Songwriting

Hey! We’re Carly and Martina and we’re 15-year-old singer songwriters from Chicago. We’ve been really working on writing songs, building a fan base and more! Recently, we transferred into online schooling to finish our freshman year because keeping up with our social media presence and doing all of our music was just too much. We’ve turned…

Mistake #1 that many songwriters make when they come to Nashville is that they leave bridges burning behind them when they head back home. Here are tips to help you leave the bridges intact so you can cross them again when you come back to town: Make appointments, don’t “drop in.” This shows respect for…

Time after time, I see the warning signs. It takes a trained eye to spot them, but even simple statements thrown out in casual conversation can reveal that a songwriter has crossed over from social songwriting to having a real problem. Statements like these are a dead giveaway: “I think I need another guitar” “That…

Songwriters, do you think like an artist? One of the tricks to getting cuts with major artists like Blake Shelton is learning to think like they do. It’s not really all that hard, but it does take some time and effort. In essence, songwriters are mini speech writers. We are trying to put words in…

I thought we’d have a little fun today.  Here are some of the songwriting and musician jokes that circulate in the pro songwriting community.  I thought you might enjoy them and pass them along to your friends. Joke #1 What do you call a songwriter without a significant other? Answer: Homeless Joke #2 What sound…

1) I reach out to someone new to co-write. Shaking things up and bringing in new blood gives me renewed energy. 2) I listen to some of my favorite songs that I’ve written. It reminds me that I can write some really good songs and that writing them gives me satisfaction. 3) I do one…

SHE DOESN’T EVEN GO HERE–A Cheerleader’s Lament I am not generally a peppy individual. I don’t like things like “exercise” and “being in shape,” nor do I care about literally any sport other than college football. Actually, if we’re sitting in the real Tree Of Truth here… most of my passion for college football has…

A SongTownian writes: If I don’t like the way a song turns out with a co-writer, am I free to take the idea and write it with someone else? Mailbox Marty responds: Not really. Generally, once you write an idea with someone, you are in it for good with them. It’s considered very bad form to…

Who would want to say this? An artist is a brand. If a song doesn’t fit their brand, they aren’t going to sing it, no matter how good the song might be. If you can come up with a handful of artists that might think your song fits their brand, you are on the right…

Songwriting is a frustrating profession. The reward to hard work ratio can be very small. It’s hard to stay motivated at times when you keep hearing “No” over and over. But, I wanted to share my story in hopes that it will inspire and encourage some of you to keep chasing the dream and keep…