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July 2008
You know a good song when you hear it. What you probably don't know is what went into creating that song. Songs from Scratch chronicles the songwriting process to find out what transforms a vague idea into a full-fledged tune.
We gave three local musicians—Best Friends Forever, P.O.S., and Jeremy Messersmith—two weeks to write a song. We assigned them a theme ("The Wizard of Oz") and a set of lyrics (penned by Honeydogs' frontman Adam Levy) to up the difficulty level.
Songs from Scratch is documenting their techniques and inspirations, as well as their challenges, to get a first-hand look at how a song comes to life.
Check Out Songs from Scratch 2007»
What's this all about?
MPR's Tom Crann talked with Larissa Anderson and Chris Roberts, two of the people who are working on the Songs from Scratch project.
Meet our songwriting guide
Adam Levy of the Honeydogs chose our theme and wrote some lyrics to get our songwriting challenge started.
Read Levy's lyrics»
Audio | 
Download
The musicians get the lyrics
Our three bands get the lyrics from Adam Levy, and begin shaping their songs.
Audio | Download
The songwriting begins in earnest
We check in with our three musicians as they try to turn the lyrics into complete songs.
Audio | Download
The musicians record their "Wizard of Oz" songs
Our musicians have had two weeks to create a song using Adam Levy's lyrics as a starting point, and "The Wizard of Oz" as their inspiration. We hear what they come up with.
Audio | Download
Jeremy Messersmith: "The Man with Iron Veins"
P.O.S.: "I Made it from Scratch"
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Video
Best Friends Forever: "I'll Fall in Love with You Anyway"
Audio | Video
What does Adam Levy think of the songs?
Songwriter Adam Levy listened to what our three musicians created, and offered up his reflections on the project.
Audio | Download
The Local Show
The Local Show re-broadcast our "Songs from Scratch" series, from beginning to end.
Minnesota Public radio invited an audience to the UBS Forum for a live roundtable discussion on the art of songwriting, featuring insights and music from the Songs from Scratch participants: Adam Levy, Best Friends Forever, Jeremy Messersmith and P.O.S.
| Download
Several dozen musicians submitted their own songs and videos. Check out the submissions»
Want to tell the world about your Songs from Scratch song? Use these badges to link to your song from your blog or Web site:
The lyricist
ADAM LEVY is frontman for The Honeydogs. His songwriting style is a combination of infectious melodies, poetic, political lyrics and a soundscape that stretches from soul to pop to blues to bossa nova and more.
The songwriters
JEREMY MESSERSMITH is known by some for his melancholy lyrics, and by others for his sweet melodies. The Twin Cities singer/songwriter has been compared to everyone from Elliot Smith to Brian Wilson.
P.O.S. is a critically revered, soul-baring rapper who fuses punk energy with an emotionally raw, exposed lyrical flow. He's co-founder of the Twin Cities' hip hop cooperative, Doomtree, and is also signed to Rhymesayers Entertainment.
BEST FRIENDS FOREVER lay down quirky songs about boys, presidents and friendship. The group is fronted by real-life best friends Brianna Smith and Jess Seamans, who co-write the group's music.
Reporters: Larissa Anderson, Chris Roberts, Sanden Totten, Nikki Tundel
Broadcast editor: Jim Bickal
Online editor: Melanie Sommer
Web designer: Rebecca Cioni
Web production: Nick Wallen
Photographer: Bill Alkofer
Interactive producer: Julia Schrenkler
Audio engineer: Michael DeMark
Video production: David Underhill, Brian Forrest, Jeff Harkness
In The Spotlight
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The Current Music Blog
Your daily note for good music, news and pop culture. With attempted jokes.
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