June 9, 2026

Join us on Zoom this weekend.

Here's what will be happening on Sunday, June 14 at 2 p.m.

We'll meet on Zoom. Bring something to share.

Here's the link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82787694684?pwd=dmJWemxOckJET29mdCtJQjc3Ry8yZz09

Meeting ID: 827 8769 4684

Passcode: 939440

Last week on Zoom:

Participants:

Carl, Looking for the truth, Bird in our hand, Yellow Red and Green

Jeff, If you're reading this, If I don't see you all again, Take me away

Davis, Touch me like you need me, Some leftover Sun

Ed, You are my Sunshine

John L, The right one , Count on Katy

Trish (host), Quotes out of Context

Lots of really good songs and excelent bits for QooC.

The take away is that David is the king of sexy lyrics.

And from the folks at the SSV home office:

Master class every Monday

3pm PT, 4pm MT, 5pm CT, 6pm ET

Click here to join the Master Class Zoom Meeting



Coming up:

We'll be at Artichoke Community Music on June 21 and on Zoom on June 28.



Save the dates!

June 3, 2026

Join us on Zoom this weekend.

Here's what will be happening on Sunday, June 7 at 2 p.m.

We'll meet on Zoom. Bring something to share.

Here's the link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82787694684?pwd=dmJWemxOckJET29mdCtJQjc3Ry8yZz09

Meeting ID: 827 8769 4684

Passcode: 939440

Last week on Zoom:

Participants:

Deb

Carl

Ed

John L

Jason

Vincent

David M

David W

Judd Harris (special Guest coach)

Judd led a master class in song writing to include: deliberately writing a "bad" song in 10 minutes, sharing those bad songs and how they can free you up to just write. Several participants expressed how this exercise helped them with writer's block. Judd assigned a prompt for writing on your own A-1 true sentence.

Judd sang his one true sentence song.

Click here to hear I Should Put My Phone Down

And from the folks at the SSV home office:

Master class every Monday

3pm PT, 4pm MT, 5pm CT, 6pm ET

Click here to join the Master Class Zoom Meeting



Coming up:

We'll be on Zoom on June 14 and at Artichoke Community Music on June 21.



Save the dates!

May 27, 2026

Join us on Zoom this weekend.

Here's what will be happening on Sunday,May 31 at 2 p.m.

Judd Harris will be joining us!

Judd is an award-winning singer song writer native to New Orleans and currently living in the Dominican Republic. He has been featured in Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, CNN and more. He was a finalist on Season 4 of American Idol and has been heard on many TV shows and commercials.

Please welcome Judd and show up with any questions for him. You can find Judd Harris music on Spotify, Amazon Music, and all the streaming platforms as well as Juddharrismusic.com.

Judd is a warm and genuine friend and an overall wonderful person with top notch musical skills and talent. You really want to be here for this.

Click here to watch his "Baby Grand" duet with Billy Joel.

Here's the link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82787694684?pwd=dmJWemxOckJET29mdCtJQjc3Ry8yZz09

Meeting ID: 827 8769 4684

Passcode: 939440

Don't miss it!

SSV Guitar Class Wraps Up in Hillsboro

Our latest beginner/intermediate eight week guitar class at the Walters Cultural Art Center finished on May 19.

We learned the Everly Brothers' All I Have to Do Is Dream, Hank Williams' I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry, John Denver's Rocky Mountain High, and John Prine's Angel from Montgomery. Challenging songs, but the intrepid participants took it all in stride. Congratulations!

And heartfelt thanks to Washington County Disability Aging, and Veterans Services, who made it happen and the staff of the WCAC, who made it easy.

And from the folks at the SSV home office:

Master class every Monday

3pm PT, 4pm MT, 5pm CT, 6pm ET

Click here to join the Master Class Zoom Meeting



Coming up:

We'll be on Zoom on June 7 and 14 and at Artichoke Community Music on June 21.

Save the dates!

