Author Archives: mattblick

About mattblick

Songwriter & Musical Educator from Nottingham, UK. New album Fifty Five Stories Down is out now. Blogging through the entire Beatles catalogue at Beatles Songwriting Academy.

Interview: Mistakes & Magic – Fifty Five Stories Down with Matt Blick

Posted on Friday, June 21, 2019 by mattblick

Nicholas Tozier of the Lyric Writer’s Workroom interviewed me recently about my new album Fifty Five Stories Down (available here). What artists inspired you while you were writing and recording Fifty Five Stories Down? When I first pitched the idea … Continue reading →

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The Flamingos Of Chaos

Posted on Monday, May 27, 2019 by mattblick

I used to teach a band of crazy 10 year olds called Exploding Penguins. Today I found some old sheets with the (very long) shortlist of rejected names. Here’s a few of my favourites. Think of it as a window … Continue reading →

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Jack Hardy’s Songwriting Manifesto

Posted on Monday, May 27, 2019 by mattblick

As told to Sharon Goldman. This post previously appeared on Sharon’s excellent Songwriting Scene website.  It was a huge influence on my starting the First Tuesday Songwriter’s Group in Nottingham. Reposted here with Sharon’s kind permission. Jack’s Songwriting Manifesto When … Continue reading →

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Never Too Old For Haribos

Posted on Wednesday, May 22, 2019 by mattblick

From a pupil I’ve taught from age 11-16. To Mr Blick, Thanks for teaching me how to play guitar. I wanted to give you these because I’ll be leaving soon and because you’re a great guitar teacher all the best … Continue reading →

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Margarita – Back To Greece

Posted on Saturday, May 18, 2019 by mattblick

Photo: Ralph Barklam Here’s a video from the recent Showfest 19 – featuring the amazingly talented songwriter Margarita who I’ve been working with for a couple of years.  6 – Margarita from Inspire Youth Arts on Vimeo.

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You’re welcome

Posted on Thursday, May 2, 2019 by mattblick

from a pupil I’ve taught from age 11-16. Dear Matt Thank You for teaching me to play the guitar. Playing an instrument has really helped me de-stress and I love being able to just pick a guitar up and play … Continue reading →

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A Jolly Little Tune…

Posted on Saturday, March 23, 2019 by mattblick

Here’s a misanthropic anthem (‘Mis-anthem-ropic’?) called I Hate The World from some of my pupils at Fernwood Junior School. You can find it (and all my other songs written with crazy young critters) on the Pupils Songs page or there’s … Continue reading →

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Stone Soup For Ghosts

Posted on Thursday, February 21, 2019 by mattblick

Songwriting is the very definition of optimism. A songwriter attempts to makes stone soup with the help of ghosts and fairies. A fisherman heads out hoping he’ll find a fish but a songwriter doesn’t even know if he’ll find a … Continue reading →

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Fifty Five Stories Down – out now!

Posted on Friday, February 1, 2019 by mattblick

Available now on Bandcamp Nine original songs, plus covers of The Most Ugly Child, k.s. Rhoads and Karyn Ellis, in the rawest of settings – sung live in an abandoned Police Station with only a baritone electric guitar for accompaniment. … Continue reading →

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It’s Not About Gun Control & Immigration: Why CD Baby Is Refusing To Distribute My Album (and why I’m quitting Facebook)

Posted on Thursday, January 31, 2019 by mattblick

Preparing music for digital distribution is one long succession of emails and error messages: “your artwork is in the wrong format”, “WAV files must be 16-bit”, “you need to add publisher info.” But you don’t expect to be told “you … Continue reading →

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