Posts Tagged ‘Articles’

After writing my first hit song I thought I had arrived but songwriter humble pie wasn’t far behind… About 13 years ago, when my son was eight, I was fortunate enough to have a new single on radio. I had moved to Nashville at 32, and eight years later, it was finally paying off with…

I believe that one of the most overlooked, yet most important line in a song are the first opening lines. Yes, your title is super important and a great setup line before your title lands is crucial. But, the opening line of your song often determines whether or not anyone ever gets to hear that…

I’m a very goal oriented person. I need to see the end goal so that I can figure out how to get there. I like to break down my big goals into bite sized pieces and check things off my list. There are so many elements of getting a song recorded that are out of…

One of the reasons Clay and I started SongTown was to help people learn how the songwriting business works and immunize themselves from being ripped off by songwriting scams. So, I want to give you some advice that can help save you hundreds and maybe even hundreds of thousands of dollars. If you heed this…

“Today’s music sucks. The stuff artists are putting out is bad music—and it all sounds the same!!” We hear it all the time from songwriters, I used to say it myself. But the truth is, changing your attitude and outlook on contemporary music can actually help you write better songs. Not long ago at Bongo Java…

When I first started as a staff writer for Kim Williams, Garth Brooks had already taken off. And, he had recorded several of Kim’s songs. They were flying high and selling MILLIONS of records, as in 10-20 million per album. Crazy numbers. But I was soon to find out that Kim was so much more…

No matter what your definition of Songwriting Success is, one of the most overlooked aspect of a writer’s journey is songwriting community. I run into many writers who are writing pretty good songs, but they are doing it in a vacuum. In reality, it’s nearly impossible to succeed as a songwriter or anything without a…

  Songwriters… When you have those days of doubt and wonder why you are chasing your dream, I offer you this bit of songwriter inspiration…. I wasn’t exactly young that day I realized I wanted to be a full-time songwriter. I knew no professional songwriters. Also, I was in my mid thirties and had little…

When my son was going through his freshman orientation at Belmont University’s School of Music Business, many there were hopeful of turning pro one day as a songwriter. Another parent raised their hand and asked “So, if my daughter gets her degree in songwriting from Belmont, she’s pretty much guaranteed a “slot” in the Music…