May 19, 2026

Join us on Zoom this weekend.

Here's what will be happening on Sunday,May 24 at 2 p.m.

We'll meet on Zoom. Bring something to share.

Here's the link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82787694684?pwd=dmJWemxOckJET29mdCtJQjc3Ry8yZz09

Meeting ID: 827 8769 4684

Passcode: 939440



From last week at Artichoke:

The song circles of SSV Portland and Kelly Brightwell/Woody Moran joined forces today for great afternoon of song craft. SSV attendees included Ernie, Sandra and Ed. Kelly and Woody have a show at Artichoke Community Music on May 31.



Judd Harris will be joining us on SSV Zoom May 31

Judd is an award-winning singer song writer native to New Orleans and currently living in the Dominican Republic. He has been featured in Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, CNN and more. He was a finalist on Season 4 of American Idol and has been heard on many TV shows and commercials.

Please welcome Judd and show up with any questions for him. You can find Judd Harris music on Spotify, Amazon Music, and all the streaming platforms as well as Juddharrismusic.com.

Judd is a warm and genuine friend and an overall wonderful person with top notch musical skills and talent. You really want to be here for this.

Click here to watch his "Baby Grand" duet with Billy Joel.

And from the folks at the SSV home office:

Master class every Monday

3pm PT, 4pm MT, 5pm CT, 6pm ET

Click here to join the Master Class Zoom Meeting



Coming up:

We'll be on Zoom on May 31 and at Artichoke Community Music on June 21.



Save the dates!

May 12, 2026

Welcome!

Join us for some in-person inspiration on Sunday, May 17 at 2 p.m.

We'll be in the upper classroom, as usual. Bring a song or two to share! Or just listen!

Here's where:

Artichoke Community Music

2007 SE Powell Blvd, Portland, OR 97202

Map

We won't be Zooming for this event.



Judd Harris will be joining us on SSV Zoom May 31

Judd is an award-winning singer song writer native to New Orleans and currently living in the Dominican Republic. He has been featured in Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, CNN and more. He was a finalist on Season 4 of American Idol and has been heard on many TV shows and commercials.

Please welcome Judd and show up with any questions for him. You can find Judd Harris music on Spotify, Amazon Music, and all the streaming platforms as well as Juddharrismusic.com.

Judd is a warm and genuine friend and an overall wonderful person with top notch musical skills and talent. You really want to be here for this.

Click here to watch his "Baby Grand" duet with Billy Joel.

And from the folks at the SSV home office:

Hey songwriters!

Join us for a master class meet up!

Mondays

3pm PT, 4pm MT, 5pm CT, 6pm ET

Click here to join the Master Class Zoom Meeting



Look for us on Zoom on May 24 and 31. Our next session at Artichoke will be June 21. Save the dates!

May 6, 2026

We won't be on Zoom this weekend.

 We'll be celebrating our mothers, your mother, all mothers on May 10.

But,

scroll down for some special events!



Judd Harris will be joining us on SSV Zoom May 31

Judd is an award-winning singer song writer native to New Orleans and currently living in the Dominican Republic. He has been featured in Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, CNN and more. He was a finalist on Season 4 of American Idol and has been heard on many TV shows and commercials.

Please welcome Judd and show up with any questions for him. You can find Judd Harris music on Spotify, Amazon Music, and all the streaming platforms as well as Juddharrismusic.com

Judd is a warm and genuine friend and an overall wonderful person with top notch musical skills and talent. You really want to be here for this.

Click here to watch his "Baby Grand" duet with Billy Joel.

And from the folks at the SSV home office:

Master class every Monday

3pm PT, 4pm MT, 5pm CT, 6pm ET  

Click here to join the Master Class Zoom Meeting



Coming up:

We'll be at Artichoke Community Music on May 17 and on Zoom May 24.



Save the dates!

April 27, 2026

Join us on Zoom this weekend.

Here's what will be happening on Sunday,May 3 at 2 p.m.

We'll meet on Zoom. Bring something to share.

