If you've ever wondered how songwriters do what they do, Chapel Hill's Deep Dish Theater can shed some light on that. On Friday at 8 p.m. the theater in University Mall will present its second "Words to Music: Songwriters Up Close" event, featuring three of the best local musicians -- Peter Holsapple, Caitlin Cary and Jon Shain -- performing intimate acoustic pieces and discussing the songwriting process. Holsapple was a founding member of seminal North Carolina combo the dBs and later played with R.E.M., the Continental Drifters and other acts, and he recently contributed to "Measure for Measure," a New York Times series about songwriting. Cary is, among other things, one-third of the esteemed trio Tres Chicas and a founding member of the great (now defunct) alt-country band Whiskeytown. Shain is a longtime local favorite purveyor of folk-based, blues-inflected roots music, and is sought after as an instructor of Piedmont blues fingerstyle guitar. Doors at the 72-seat Deep Dish Theater will open at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $12. To purchase tickets, call the Deep Dish Box Office at 968-1515 or go online at www.deepdishtheater.org.