If I’ve noticed anything my thirty-plus years of writing songs, it’s that there is nothing quite as powerful as a song to connect and mobilize people. To that end, I’ve begun offering a new service to my clients that I call the Team Theme.
This works in one of two ways. First, I can lead the team through my songwriting workshop empowering the participants themselves to write a song that addresses an important objective or team mission statement. Or, based on a series of in-depth discussions in advance, I can write a song for the team that captures the essence of their goal or message.
Either way, it’s what happens next that counts.
Taking the rough recording done at the time (typically an acoustic guitar and vocal recorded into a smartphone), I can bring in the A-list session musicians and vocalists that Nashville has in stunning abundance and, together, we can create a world-class master recording of the clients’ finished song.
It’s not unusual that the players involved would be, for example, Sheryl Crow’s guitarist, Aerosmith’s drummer and a vocalist who goes on later to sign their own record deal or become a contestant on The Voice (and, by the way, all of those example are real).
Here’s why this matters.
Not only does the team end up with a beautifully recorded song that encapsulates their values and mission but they’ve also invested in a tangible asset that they can use in future presentations, meetings, social media (which is more and more about video and sound these days) and countless other situations where quality audio will bring a presentation or an event over the top.
But as one of my favorite expressions states, “talking about music is like dancing about architecture.” In other words, you have to hear it to believe it.
Click the links below to hear both a “before” and “after” snippet of one of my recent Team Themes.
And, finally, when the team (or entire company for that matter) hears their finished theme, it works like jet fuel for bonding and motivation.
As always, I’m happy to answer any/all questions about how the Team Theme can work for your group so don’t hesitate to reach out.
-Cliff
p.s. Team members are always welcome to come to the studio on the day of the session or, if that isn’t possible, they can access a link to the live studio stream so they can hear their song coming to life as it happens!
Watch video of a Team Theme recording session!
Having witnessed a corporate group brainstorm, collaborate and write their unique song Friday afternoon and then step into Cliff’s studio to watch remarkable musicians record it on Saturday. . . well, simply magical, memorable and every leadership group should add this arrow to their quiver. Cliff makes this work; he is part cheerleader, part facilitator, part conductor, part songwriter, part studio musician and definitely part magician.