One of the hardest things to come to grips with as a songwriter is other peoples opinions on your songs. Here is a story that can help you navigate those waters. I wrote with a writer last week who is actively looking for a publishing deal. He is a super...
One of the biggest lessons I've learned over my songwriting career is that my songwriting focus constantly needs tweaking. It's easy to lose sight of the important foundational things and veer off into the worlds of negativity or procrastination. So I have a short checklist of things I remind myself...
When I first started writing songs I was obsessed with listening to records. Songs and sound just turned me on. I was thoroughly engrossed with my favorite artist. I read books about Bob Dylan, I read liner notes and interviews with the Eagles. Deep down, I felt I was...
Often songwriters in our SongTown classes ask, "How do I write commercial songs without selling out?" They are writers who would like to have commercial success and hear one of their songs on the radio or an album. But they want to know how to accomplish this and still be...
This is one of the most common questions Marty and I get in the SongTown Mailbox. It seems a common myth exists that says in order to have a record company or artist pick up your songs, you have to produce a song demo that...
One of the hardest things a songwriter has to learn to level-up their writing is learning how to avoid or pull themselves out of a songwriting rut. Here are 5 things I've learned over my 25-year career that have me avoid songwriting ruts and stay inspired... Switch instruments to spark...
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?...
Want to become a Master "Songwriting" Yoda? Here are my top 5 tips! 1.Believe As creative people, we tend to be self-doubters. It's what drives us to look inward, to constantly question life around us, and, if channeled properly, will drive us to write great songs. It's perfectly natural to struggle...
As a long time professional songwriter, what used to be an occasional tool for co-writing long-distance, has turned into an everyday affair. In these days of social distancing, co-writing on Zoom has become the norm for scores of creatives around the world. And as...
Perhaps the most common songwriting mistake that I've seen kill a song... If I had to choose one songwriting mistake I've seen over and over in mentoring sessions through the years, it would be "writing clever instead of writing real." Throughout the entire writing process I am asking myself, does this feel real?...