I wrote songs for about 5 years before the first time I had anyone at a 'professional' level chime in on my writing or critique any of my songs. (Disclaimer: that autocorrected to 'I wrote dogs for about 5 years'....and I'm not all that sure it isn't accurate.) There were...
Author: Marti Dodson
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The (Reality) Check Is In The Mail
Money-the big green elephant in the music business living room. There are many reasons we don’t like to talk about it. Some of us feel that putting a price on our art cheapens its value, or implies that we’re in this for the wrong reasons. Some of us attend the...
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Tell Me About Your Childhood: Therapy Applied To Songwriting
Do you remember that Mousetrap board game? Where you set a marble in motion and it goes through a series of ridiculous pulleys and levers and gears and baskets to get to the endpoint? This is what I imagine the inside of my brain looks like. One little thought or...
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This One’s For The Songwriter Girls (and Boys)
Ahh, boys. Men. Boyz II Men. (hang on, be right back) Ok sorry. I had to stop typing for a minute so I could scream sing "ALTHOUGH WE'VE COME, TO THE END OF THE ROAD" but it's mostly out of my system now STILL I CAN'T LET GO..okay..okay I think I'm good. Today,...
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Songwriters: Do. The. Work.
SHE DOESN'T EVEN GO HERE--A Cheerleader's Lament I am not generally a peppy individual. I don't like things like "exercise" and "being in shape," nor do I care about literally any sport other than college football. Actually, if we're sitting in the real Tree Of Truth here… most of my...
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What Makes A Great Song A Hit Song?
I can’t count the number of times I have had this question asked of me... What makes a hit song? Someone will play me a GREAT song and express their confusion over the lack of interest they are getting from the industry when they...
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Haters: They’re Going To Hate, or Why Rosie P From Mississippi Has a Message For Us All
Recently I spent a little time perusing the comments section of a popular country music blog. Sometimes I do this to see if it sparks any song ideas, and sometimes I do it to avoid doing less fun things, like cleaning poop off my dogs paws. (I have never met...
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The Struggle Is Real – A Songwriter’s Journey
Hi! I’m here to introduce myself as a guest blogger here in SongTown …I know my name is already familiar, as I am the blondest member of the Club For People Named Marty/i Dodson. As well as sharing a name and friendship with your illustrious SongTown founder/mentor Marty Dodson, I also share a love...
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I’d Like To Thank The Academy
Hello, SongTown friends. I'd love to give a thrilling explanation for why I haven't blogged in long enough for an elephant to gestate a baby elephant. (I could google how long that is, but I'm just gonna trust my faulty memory of a thing I saw on Animal Planet...
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I’ve Got a Single, but I’m Still Not Ready to Mingle
Memorial Day this year was an exciting day. The kickoff to summer, a beautiful day to honor our fallen soldiers, and a big day for me personally. After a long trek back to Tennessee from Ohio, I had tickets to see Thompson Square play...