Songwriting

I am primarily a lyricist. I contribute to melody on my songs, but that’s not my strength. So, I try to stay with my strength and put most of my energy there. Often, I hear people say “I’m only a lyricist”. Some of those people tell me that they don’t write to any melody or feel in their…

I hear people all the time talking about “trusting their gut”.  While I am a big proponent of that in many ways, I have discovered that the “trust your gut” strategy has cost me thousands of wasted dollars when it comes to my songs. When I got my first writing deal, my gut had urged…

6,000 demos to get 100 artist cuts… Many of you have heard me tell that I have demoed over 6,000 songs and have just over 100 cuts. That’s not a great cut to demo ratio. I don’t even want to know what percentage that would be. But, I have discovered that one of the keys…

When I got my first songwriting deal, my publisher, Kim Williams and our other songwriter, Ron Harbin would write 2-3 times a day. Every day. The volume of out put from our office was crazy. We were cranking out between 30 and 45 songs per week between the three of us. I had nothing to compare it to,…

Write a one sentence summary of your song. Let’s say my hook is “Must Be Doin’ Somethin’ Right”. My statement of purpose would be “I must be doing something right because I don’t deserve a woman as amazing as you.” When you write the song, be sure that EVERY line in the song supports that…

Songwriting is all about connection. Whether you write for yourself, or you are writing for commercial purposes, the goal is still the same. It’s all about connection. Even people who aren’t trying to get their songs recorded are generally interested in playing their songs for people and moving those people with their music. I don’t know anyone…

As the music economy continues to move toward a streaming based model, people are drifting rapidly toward the idea that music should be free. I think it’s vital to remind ourselves (And our friends) from time to time WHY it is important to pay for music: 1) For my song to get out to the…

About a year ago, I wrote a post here on the SongTownUSA FB about the power of dreams. I told the story of how, when I was 10 years old, I listened over and over to a record called “Home Free” by Dan Fogleberg… recalling that everyday I looked inside the album at photos of…

  Music History is filled with great songwriting collaborations. John Lennon-Paul McCartney, Elton John-Bernie Taupin, Mick Jagger-Keith Richards, and the list goes on. Two heads can truly be better than one when writing a song, but only if it’s the right match! And finding that right match can seem impossible at times. Over the years…