Here's the link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82787694684?pwd=dmJWemxOckJET29mdCtJQjc3Ry8yZz09

Meeting ID: 827 8769 4684

Passcode: 939440



Participants:

John, Cry for no one, I am a rock, When dust blows, The only living boy in NY

Deb, I need a better story, Just one of the boys, Summer

David M, This just has to be heaven, The world became mine, Fragile bits of light

Trish (host)



And from the folks at the SSV home office:

Master class every Monday

3pm PT, 4pm MT, 5pm CT, 6pm ET

Click here to join the Master Class Zoom Meeting



Coming up:

We'll be dark on Mothers' Day, May 10 and at Artichoke Community Music on May 17.



Save the dates!

April 21, 2026

Join us on Zoom this weekend.

Here's what will be happening on Sunday, April 26 at 2 p.m.

We'll meet on Zoom. Bring something to share.

Here's the link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82787694684?pwd=dmJWemxOckJET29mdCtJQjc3Ry8yZz09

Meeting ID: 827 8769 4684

Passcode: 939440



Sorry, no Sunday summary from last week!

And from the folks at the SSV home office:

April Master Class

Mandy Rowden 4/27/26

Joining us tonight for our Soldier Songs and Voices Masterclass is touring musician, songwriter, and guitar educator Mandy Rowden

Mandy Rowden is a longtime musician based in Central Texas. In 2024 she published her master’s thesis on Texas women singer-songwriters and actively seeks to bring opportunities and elevation to women musicians in all forms. Rowden is the founder of Girl Guitar, Austin's guitar, songwriting, and rock and roll school for women. In addition, she is a professor of Business in Music at Texas State University as well as an online educator for Elixir Strings. Mandy is a Gibson Artist and has released four albums of original music. Currently Rowden resides in Lockhart with her family and can be found most weekends playing guitar, fiddle, or drums in performances all over Central Texas.

Join us Monday the 27th of April for an evening of craft, conversation, and practical tools you can immediately bring into your own songwriting.

Check out Mandy’s Music Here

Master class every Monday

3pm PT, 4pm MT, 5pm CT, 6pm ET

Click here to join the Master Class Zoom Meeting



Coming up:

We'll be on Zoom May 3 and 10 and at Artichoke Community Music on May 17.



Save the dates!

April 16,2026

Join us for some in-person inspiration on Sunday, April 19 at 2 p.m.

We'll be in the upper classroom, as usual. Bring a song or two to share! Or just listen!

Here's where:

Artichoke Community Music

2007 SE Powell Blvd, Portland, OR 97202

Map

We won't be Zooming for this event.



Last week on Zoom:

Participants:

Ed ,I can't help but wonder where I'm bound

David M, The moon should be mine

Trish (host)

This was a quick small group today. We discussed if participants would be interested in having a professional singer/songwriter guest join us in the near future. The consensus was overwhelmingly, yes. However, there were only three participants so The question will be brought up again when more people are present. People had things to do so we cut the session short.

And from the folks at the SSV home office:

Hey songwriters!

Join us for a master class meet up!

Mondays

3pm PT, 4pm MT, 5pm CT, 6pm ET

Click here to join the Master Class Zoom Meeting



Look for us on Zoom on April 26 and May 3. Our next session at Artichoke will be May 17. Save the dates!

April 7, 2026

Join us on Zoom this weekend.

Here's what will be happening on Sunday, April 12 at 2 p.m.

We'll meet on Zoom. Bring something to share.

Here's the link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82787694684?pwd=dmJWemxOckJET29mdCtJQjc3Ry8yZz09

Meeting ID: 827 8769 4684

Passcode: 939440



And from the folks at the SSV home office:

Master class every Monday

3pm PT, 4pm MT, 5pm CT, 6pm ET

Click here to join the Master Class Zoom Meeting



Coming up:

We'll be at Artichoke Community Music on April 19 and on Zoom April 26.



Save the dates!