Posts Tagged ‘Articles’

Many writers that I mentor struggle with the idea of getting themselves in position to succeed. In fact, I see two extremes play out. Sometimes writers adopt the idea that “all I have to do is write a great song”. Others go to the extreme of trying desperately to “meet the right people” while ignoring…

These are the 5 most common lyric mistakes I see songwriters making over and over… 1. Saying the same thing in the second verse that you said in the first verse. Don’t just re-word the first verse to make verse two. Give me something new. Take the idea to another place. 2. Letting pro-nouns get…

One day, my friend Danny Wells and I wrote a song. We were really excited about it, so Danny wanted to play it for his publisher. We went in the man’s office and Danny played it live. I could tell as he was playing that the guy didn’t seem like he liked it. When Danny finished, his…

Yesterday during a mentoring session I was asked the question, “When did you decide to be a songwriter/musician?” I thought about it a couple of moments and realized it was never a conscious decision. It was more like music made me. Music made me a musician by always being there. When everything else failed, I…

I write with a number of young songwriters on a regular bases. And I can’t count the times that I have referenced an older song (80’s, 90’s or 2000’s) and discovered that they had never heard the song or artist. This isn’t shocking to me – You could say I once was that guy myself.…

Songwriting is grueling, brain-numbing work with little reward.  Then, there are the difficult aspects.  It’s easy to get discouraged and I’ve had many friends and co-writers lay down the pen.  So, in dedication to those who have given up writing, I want to offer 5 reasons that we should all keep writing, even when it’s…

I remember sitting in a Mexican restaurant a few years ago with the late songwriter Tim Johnson. We were preparing to play a benefit that evening for a local high school. “What’s stopping you?” Tim asked. You see, I’d just told him that I’d always dreamed of playing the stage at the legendary Ryman Auditorium.…

Over the course of my career, my biggest hits have been romantic ballads or mid-tempo songs. So, I’m not the stereotypical pro writer who writes up-tempo all of the time. I’m not afraid to write a ballad! And, I don’t think you should be either. Some of the biggest songs in music history have been…

Do you feel like your melodies sound dated when you’re writing a new song? Are you in a songwriting rut? It happens to us all. We start rolling and write a bunch of songs we really love, and then one day we wake up and everything starts sounding the same. Every new idea we create seems familiar. And…