Songwriting

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…

Most of us tend to gravitate toward the same kinds of things when we write.  We write grooves and feels that we like.  And we tend to write topics we like as well. Here are 5 tips for songwriting outside your box. Use these exercises to stretch your writing boundaries. Write songs from the point of…

Writing a great second verse is often the difference in a good song and a killer song. Here are my tips for leveling-up your second verses. Map out an outline of the song as soon as you decide on a hook. Knowing where you are going helps you avoid saying too much before you get…

As a long time professional songwriter, what used to be an occasional tool for co-writing long-distance, has turned into an everyday affair. In these days of social distancing, co-writing on Zoom has become the norm for scores of creatives around the world. And as a result, many SongTown members have asked me to share my…

I can’t count the times that I’ve heard a songwriter blame their lack of success on the radio, publishers, a “closed circle in the music business”, A&R people who “can’t hear a hit”, bad co-writers, just plain bad luck and the list goes on and on and on. While any of those factors COULD potentially…