Posts Tagged ‘Articles’

Over the course of my career, I’ve had a diverse collection of artists sing my songs, from R&B artist Babyface to rocker Darius Rucker to country’s Reba McEntire. I believe the reason for this lies in my ninja power for writing an explosive hit chorus— songs that leap out of the speaker when they hit…

Here are 4 areas of songwriter quicksand that are hard to get out of. Watch where you step! 1) The “I can’t play this for anyone until it’s perfect” quicksand. I can’t count the number of people who have told me that they are not going to let anyone hear their music until it’s perfect.…

It struck me recently that there are basically two kinds of writers I work with. There are empowered songwriters and non-empowered songwriters. Empowered songwriters write confidently and take chances. They don’t complain about the state of the music business or whine about someone not getting them cuts. They realize that THEY are in charge of…

Sometimes, people get frustrated with the kind of feedback they get on their songs, but when we dig into the issue, we discover that they really didn’t give the feedback giver much to go on. Here are some tips to help you get better song critiques back on your songs: Don’t submit finished demos if…

Over the last 10 years at SongTown I have personally responded to thousands of aspiring songwriter emails. Many want to write better songs but can’t seem to find the answer to how to get motivated to write on a regular basis. If this is you, you are not alone. We all feel the pull of emails,…

Over the course of my career as a pro songwriter, I’ve learned that most songs boil down to 9 universal songwriting emotions that work in songs. Love No surprise here! Songs like “Eight Days A Week”, “I Honestly Love You” and “Endless Love” are still standards. Unrequited Love “I Can’t Make You Love Me” and…

In a 20+ year music career as a songwriter, I’ve shot myself in the foot so many times that it’s amazing I can walk.  I thought I’d share some of them to help YOU avoid doing the same thing.  Here are some of the worst “shots” I’ve taken in the foot. Getting too excited over…

One of the most noticeable style shifts in songwriting over the last few years is the emergence of chorus-like hooks in verses. For the longest time, if you had a memorable and “hit” sing-a-long chorus you were golden. Your chances of finding an audience for your songs were pretty good. Even if you were the…

Hit songwriter Tom Douglas once said, “You can’t write a great song trying to write a great song.” Over the years, we’ve listened to many songs that fail because they try too hard to be brilliant, either lyrically or melodically. Douglas and co-writer Allen Shamblin wrote Miranda Lambert’s “The House That Built Me” – a…

Someone asked me the other day, “What is your secret to co-writing with a band?” Over the years I’ve been blessed to co-write songs with great bands like Lady A and Little Big Town. As a songwriter, it can be tricky to sit down with three or four other people in one room and make…