Author: Clay Mills

  People often ask me if they have to do full-production demos to present songs to publishers or major artist? I do a fair amount of full demos, but I also have had about half of my major cuts from pitching home demos done on a very basic set-up on...

              I was in Starbucks last week enjoying my morning dose of inspiration—COFFEE!—and an aspiring songwriter approached me. “Are you Clay from SongTown?” “Yes,” I said. He asked if he could chat about writing for a couple of minutes. Then he began by saying, “I’m writing some great...

  One of the most overlooked details in the songwriting business is properly formatting your lyric sheet. Since starting SongTown, Marty Dodson  and I have had the chance to see many songs lyrics presented in our publisher groups, song contests, and song feedback forums on songtown.com. We've seen some wild...

  Songwriting is beautifully complex and yet simple... I am often reminded when teaching aspiring songwriters how simple, and yet complex, writing a song can be. It's a beautiful mix of emotions, wit, determination, and being in the moment. A very common obstacle I see to great writing is what I call...

  Marty Dodson and I spend a lot of time preaching the gospel of “writing better songs.” Each time we blog about the power of a great song, we inevitably get several emphatic comments stating something like this: "I have lots of great songs, but I don’t have the connections you...

  Co-writing: The art of sharing your heart felt ideas with another person and trusting the two of you will create songwriting magic. This can be tremendously rewarding and often frustrating. But there are some guidelines to make this experience more often than not a great one. If Moses came down from the...

  I remember sitting in my small, cramped writing studio in Nashville 10 years ago chasing this crazy dream of songwriting... One day I was co-writing with my two best friends and co-writers, Sonny LeMaire and Shane Minor. We'd been writing together for two years, mostly because we loved...

The 9-Minute Songwriter Workout consists of three songwriting exercises designed to get you into the flow of writing without thinking. Your best ideas come from the subconscious, and you can tap into this with regular practice. Remember to do these exercises quickly, spending three minutes on each in rapid-fire succession. I...

Writing and reading lessens our isolation and prods our imagination. Music makes our souls dance, and great art leaves an impression that lasts for centuries.   Over my 23 years as a professional songwriter, I’ve read just about every book on creativity I could get my hands on. I’m convinced I will...

  Songwriters... When you have those days of songwriting doubt and wonder why you are chasing your dream....   I wasn't exactly young that day I realized I wanted to be a full-time songwriter. I knew no professional songwriters. Also, I was in...