2024 Songwriting Reel – Songwriting Is Magic Retreat

September 3–6, 2024 · Full Moon Resort, Big Indian, New York

This reel is a collage of moments from Rhett Miller’s second annual Songwriting Is Magic Retreat in the Catskills—just a few days spent learning from artists I admire deeply, including Dave Hill, Jamie Wyatt, Ken Bethea, and Ryan Miller.

Last year, I quietly observed. This year, I showed up—and sang. I’d been practicing hard, trying to remember how to play guitar after a long hiatus. While it all came back in private, it got a little lost in the spotlight. I blanked on chords, forgot lyrics, and hit the kind of notes that live somewhere between “raw” and “wrong.” But everyone was kind. I stumbled through the start, grew steadier by the middle—and by the end, people were singing along to one of my originals.

I didn’t know what to say when Rhett told me it felt like the theme song of the weekend. My hands were still shaking. So I told him to ask me again in twenty minutes.