Biography It was a fortunate wind that carried this Scottish troubadour to Australia’s sunny climes in the late 1990?s, but the Great South Land became that little bit greater from the moment he landed. A boy with a dream, born in Edinburgh on November 27th 1971, the son of renowned Scottish artist Barry Broadie, and the grandson of published poet, novelist and...

The Premature Exit of the Thin White Duke – Goodbye David Bowie *Written in Jan 2016 but never published as Karl was ill by then and other priorities overtook us. Of course, the theme of premature exit is even more salient given Karl’s passing. When news of Bowie’s death came through in January 2016 I was immediately taken back to my teen years, swapping his...

Inside Songwriting is happy to announce a resumption of service. It’s been over 4 years since Karl exited the planet to spheres unknown and it’s been difficult to contemplate this site without him. It took me this long to really want to face it again, but now I’ve decided to continue the site in his honour, as much to remind people of his legacy as...

So much has happened since the last post on Inside Songwriting, so some words of explanation are needed. Sadly our great friend and co-founder of this site, Karl Broadie, has lost his battle with cancer after a devastatingly brief time. In the aftermath of his sudden death in April many of his family and friends have been dealing with the practicalities of sorting...

Inside Songwriting Episode 29 – An Evening in The Scottish Highlands         In October 2015, I was on a trip to the Scottish highlands, whilst there I was invited to Nairn by Rob Ellen, to talk about my forthcoming album and UK Tour, what I wasn’t expecting, was such a cosy evening with all the good people who came along to watch....

Musycks Musings 17 Speaking in tongues A weekly column by Inside Songwriting contributor, Michael J Roberts.   A topic that turns up time and again, how much musicianship and musical knowledge is required to become a good songwriter? It’s the kind of question that mostly gets a how long is a piece of string? response, but in reality the answer may be a little...

Inside Songwriting Episode 28 – My favourite flavour cherry red     From the clifftops of Sydney Karl speaks of the thought that we are always on the verge of some kind of transformation and how an overseas trip, can be a powerful catalyst for that. Karl also speaks of tracking the nuances of the creative mind.     Remember to come join the...

Eight “maybes” for you to write a song about…….and one for me. My journalling app is called ‘Day One’. I’m using it to write most things these days. I have my artist’s site and I have Inside Songwriting. I also have a little known vegan blog called Vegan Scotsman which I occasionally post on. Writing is something I need to be able to do, as and when my...