A Message From Our Founders
We began in our living room in a small farmer’s cottage in Palo Alto in 1978 with 13 people: musicians, magazine writers, recording studio engineers, a lawyer, Patty and me. We talked about our writing and we talked about the music business, because, as friends, we knew that there was a great need and desire to make a community to support our goals as creative music people. We called it the South Bay Songwriters Association. The Palo Alto Arts Council became our umbrella as we filed for non-profit status, created a board, wrote ob-laws and ran workshops. We grew from 13 people in the living room to sixty people in our front yard to 100 people at the Palo Alto Cultural Center in less than a year, and we kept growing from there.
We had classes in creativity and business as well as open mics and concerts featuring our own writers and guest artists from all over the country. We had our office in our garage to start and Patty was the first director, making about $50 a month, plowing that back into running the organization.
The SBSA grew and grew. We changed our name from South Bay Songwriters to the Northern California Songwriters Association. We had several other directors when Patty stepped down and finally found long-term, stable leadership with Ian Crombie, who ran it for many, many years and made it into a great community institution. Our annual conference became the go-to event for creative and business people from Nashville, the East Coast and Los Angeles as well as the great creative community in Northern California. And we changed the name yet again to West Coast Songwriters, reflecting the reach of our community.
Patty and I may have founded the West Coast Songwriters but it is the songwriters, publishers, musicians and creative souls who made our community grow and flourish through worlds of technology and musical genres. We are “proud parents,” but it is you who make the West Coast Songwriters live and grow and build upon our history. You are the future of music itself. We are happy to be there to support you and help you grow and succeed. That’s what we started this for. If it’s important to you, make it grow!
Silversher & Silversher
Biography
Michael and Patty Silversher have been writing songs together since 1989 . They have written hundreds of songs and scores for Walt Disney, Jim Henson, Sony, Children’s Television Workshop, Warner Bros, etc., including the theme songs to the TV series, Gummi Bears and Tale Spin for Disney, and Pajanimals for Henson. They have been nominated for three prime-time Emmys and are co-winners of a Grammy Award (for the soundtrack, Elmo In Grouchland), plus several RIAA gold and platinum album awards.
They currently have two series on the air, both co-produced by Jim Henson: Dinosaur Train on PBS Kids, and Word Party on Netflix.
Additionally, Michael has written 14 Educational Touring Shows for theatre and 8 stand-alone musicals for children, including Wind in the Willows with Richard Hellesen for South Coast Rep, and Knuffle Bunny:A Cautionary Musical with Mo Willems for the Kennedy Center.
Michael served as resident composer and musical director for Sundance’s Playwrights’ Lab and Children’s Theatre (1991-96) and the founding composer/musical director for TheatreWorks in Silicon Valley (1970-80), winner of the 2019 Tony Award for Regional Theatre.
He currently resides in Ashland, Oregon with his new wife, Victoria and his dog Artie. He serves on the board and as resident composer for the Rogue Valley Peace Choir, and continues to compose for Henson and the Helfman Jewish Composers Forum.
Patty resides in Los Angeles and is on the Song Arts committee for the Society of Lyricists and Composers.