Brian Davis: Messing With Memories and Songs

Multi #1 songwriter stops by the SongTown Studios to talk about his music and offer songwriters key tips on how to write a song that hits your audience… heart to heart. Clay & Marty’s 10-day video series: This video series will help you level-up your songs and finish them faster. CLICK HERE to begin!  SongTown Press Books:…

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Songwriters: 5 Keys To Building A Better Song Catalog

building-a-better-song-catalog-

Several SongTownian’s have recently asked the question, “what’s the best way to build a better song catalog?” Here are some key things I’ve learned over the years after writing for several major publishing companies and building a new catalog at each. Write, write, write! There is no substitute for this. A catalog is a collection of songs. You…

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Turning Time On Your Hands Into Better Songs

Years ago, I had a big write scheduled and it got cancelled the morning of the write. One of the biggest writers I had ever written with traded me for a co-write with Cher. I couldn’t blame him, but I was very let down. My publisher said “Turn time on your hands into better songs.”…

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#SongwritingHack 1.06 – How To Write Killer One Chord Songs

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been at workshops or songwriting classes and had students come up to me and say something like, you know, I wish I had taken more music theory when I was younger. Or, I wish I’d taken piano lessons or guitar lessons; I can only play a few…

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5 Things To Do Before You Pitch Your Song

Pitching songs that are not ready or that are not in the ballpark for the artist you are pitching to is one of the fastest ways to burn bridges.  In fact, doing either of those things is effectively pouring gasoline on the bridge.  Way too many people pitch songs prematurely and significantly hurt their chances…

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#SongwritingHack 1.18 – “Top 5 Songwriter Guitar Hacks For The Broke A$$ Writer”

Today I’ve got five songwriter guitar hacks that are free for all – check them out. 1. Capo Trick When you’ve come up with that great guitar idea, and you want to come back in a few days and remember what you did, your iPhone can perfect for recording a short little video. Simply grab…

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How To Rewrite Song Lyrics

One of the biggest things most people could do to improve their writing is to master the art of rewriting song lyrics. For my whole career, I’ve heard the saying… “Good songs are written but great songs are rewritten.” I have found that to be true in most cases. Sometimes, a song just falls out…

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Are You A Pro Vs. Aspiring Songwriter? Great Songs Don’t Care!

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. You see, I’ve been fortunate that over 150 major artists have recorded my…

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In The Writer’s Room With John King

Artist and hit songwriter John King joins us in the SongTown Studio to sing his hit song “We Went” sung by Randy Houser and to talk about how songwriters can better understand writing for artists. Clay & Marty’s 10-day video series: This video series will help you level-up your songs and finish them faster. CLICK HERE to…

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The Songwriter Business Plan: 5 Steps To Success

One of the things I discovered when I started mentoring writers is that very few of us have a songwriter business plan. That may be the curse of the creative mind – we get so lost in making stuff up that we lose sight of the business side of things that must be tended to…

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