the songs inside and out-but the amazing stories about how they got to us remains a mystery.
The Craft – moderated by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Warren Zanes – is a program that looks deep into the process behind the music we love. It swings the spotlight onto the strange and wonderful behaviors of the individuals who spend their days waiting for the next song to come. Just like the audience is out there waiting for the next track by their favorite performers, our favorite performers are waiting for their next song, pen in hand.
Explore the Craft
Warren Zanes
Public Programs Producer and Education Adviser
