The Melancholy Chord Substitution. I’ve been blessed to get away with some interesting chord changes over the course of my songwriting career. Those songs found their way onto pop and country mainstream radio—two formats that, right or wrong, have a rap for simple chords. Whether it was sneaking in a...
Over the weekend someone tagged me in a Facebook thread that had over 500 comments debating heatedly over whether or not a lyricist was an actual "songwriter"... All I can say is who cares? I don't mean that in a harsh way....
SongTown - A no "Guru" zone for songwriters... At SongTown, we've been pretty protective of our songwriting community. It's a private community of some of the best up and coming songwriters around. Marty Dodson and I started it 8 years ago to help grow aspiring writers into...
This is my Songwriter's Holiday Reflection This holiday season, I find myself looking back and remembering people that have been an important part of my life. The winter holidays are a wonderful time for cultivating gratitude. Looking back, there have been people who have been there for me since day...
A few years ago a friend of mine introduced me to Tom Jackson; a top live music producer. Tom has worked with artists as diverse and popular as Taylor Swift to Casting Crowns to Shawn Mendez. He has an uncanny ability of teaching performers how to...
I have received several emails this week asking about the best approach to recording song demos. There are many things that have changed over the last year since I first blogged about this. Here are a few questions to consider when demoing your songs. 1. Who will be listening?...
"I've got nothing to write a song about today." I remember standing outside Darius Rucker's tour bus saying these words over the phone to a friend. She had just asked me what I was going to write with Darius that day. Here I was outside Chicago, having flown there to...
After writing my first hit song I thought I had arrived but songwriter humble pie wasn't far behind... About 11 years ago, when my son was eight, I was fortunate enough to have a new single on radio. I had moved to Nashville at 32, and eight years later, it...
Want to make your songs contemporary but also not lose that classic feel of great songs? Follow along as Clay Mills shares his secret weapon –the songwriter chord. This two-fingered major and minor 10th chord voicing has been used on many mega hits throughout the history of recorded music. So, Grab an...
As a professional writer, learning to boost my creative songwriting power was crucial to my success. I am asked often how I walk into a co-write with superstars like Darius Rucker, Little Big Town, or Lady Antebellum and create songs “on-demand?” Well, I didn’t start out doing this, but...