Blog

Hey there 5 followers! This week I started re-reading Jimmy Webb’s book, TuneSmith: Inside the Art of Songwriting. Here’s what he has to say about the difference between professional songwriters and hobbyists: So what is the primary factor that separates the rejected amateur songwriter from the accepted professional? Probably this: Most amateurs do not regard the… Continue reading Hell on Earth

Hey 5 followers (and other, more stealthy, under-the-radar types)! This week, I’ve been listening to Kris Kristofferson a lot, and I discovered something I’d never considered about a song I’ve listened to since I was about 5 years old. The song is from an album called “Jesus Was A Capricorn” from 1972, and it’s called… Continue reading Alliteration

Hey 5 followers! I hope all is well with you. This week, while in the middle of all manner of financial crises, I’ve been writing two songs. These songs are making me think a lot about perspective. Most of the time, I find myself writing in first person. You all remember this from your 5th… Continue reading Perspective

Hey there five followers! This week’s blog post is going to be short and sweet, seeing as how it’s a holiday weekend. What do you do when you get frustrated by the process? As I start to work on a song, I have an idea of where I want the song to go, and I… Continue reading A REALLY Quick One

Hey there 5 followers! This week I’m going to talk about the part of the songwriting process that separates the pros from the wanna-be’s: re-writing. Dump the Cliches If you’re like me, you have sometimes had to use “filler” lines in your songs for moments when you were not at your most creative. Maybe you… Continue reading Re-Writing the Wrong

Hey there 4 followers! This week I’ve been busy going through a bunch of my old lyrics and sort of culling the good stuff from largely generic and predictable stuff that’s in my virtual notebooks. Do you ever do that? Some of these things were written in some fit of inspiration, only to fade out… Continue reading Stumbling Blocks and Stepping Stones

I’ve been writing a lot lately, and I’ve started to notice some things about myself and my writing process. Here are some of ’em: – I mostly write in 4/4…don’t think I’ve even written a 6/8 waltz. – I tend to write at tempi around 80 beats per minute. – There are three or four… Continue reading Discomfort Zone

Hey there non-followers (and new real follower)! We’re almost done with this nonsense! Last time, we got the vocals recorded, comped and tuned. Then we imported the tuned vocal back into our project and saved. Now on to the last section, before we leave this topic for a while: Preparing for the Mix The very… Continue reading How the Demo Comes Together: Part 5 (the last!)

Hey there non-followers! As promised, this week we will continue the (seemingly) never-ending saga of how I produce my demos. Last week, we got all the instruments into a kind of arrangement, and got the drums and bass into more or less their final form. Now comes one of the hardest things about my demo… Continue reading How the Demo Comes Together: Part 4

Hey there non-followers! …actually, I seem to have picked up a new follower this week!  Thanks for following me! Ok. This week we are continuing to go through my demo-ing process.  If you haven’t read the other two parts in this series, I suggest you read those before you read this one, so you’re up… Continue reading How the Demo Comes Together: Part 3