Press
This page presents a compendium of coverage and content related to DocSong and documentary songwriting practice in regional and national media outlets.
NAfME CONVERENCE | May 21, 2021
Live Documentary Songwriting Session
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION for MUSIC EDUCATION | DocSong board members Drs. Jody Kerchner and Malcolm Brooks recorded this documentary songwriting session for their talk at the February 2021 conference of the National Association for Music Education. This video helped illustrate the documentary songwriting process to a national audience of music educators.
IDEASTREAM | October 21, 2019
Sharing #MeToo Stories Through Songs
CLEVELAND | Feelings about sexual harassment and assault often go unspoken, but Nora Willauer thought music could get people talking. The master’s student in cello performance at the Cleveland Institute of Music decided to embark on a documentary songwriting project sharing people’s #MeToo stories.
INSTAGRAM FEED
The Latest from @DocumentarySongwriters
Thank you to everyone who supported us this year! And to all the storytellers and teaching artists who made it possible!
You made us think and laugh and cry and dance. It is a privilege to share these stories with you through music.
We can’t wait to hear the songs we write together in the new year!
with love,
DocSong
A song for the returning light of the solstice.
“Pocket of Peace” reminds us what we can create when we take care of each other.
This season may you find your own pocket of peace. And may you know the quiet joy that comes from holding and being held by the people you love.
From all of us at DocSong, wishing you peace and joy today and every day.
Stay tuned in 2026 for more songs from our Music in Conversation project!
#docsong #documentarysongwriting #musicinconversation #peace #community
We’re hiring! 🎉
DocSong is growing! We are looking for a part-time Program Director to coordinate our core programs and teaching artist training, and help launch our 2027 Maine-based fellowship!
The vibe: part-time, remote, mission-driven
The details: 16-20 hours/week, $25-30/hour, Maine preferred
Start date: February 2026
👉 swipe to see if this is you
👉 full job description at link in bio
👉 apply by January 12
Questions? Email or DM us
Please share if you know someone who would be great for this 🙏
We’re excited to announce a new opportunity at DocSong! The DocSong Teaching Artist Fellowship!
Starting January 2027, three Maine-based musicians will receive $10,000 stipends, dedicated mentors, and nine months of support to lead documentary songwriting projects in their communities.
The Fellowship is a tribute to our founder, Malcolm Brooks’, long history of mentorship. So many of us have learned and grown alongside Malcolm and we want to give other artists the same opportunity.
Thank you @brooksofmaine for inspiring this model of supporting musicians.
We are raising $35K by December 31 to help us launch! Click the link in our bio to invest in future artists!
We grow what we pay attention to. And this year DocSong is focused on the artists who are doing the work—the musicians, the changemakers, the culture shapers—the people who reflect our lives back to us and remind us what we can be. Help us build a movement of humanitarian musicians helping us build the world, rooted in connection, empathy, and mutual care! Donate to DocSong this Giving Tuesday and invest in music that makes a difference!
Check out the latest song in our Music in Conversation project! A long summer day. A challenge. Two teeth in hand. A tooth fairy named Quintana LaRue.
Thanks to storyteller @ellenlikesjam and @hannah._.stone for the magical stop motion retelling of this story!
#docsong #musicinconversation #extend #documentarysongwriting #twofrontteeth #oops
ADDITIONAL HEADLINES
Documentary Songwriting in the News
WERU | Maine
Documentary Songwriters on WERU Radio Hour
APRIL 1, 2016
The "WERU Family Radio Hour" with Belfast's Scot Cannon features Chloë Isis, Will Foote, and Malcolm Brooks. The broadcast includes documentary songs by Clio Berta, Chloë Isis, Rohan Edwards, and the Push Farther Project. The program also features a demonstration in which Chloë Isis and Will Foote compose a song live in the studio.
FRESHWATER CLEVELAND
DocSong Virtual Concert to Benefit Rape Crisis Center
AUGUST 6, 2020
More than three years ago cellist Nora Willauer took an interest in documentary songwriting. She was intrigued by how therapeutic the art could be, especially after she started talking to women who are victims of sexual misconduct or domestic violence. So, in 2018, she resolved to help tell these women’s stories through Documentary Songwriting.
Young Artists in Quarantine: Caleb Edwards
JUNE 23, 2020 | This is part of a series highlighting the stories of young artists in quarantine. The period of free time that many people are experiencing has led many students to find a new independence in art when they have the ability to create just for themselves. This features Caleb Edwards, who will be a senior at Watershed School in Camden in the fall.
Lyric Writing with Malcolm Brooks
AUGUST 21, 2019 | Malcolm Brooks, a composer, performer and teacher and has created a program for writers, musicians, and ordinary citizens to express their feelings through lyrical song writing. During a week-long writing workshop with teens at Maine Media, he and his student Khalid Taylor used this method to help us turn a prose piece into a song. He said, "We don’t have enough songs that talk about our emotions,” and our song was full of such emotion and surprise.
Documentary Songwriting at Sweetland School
DECEMBER 14, 2017 | In small groups the Explorers and Innovators met once a week for 6 weeks with visiting artists Malcolm Brooks and Alex Wilder. The children shared ideas and created original songs. Each week children recorded their voices and songs and listened back to reflect on their sound and ideas. At our Solstice celebration children shared original songs with families. We noticed a high level of commitment and ownership of ideas.