Posts by Marty Dodson

Writing songs with artists is a completely different game. Writing songs with artists is a completely different game than writing songs FOR artists or simply writing with another writer to try and craft the best song possible.  When you write with an artist in the room, the goal is to help that artist find their…

Writing songs for artists is a guessing game. When I’m shooting for a particular artist as I write, I’m trying to guess what that artist wants to say.  Not only that, I’m trying to guess what they haven’t already said so that I can help them say something new. I look at it this way.…

Songwriters tend to have this “win or lose” mentality.  When I play my songs for someone, I either “win” and they take a copy, or I “lose” and they reject my song (and by default, me). I would suggest that we look at those opportunities as “win or learn” opportunities.  Again, if they love my…

Today, I’m sitting in a hotel room in Reno, Nevada. Last night, I played the second of 5 shows in a row at Harrah’s Casino. As I sat on stage, looking out at a crowd I couldn’t even see because of the bright lights, I was thinking about all of the amazing things I have…

Often in my mentoring sessions, I find mysession asking aspiring writers this question, “How bad do you want songwriting success?” “If you want something bad enough, you’ll find a way. If not, you’ll find an excuse” This quote always hits me right between the eyes. In some areas of my life, I’m still very much…

Every now and then, because we have so many new people joining us, we like to remind everyone why Clay and I created Songtown. We built this city on several pillars that we hope will keep it standing for many years. So, in a nutshell, here are the founding principles of SongTown. Community We wanted…

I once had a friend who told me he was going to write a book. Here is how our conversation went: Him: “I’m going to write a book” Me: “What will it be about?” Him: “I don’t know. Anything.” Me: “What do you feel like you have to say?” Him: “Nothing. I just want a…

Several weeks ago, I was in a discussion with some other writers at my publishing company about the state of songwriting as a career. Things were being said like: “You have to write with the artist to get a cut.” “I only write uptempo” “Everyone only wants ‘tailgates, trucks and dirt roads’ ” I listened…