Isabel Hansen
GBAmazing 10/10 Amazing 10/10 Andrea is incredibly knowledgeable about her craft and I was impressed at how thorough and concrete her process and tips were to help construct songs. She was extremely empathetic and attentive with everyone who asked a question and I could tell she had a genuine interest in helping everyone there. If you’re looking to level up your songwriting I’d recommend checking this out.
jessica
GBIt was more people than I was… It was more people than I was expecting. I found the amount of people a little overwhelming and it was difficult to connect until late in the course. Perhaps better 'break the ice' exercises at the beginning instead of all introducing ourselves in such a big circle which was quite daunting. Not enough breaks to just take it all in. 14 hour day with only breaks for meals felt very intense. My accommodation was a long walk away from the main venue so the round trip meant I had to take everything I needed at the start of the day and did not really get a chance to go back to my room unless I missed the communal meal experiences. I had not expected to do so much cowriting with people who were quite inexperienced . That made the experience quite difficult to be really thoughtfully creative and became more about working on one's levels of patience and tolerance. I found Andrea captivating, sensitive and very knowledgable.
Tracy Eckstrand
GBAwesome As Always I've been to Andrea's songwriter retreats three times and I always leave with new ideas, inspiration, and a feeling of community. If you are a songwriter feeling like you need to break out of your rut, learn some new tools, and meet some cool people you should consider applying for Andrea's retreat.
Racquel Roberts
GBNY Catskills (in person) Retreat At the NY Catskills Retreat, I found it to be incredible how quickly and gracefully Andrea created a sense of safety within our group of 31. We were mostly introverts, yet because of the container set, we were able to bring our artistic nature forward so we could work. And it was fun. :) Andrea is an intuitive, shrewd, kind, experienced leader. Given her years of experience deep in the craft of being a songwriter herself, she understands how to meet her mentees exactly where they are, and she knows how to elevate them/ their songs to the next level. The tools Andrea shares are practical for all levels of songwriting. At the live retreat, I found the variety of age, skillset, and genre to be interesting and conducive to creating outside of my norm. The live aspect was also an excellent way to gain understanding for co-writing in person. This was new for me. It turned out to be far more fun and do-able than I expected. Whether our partners played an instrument or were primarily a vocalist or lyricist, everyone was able to create a piece of music they could be proud of by the end of each day; everyone contributed, and many of us stretched outside of our comfort zones. I came home even more inspired, with more tools, and a solid group of songwriting comrades with whom I plan to continue co-writing and cheering on. Thank you Andrea, Madison and Myles! I look forward to next year’s retreat.
Seth David Mitchell
GBWhat an amazing week What an amazing week! Andrea has such a wonderful way of demystifying the songwriting process and freeing artists to use practical and tangible tools in order to tap into the magic within. I walked away with new friends, and a new fire to explore my own process as a songwriter.