IN THE STUDIO: The Guild's first Guitar Pull

All kinds of guitars got pulled out to Backthird Audio last night, proving once and for all that musicians would just rather bring their own than share. Yesterday's Guild meeting marked our first-ever guitar pull - and you can bet that there will be more. Eight of us shared original songs and stories, most of which led us down the route of conversation on how songs get written and where inspiration comes. Click here for pictures.

We've done a lot of talking about the idea of music these last few months; it was good to get together this time and actually make some. I've said this before, but if you missed it - you missed a good time. Expect another opportunity soon.

The Guild will meet again at 7:30pm on Monday, July28. In the meantime, here's who we heard from last night:

Benjie Hughes - That's me. I'm more of a piano guy but decided to go with the flow last night, busting out one of the first songs I ever wrote on a guitar - "Better," a sweet-silly love song that compares the beloved favorably to a popular fast food meal.

Dan Becker treated us to "Place by the River" (that's the title, right Dan?), a lovely pluckey number that was unfortunately overshadowed by our fascination with his 7-string acoustic. "I have five seven-strings," he told us. "They have different personalities."

Mike Voss played "Bella," a sweet song about a friend's daughter that might or might not have actually been written about Mike's dog. Mike does most of his creative work in the shower.

Bert Cattoni played "Sail Away," which one of us pegged as the possible result of an Elvis/Johnny Cash colaboration. "I wanted to write a song that wasn't about love or drinking," Bert said. He'll be on the Taste stage at Taste of Chicago this year.

Scott Woods played a dynamic, minor-key song he calls "Speak Up." "For me, writing's very quick and spontaneous," he said. "Then it grows from there."

Dia Madden played "Rescue Me," a heartfelt rocker she said has been used to accompany both ads for fire rescue equipment and her friends' house-cleaning sessions. "I think it's the quickest song I ever wrote," she said.

Evan Konc treated us to an untitled allegorical piece about adultery and broken relationships. Then we wrung the Franciscan Monk song out of him as well.

Franny Finstrom took a risk and shared some original music with us, stressing that she's neither a singer nor a songwriter. "I've written a couple songs in my life," she said, "because I just had to." If you're a songwriter, you know that feeling.

Oh - and then she cleansed our palates with a dose of Chopin's "Third Scherzo." Ahhh, that's the stuff.