andreastolpe.comReviews of andreastolpe.com

Coming from a time where so many of my writing experiences were on-line and/or on Zoom calls, I had been thristing for some in-person songwriting workshops and experiences. Learning from Andrea everyday was amazing. I really loved her eye to songs being everywhere; and that we might be throwing away many more ideas than we realize. The objective analysis of tune-tweaking/fixing is also so potent—to recognize the many varied ingredients of a song that may withstand examination and adjustment is a crucial bit of our toolkit. (Lyric people will tend to tweak lyrics; chord people tweak chords; singers adjust melodies...we can work with any & all of those parts, not confining to our initial tendencies.) Taking account of the full toolkit is essential and expansive. We can ultimately see so many intriguing possibilities. Watching Andrea workshop from this POV with multiple workshop participants was GOLD! Andrea is so quick and fluid with suggesting possibilities. Seeing suggestions implemented in real-time, and hearing a myriad of choices was amazing; and always gave the writer something to go with. What brought everything together, the true "X-Factor," was our group. The in-personess of being in-person! Also GOLD. We all became "gems" in each others' eyes as friends. I knew I would meet great people at Andrea Stolpe's Northern California Songwriting Retreat; but the group learning, workshopping, and writing experience—and camaraderie that we developed—surpassed my expectations. Back to the workshop-y parts though: a huge part of the time was spent in co-writes. I love co-writes! One per-day, geared towards the nightly performance, put us all under the pen, to conceive, write and perform. We showed ourselves and each other that it all could be done. Hearing everybody's songs at the three nighttime performances was a joy to share, with some outstanding songs that my live long beyond the retreat. It has been years since I sat around a campfire, and the opportunity to share song, story, and friendship was a special highlight. Playing underneath the stars to people's full attention was another highlight that I am still cherishing and warmed from, inside-out! After the pressure-cooker of co-writes and performance, the campfire sessions were the perfect times and setting to commune and share longer-baked originals; as well as covers that had us all lifting our voices together in song. Big props to Andrea, Madison and the AS Team for creating an outstanding experience. An sweet and potent blend of techniques, workshopping, creation, and community.

This is awesome

Literally the best music retreat I've been on.

The guest speakers and all of the things i learned is what really made this retreat great. The course was designed very well and even being a writer with a decent amount of experience i was able to take away some very important lessons.

This was a life-changing experience. I meet incredibly talented people with the same questions and fears I did, and Andrea and her team were so helpful in showing a better way of doing things. I'm beyond happy with the overall experience.

Really great experience. You'll jump forward in your songwriting after just a few days. The co-writing sessions were really helpful too.

There was quite a bit of very interesting and helpful information presented. As a beginner, I didn't know where to start, and there were plenty of suggestions that I feel will be helpful to me.

I didn't know what to expect from a months long mentorship program that involved daily contact with Andrea. I had taken another of Andrea's courses, and it was incredible, but this seemed like a very different kind of thing, and I had a feeling it could be a life changing experience. I was right on both counts. Andrea's teaching style should be adopted by all teachers at all levels of education. She knows how to give guidance that feels like you're sitting on a soft white cloud. It's gentle, and it's also detailed, to the point, and spot on. She knows her stuff, and she spends real time listening to your songs. Sometimes she takes a day or two to think about the song before she gives the feedback. I've taken a lot of songwriting courses over the years, but this mentorship took everything to a whole different level. The songs I wrote while working with Andrea in this program are the best I've ever written. So, I'm going to do the program again next January for another six months. Andrea is awesome. :)