Separating The Song From Its Production

As a songwriter I have been blessed with both a career I never dreamed possible and a chance to help thousands of talented writers at SongTown level-up up their songwriting. I especially love delving into vocal melodies and different production techniques that will make a song stand the test of time. Every January I give…

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Hit Producer Daniel Ross Shares His Track Building Philosophy

Daniel Ross is a Songwriter and Producer at Big Machine Music Publishing. His songs have been recorded by Morgan Wallen, Jake Owen, Chase Rice, Eli Young Band, Granger Smith, RaeLynn, Seaforth, Robert Counts, Troy Cartwright and more. Production credits for Joey Hendricks, Lauren Weintraub, Austin Burke and more. In this video Daniel shares his proven…

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Songwriters: Do You really need that expensive song demo?

song demos- 7 tips

One of the top questions Marty and I get in the SongTown Mailbox is “what is a reasonable song demo price?” It seems a common myth exists that says in order to have a record company or artist pick up your songs, you have to produce a song demo that sounds like a finished record. Fortunately…

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The Loop/Keys/Vocal Worktape

Hit Songwriter Clay Mills is a ten-time ASCAP awards winning songwriter/producer, penning #1 hits for Darius Rucker (“Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It”), Diamond Rio (“Beautiful Mess”), and Kimberley Locke (“Fall”). Along the way collecting Grammy Nominations for “Beautiful Mess” and Trisha Yearwood’s “Heaven Heartache and the Power of Love”. Clay has had over…

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Your Next Song Demo: 7 Tips Before You Spend Money

song demos- 7 tips

I have received several emails this week asking about the best approach to recording song demos. There are many things that have changed over the last year since I first blogged about this. Here are a few questions to consider when demoing your songs. 1. Who will be listening? If you are playing your demo…

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Hall of Fame Songwriter/Producer Mark Bright!

Mark Bright has been dubbed “one of the architects of the modern contemporary country sound”. In this episode of On Songwriting, Hall of Fame Songwriter/Producer Mark Bright talks about his journey to Nashville, the highs and lows of working in the music business and what it is like to work with superstars such as Rascal…

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10-Time Grammy Winning Producer/Engineer- Gary Paczosa

Gary Paczosa is known for some of the best “ears” in music production. In this episode of “On Songwriting”, Gary talks everything from his production style & approach, to his mic-ing techniques while working in Americana, Country, Jazz, and Bluegrass genres. Gary has worked with legendary artists Nickel Creek, Alison Krauss, Sarah Jarosz, Harry Connick Jr., John Prine, and Dolly…

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Check Out Producer Andrew Petroff’s Home Studio!

Andrew Petroff is a multi-genre producer, songwriter, and musician. Recent work includes songs with Sheryl Crow, Phillip Larue, Devon Gilfillian, David Nail, Sierra Hull, Savannah Conley, and Charli Adams. Andrew’s work can also be heard on placements from Apple, HBO, Grey’s Anatomy, The Black List, How to Get Away With Murder, Fox Sports, Nashville, MTV,…

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Recording At Home: My Demo Process On A #1 Song I Co-wrote With Darius Rucker

Darius-Rucker-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 my mac laptop. The Home Studio…

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Hit Writer Clay Mills Tours His Home Recording Studio Set-up

Hit Songwriter Clay Mills is a 16-time ASCAP awards winning songwriter/producer, penning #1 hits for Darius Rucker (“Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It”), Diamond Rio (“Beautiful Mess”), and Kimberley Locke (“Fall”). Along the way collecting Grammy Nominations for “Beautiful Mess” and Trisha Yearwood’s “Heaven Heartache and the Power of Love”. Clay has had over…

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