The Brown Arts Institute’s free and open-to-the-public Songwriting Workshop provides a welcoming space for musicians from all walks of life to perform for one another and receive feedback on songs in progress.
Brown Arts Institute
Songwriting Workshop
Find your voice or hone your performance skills with this workshop designed to give students and community members a chance to develop their musical style and build confidence on-stage.
Songwriting Workshop
Find your voice or hone your performance skills with this workshop designed to give students and community members a chance to develop their musical style and build confidence on-stage.
About the Workshop
To offer more specialized and focused attention for participants, this year's workshop will have two sections. Descriptions for each section are included below and applicants are invited to apply for the section that best matches their interests.
(Re)Finding Your Songwriting Voice
Facilitated by Morgan Johnston
Whether discovering the (not to be dramatic, but…) miracle that is writing songs for the first time or haven’t felt the spark to write anything new for years, this section offers the space to find and/or re-find your songwriting voice. And yes, the word “voice” is both literal and metaphorical in this case! Through listening, workshopping, writing time, discussion, improv, and prompts, songwriters (yes, you can call yourself that!) will work towards creating songs in which the music and lyrics work together to serve the intention of each song and the musician overall. Side effects of being a part of this supportive, accountable, playful, healing, and even silly (!!) community may include…
- Building the confidence to perform your songs at an open mic for the first time
- Uncovering the theme of your next long-awaited album where you return home to yourself and yet somehow also develop an entirely new musical style
- And/or having a damn good time making friends with other folks who are just as obsessed with songwriting as YOU are!
Performing and Expanding the Vision of Your Songs
Facilitated by Jessica Kion
Our job as songwriters rarely ends when we finish a song. A whole world of possibilities unfolds as we arrange, perform, record and even make videos and visual art for our music! This section of the BAI Songwriting Workshop is designed for the participant who has written songs and is interested in what comes next. We’ll explore home recording, stage presence, navigating band dynamics, recording music in a studio, booking shows, releasing music, and ways to engage with social media that feel authentic to you.
Participants can expect to:
- Continue developing their songwriting craft
- Feel prepared to perform in a live show
- Create visuals with your music that deepen your artistic expression
- Even make a friend or two along the way!
Both workshop sessions will run on Wednesdays from 7:00-9:00 p.m., from October 7 to December 2, 2026 before pausing for winter break. The workshop will resume from February 3 - April 28, 2027. Note that there are no meetings during Brown University academic breaks: November 25 (Thanksgiving week), December 9–January 27 (Winter Break), and March 24 (Spring Break).
Apply for the 2026-2027 Season
Applications are currently open for the 2026-2027 Workshop season. The deadline for applications is Friday, September 18 at 11:59 p.m.
About the Facilitators
Morgan Johnston (stage name, Morgan Lane!)
Hailing from Providence, Rhode Island, Morgan (she/her) is an indie folk singer-songwriter stomping, strumming, speaking, and singing her way to empowering both herself and her listeners. Her lyrics are inspired by the natural landscape of places as much as by the emotional landscape of human experiences. While most often found singing with her guitar, Morgan is known to experiment with different stringed instruments and tunings as well as vocal arrangements on loop pedal and the occasional toy piano. The music that results on her album, “Wildflower” and the one (or two or three) albums she’s creating currently just so happens to be whimsical and wistful in nature!
She is grateful to have been a finalist for the MacColl Johnson fellowship for composers, recipient of the Sarah Good female artist entrepreneur award, and nominee at the Motif Awards for her songwriting over the years. As a music therapist with a master’s degree from Lesley University, Morgan is constantly reminded of the healing power of the music she aims to share with others. She has gotten to write and present at conferences on this use of songwriting both in working with one’s inner critic as well as healing during coronavirus, including the albums she wrote chronicling that time. She is passionate about bringing both a warmth and depth into community building spaces that have ranged from a RISCA grant funded Musicians Support Group to a new Whimsy Camp for adults and their inner child. Having found a home in the BAI Songwriting Workshop as a participant herself years ago, Morgan hopes to do the same for others now in her fifth (?!) year of leading. www.morganlanesmusic.com
Jess Kion
Jessica Kion writes unflinching songs about grief, community, and the things that keep you up at 3AM. Writing songs for her band, Justice Cow has been the main catalyst for growth and healing in her life. During the pandemic, she held weekly songwriting workshops on Zoom to encourage her friends to write and record music and weather the storm of lockdown. The lessons she learned from these workshops, her songwriting degree from Berklee College of Music, and years of writing and international touring in bands have led her to develop a highly effective approach as a songwriting teacher. She’s a frequent collaborator within the Providence scene playing in the bands Nova One, Ben Levin, Morgan Lane, and of course, Justice Cow! While collaborating online with Adam Neely, Aimee Nolte, and Apartment Sessions. Jess has taught clinics at Berklee College of Music, collaborated with Boston Conservatory’s Percussion Department, teaches a regular songwriting workshop at Little Nice Studio in Lincoln, RI, and has spent three years at New Urban Arts as the Resident Artist Mentor of Music working with high schoolers. Justice Cow was nominated for “Artist of the Year” for the 2026 Motif awards and plans to release her eighth studio album this year.
In the News
The Rhode Island folk singer-songwriter embraces vulnerability, feedback, and collaboration in a workshop setting, turning solitary music-making into shared inspiration.
