Speechwriter switches to saxophone, seamlessly

We learn that a young British political speechwriter is trading his pen to play the saxophone.  Ed Barker, speechwriter to several ministers of parliament, says it’s an easy transition. "Writing speeches and writing music, for me, feel like similar skills,” he tells the Telegraph. “You have to understand your audience and reflect what they want to hear in what you write. But you also have to deliver a new message and capture the public's imagination and not play the same old tunes or deliver the same old lines. I loved comparing the two jobs. I learnt so much about how to understand an audience by being involved in both songwriting and speechwriting.”

The only difference is, as my amateur musician/professional writer dad used to say, “You can say what you want with a slide trombone, but with words you gotta be careful.” —DM