An all-around incredible experience. Highly recommend. I encountered an accomplished, polished, professional writer & educator with an enormous heart and a sincere desire to connect with others on a human level. Not often I encounter people with this level of success in commercial music who are still humble & grounded. She was able to communicate her secrets and techniques in such a way that they were new & fresh to an older writer like me, yet still engage and make those same concepts understandable at a kitchen-table level to those in our cohort who hadn’t really studied songwriting on a professional scale. It would have been easy to spook a new writer with her level of knowledge, yet at no point did I sense anyone feeling overwhelmed or struggling because the material went over their head. So, not an easy task for her. And she made it seem effortless. And at no point was I bored. Not for a second. It would have been quite easy for her to go granular with faculty-speak, yet everything remained pragmatic and accessible. A great handbook accompanying these sessions as well. This retreat is ideal for aspiring songwriters and even helped inspire a high-mileage scribbler like me. Worth every.single.penny.

No joke, this is the one. Exceptional experience. Andrea has a particular gift for creating an open and expansive space for writers to delve into what makes them authentic artists. This retreat met and exceeded my (somewhat lofty) expectations, and if it sounds even remotely like something you might be interested in, you should sign up. So fun, so enlightening. Exactly what I was looking for, and a heavy dose of clarity around what I didn't know I was looking for. I will be back!

Helpful on Many Levels I appreciated the practical tips Andrea provided to help me bust out of my writer's block and to help me revise/improve my songs. She gave me a lot of tools to think about and use. Andrea also built an exceptional community of songwriters with varying skills, strengths, and talents. The people were open-minded, collaborative, and super supportive. As a result, the songs created at the retreat were amazing.

The people made it great and the full… The people made it great and the full agenda kept us going and interested. A lot of information is packed into a well thought out agenda and the changes from last year are improvements in my opinion and last year was great too.

Confirming and Liberating Andrea provided a holistic retreat for every personality type and creativity level. I loved that the group was around 30 artists, allowing each individual to get what they needed from one another and the retreat organizers. The retreat felt like a 'family' rather than a typical conference/training. For me, the retreat confirmed some of my writing techniques, and the retreat was liberating in that it gave me the freedom to learn about the songwriting process in a safe, creative environment.