One of the frequent questions we get in SongTown is “How do I write song lyrics?” Many people confuse song lyrics with poetry, but there are some subtle yet important differences. Let’s discuss lyrics vs. poems… So, how are lyrics to a song different from poems? Poems are typically visual pieces and song lyrics are…

I had a conversation this week with one of my song pluggers. I have worked with this guy for more than 20 years. I consider him my best friend in the music business. Why? He tells me the truth. Always. At one time, I turned in a song I wrote with a young artist. His…

One of the top questions I get asked as a pro songwriter is “how do I beat writer’s block. The worst part of the whole writing experience for many writers is just getting started. It’s those times when we sit down to write and nothing comes out that is most frustrating. We feel like we…

Communication vs. rules… I had a mentoring session with someone recently who was very frustrated.  He had read a book by a leading songwriting teacher and had tried to apply all of the songwriting “rules” that the book taught.  The end result was that he felt he was writing worse and worse songs the more he…

“Who can stop you from writing songs?” I think that’s a valid question for every songwriter to ask themselves from time to time. On occasion, I hear songwriters say things like… “It’s not really worth writing a song if I can’t get a publisher to listen.” Or “Why bother writing another song no one will…

Early in my songwriting career, I knew nothing about how the business works or how to actually become a full-time songwriter and sustain a career as one.  This is a list of things I wish I knew when I was starting out.  Knowing these ten things could have saved me years of trial and error. …

The area in which I have had the most career success is writing my life in song. I believe that to be successful as a songwriter, you have to be very versatile. I have had songs recorded by artists as varied as The Oak Ridge Boys and The Plain White T’s. When I have written…

The world we live in is full of distractions.  With an unlimited supply of entertainment and information in our phones, it is becoming more and more rare to see someone just sitting, thinking and being fully present or mindful. We walk in restaurants and 100% of the people sitting alone are on their phones.  Many…

  Songwriters: Tell Yourself These 5 Things Each Morning 1) This could be the day that changes everything.   One Tuesday, I walked into a room and wrote a song that became the most played song of the year.  Prior to that day, I had been worried about losing my writing deal.  Therefore, one day…

I can’t count the number of times I have had songwriters tell me… The music business is “trying to keep them out” or that they can’t break into the “cliques” in Nashville, LA, or wherever they are trying to break in. I’d like to give a different perspective on all of that. I put forward…