Making sweet music from your trauma and grief with Shawn Madden

Meet Shawn Madden, a talented musician who brings the gift of song to his clients by collaboratively writing the song their heart is calling to have written.

In this episode, Shawn and Karly talk about the role of music and community in our lives. Shawn inspires us to acknowledge and connect with our own voice and innate music. The value of music at a familial and community level is brought into the light and Shawn plays live two songs from his storytelling collaborations.

0:33 Meet Shawn and discover his relationship with music.

2:10 Shawn shares his refocus from fostering community to actually experiencing what it is to be rooted in community.

6:26 The link between our separation from music as a language and the fracturing of family and community in our society today.

10:13 Hip hop is a re-indigenisation of music and a return to authentic storytelling.

12:37 Shawn talks about his focus on song writing with and for individuals who want to connect with their own story. Karly and Shawn also riff on our disconnection from our ancestry, including Indigenous Australian culture.

20:04 Karly and Shawn discuss how divorced we are from music and the effect of competitive singing shows on our individual ability to connect with and enjoy our own music.

24:42 Shawn shares his personal experience of depression and delves into the work he is doing with individuals to tell their stories through songs.

28:33 Hear Shawn play “Here for a Reason”, one of the first songs that came of his storytelling project.

32:48 Shawn chats about the opportunity his song writing gives both himself and his clients.

36:58 Discover Shawn’s offerings as Karly asks him to share what it looks like to work with him.

40:34 Hear Shawn play “The Only Thing That Matters”, a song written for a client suffering Parkinson’s Disease.

46:45 Shawn gives you his best advice for bringing music back into your life.

47:38 Get the details on where to find Shawn (see the links below).

Connect with Karly Nimmo at karlynimmo.com, Facebook and Instagram

Find Shawn Madden at shawnmadden.com and Facebook