CICSA is a group of eighty plus Christian songwriters from central Indiana. Our members run the gamut from beginning writers to traveling professional performers.

CICSA Events and Gigs

• CICSA event participants are to be current CICSA members
• CICSA event participant s are expected to attend at least regular CICSA meetings per year
• CICSA Event participants are expected to arrive at least 1 hour to 45 minutes before an event for setup and sound checks
• CICSA Event participants are expected to be professional, courteous, and well rehearsed.
• The CICSA booking coordinator will evaluate your readiness as a CICSA Event participant.

See letter from President to potential performers here

CICSA Membership Dues

• Current dues are $20.00 per individual for the calendar year Jan - Dec.
• Dues collected after November 1st will be considered the following calendar year dues.
• CICSA Event participants must be dues paying members
• To be listed in the web site or publications, dues must be current
• Dues not paid by March 1st, will be removed from the web site, publications and any CICSA sponsored events.
• CICSA meetings are for EVERYONE, and dues will not be required for attendance.

CICSA Meeting "Song Intervention"

Guidelines for Song Intervention.
* We ask that you are a member to have a song critiqued. After member and first time visitors have done their songs we will look at non-member songs if time permits. There will be sign up sheets on the table. This is only fair and just and we want to just be fair.
* Please have at least 25 to 30 lyrics sheets for everyone to read and write suggestions on while listening to your song. Print in small font so it fits on one sheet to save paper.
No sheets = no suggestions.
* You may play it live on guitar or piano( we have one ) and you may use the PA (option) so everyone can hear better You may play a recording of it also.
* Please bring songs that are ready for evaluation. These should be songs that you have nurtured and already done one or two re-writes on and done a good job on trimming excess words and verbiage. If you don't want an evaluation, critique, or any suggestions on your songs but just want to share them with us in their finished form, we will try to provide a time for that at the end. There is nothing wrong with that, but we shouldn't waste time giving suggestions that are not wanted or warrented.
* If you have a song that you are stuck on (writer's block), bring it with lyric sheets and request ideas and help. Perhaps a collaborator.
* NO INTROS for you songs, just go into them. If the song doesn't say what you want it to say, an intro ain't gonna' help. Give the other members some credit and let them tell YOU what your song was about. If they can't figure it out; and they are songwriters, then your intro isn't going to help the song and will only confuse them...

Guidelines for giving an evaluation, critique, or suggestions:
*In everything you say or write on a writer's lyric sheet, be kind, encouraging, and helpful in a truly Christian way.
*Tell writers what you like about their song and what they might consider doing differently, and why.
*Never just say "I don't like _______" and leave it. [Don't take the air out of someone's sail, move them along with the winds of encouragement.]
*Be brief and to the point with verbal comments. Write more extensive comments on lyric sheets and return them to writer..

Guidelines for receiving evaluation, critique, and suggestions:
* Don't be thin-skinned. If you have any dreams of having your songs published and recorded, you better have more calluses than just the ones on your finger tips.
* Consider each comment or suggestion and then accept what you want and throw away the others. It doesn't mean that one person is right or wrong, but rather, just a different perspective.

What is a great song? What is a good song? What is good enough?
I consider myself to be an average songwriter and with that said, here I go. We have all had friends and family say to us, "that's a great song!" Or something like that. We always enjoy hearing words of encouragement but should keep them in perspective. I was once told after a performance that I had a wonderful voice. The person went on and on about how good I was. I was puffed up bigger than Elvis on a 7-day cookie binge when they gave me one more accolade. "You sound just like Waylon Jennings." Poooof! I was back to earth. Those people who give us such great compliments may be coming from a perspective of "I don't know art but I know what I like." And that's .OK.
Can an average or poorly written song touch someone heart? I think yes. It can depend on the listener's mood or situation and the singer's delivery and sincerity. In other words, if you are happy with your song the way it is, that's ok. Keep it that way and keep writing. However, if you want to improve your ability to craft a really good song, then you must study and work at it just like any other craft. You must seek out knowledgeable instruction, constructive criticism and encouragement. In CICSA we try to provide that kind of help, all the while we are working to better our own abilities. CICSA has everyone from beginning songwriters to touring professionals. It is our hope that those better songwriters will continue to reach back a hand to their brothers and sisters and help pull them along. It is also our hope that our newer songwriters will be open-minded regarding their children (songs) and not take offence or be discouraged, but rather take the lessons and suggestions and re-write, re-write, re-write.

God gave me this song! Well, I guess we can't do a critique of that song. If God gave you a song, then put His name as author and copyright it in His name because it is a perfect song that will touch millions and millions of lives and the rest of us might as well pack it up. We're not going to top Him.
What most writers mean when they say "God gave me this song" is that God inspired them to write this song. A big difference. Being inspired by God to write a song requires that we give our very best effort and work very hard to master the tools of crafting the song that He inspired us to write. To do any less would make us poor stewards of this divine inspiration

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