Please join us at the Garrison Institute, a stunning former monastery-turned-retreat-center less than 1.5 hours by train from New York City and easily accessible by car. Dar, our team of songwriters and special guest songwriters (TBA), will be on hand to guide and support your songwriting craft in various workshops and song circles. We’ll offer daily song inspiration, a daily peek into Dar’s songwriting process, vocal coaching, songwriting workshops, your own private song consultation with Dar, evening song sharing with the whole group, collaborative songwriting opportunities (the now infamous “So-Fab Collab”) and coffee, tea and creativity flowing 24/7.

Dar, our team of songwriters and special guest songwriters (TBA), will be on hand to guide and support your songwriting craft in various workshops and song circles. We’ll offer daily song inspiration, a daily peek into Dar’s songwriting process, vocal coaching, songwriting workshops, your own private song consultation with Dar, evening song sharing with the whole group, collaborative songwriting opportunities (the now infamous “So-Fab Collab”) and coffee, tea and creativity flowing 24/7.

Only you know what sort of retreat experience will benefit your songwriting. As a result, we have designed this retreat so you can structure your days as you see fit, making space for solo writing and reflecting time and a daily workshop or two, or hitting all the workshops you can in a day for feedback on a batch of semi-finished songs. We have lots of offerings, but no advance signups are necessary, so you can let the muse be your guide daily. And with regards to your musical level, we will meet you where you are at.

REQUIREMENTS

• The desire to write a song
• Some musical or songwriting background is helpful, but not required. (Team members and retreaters have collaborated with lyricists before.)
• A kind and open heart – we do our best to communicate with empathetic, supportive feedback

Both novice and gigging songwriters sit side by side in our workshops, united by the desire to keep honing their craft and connecting with others. We’ve had poets connect with musicians struggling for words, individuals who have one song under their belts and are inspired to keep going, prolific songwriters who need to get out of their bubble, and songwriters delving into songwriting again after decades. Wherever you find yourself is perfect and we will meet you wherever you’re at.

ACCOMMODATIONS

The Garrison Institute’s mission aligns well with ours and they are very good at ensuring we are comfortable so we can focus on what we love to do. Accommodations are simple, clean and comfortable and the culinary staff serves up delicious meals, accommodating special dietary needs. We offer single, double and triple rooms with a shared bath at different price points and a friendly installment plan. Pricing is all-inclusive – all workshops, meals, lodgings (and fun) are included. You won’t need your wallet the entire week. Oh, and for all you keyboard players out there, we will have keyboards for common use in all the workshop rooms, but your rooms can accommodate whatever keyboard you want to travel with. Guitarists, if you cannot travel with your guitar, let us know and we will do our best to see if we can find you one from a team member’s collection.

CANCELLATION POLICY

As we have obligations to the venue, we have a no cancellation policy in place, except in the case of extreme circumstances. We assess that on a case-by-case basis. Please note that if you need to switch retreats, we may be able to accommodate you if space is available. We no longer require proof of COVID vaccination, but urge participants to test themselves before leaving for the retreat. If you are ill with COVID or another respiratory illness, we will have to turn you away to ensure the health and wellness of others. Garrison Institute’s COVID-19 protocols are on their site. Please note that we recommend travel insurance through a carrier of your choice to ensure your retreat investment is protected.

SAMPLE DAY

8 - 9 AM Yoga – all levels (optional)

8:45 - 9:45 AM Breakfast

10 - 10:45 AM Dar’s song breakdown & daily themes, prompts and inspiration

11 AM - 12:30 PM Workshops with (vocals/songwriting/collaboration, no sign ups necessary)

1-2 PM Lunch

2:30 - 4 PM Workshops (vocals/songwriting/collaboration, no sign ups necessary)

4:30 - 6 PM Workshops (vocals/songwriting/collaboration, no sign ups necessary)

6 - 7 PM Dinner

8 - 10 PM Evening song circle (Retreaters can share a song with the entire group)

10 - 10:30 PM Wine and Seltzer, Savories, Sweets

11 PM + After hours song circle

• ALSO: Each retreater will be have a one-on-one private song consultation with Dar

TRAVEL INFORMATION

Travel information and directions can be found on the Garrison Institute website. Many people connect for ridesharing via our private FB group for your retreat that we will invite you to closer to the date.

Driving

• Please use the address of the neighboring Highland Country Club in your GPS at 955 Route 9D, Garrison, NY 10524 to guide you to the Garrison Institute’s entrance on 9D.

Train

• Garrison Institute is two minutes from the train station and we will have a shuttle van meeting the trains during registration hours. Take the Metronorth train from Grand Central to Garrison.

Plane

• Refer to the Garrison Institute website.

We look forward to welcoming back many of our songwriting friends and making new ones in 2026 – we hope you can join us.

Have lingering questions? Please reach out to us at darwilliamsretreat@gmail.com