Just Keep Writing

So lately my co-writer and I have been working on kind of a nostalgic tune. That song has been remarkably difficult, which makes no sense because it's a simple concept. In order to kick-start the creative juices, I decided to break away and write something completely random and off the wall. So I was sitting there thinking about what I could write about. Obviously, I'm not going to write a love song. I wasn't really in the mood to write a drinking song. I'm tired of the leaving songs. And I'm trying to save all my Bro-Co (Bro-country) ideas for co-writing sessions. Well, the girls at work have been giving me "advice" about various men, and trying to hook me up. My response is usually "bad idea". So I was thinking "what if he's a bad idea but she just doesn't care that it will be a disaster? He's just so perfect that she can't say no". So I wrote "Perfect Disaster" ... and re-wrote it... and re-wrote it... and r...

So, after 10 years of writing, I finally attended my first songwriting workshop yesterday! Barbara Cloyd came up to the Player's Pub in Bloomington. Needless to say, I jumped at the chance to participate. As the day drew near, I became a nervous wreck. When most writers attend a workshop, they expect to hear how amazing their songs are. I am always the opposite. I go into critiques terrified that I will be told to give up on this whole songwriting thing. I'm always shaking in my boots when it's my turn to play because I'm worried everyone will hate it. I guess that's the perfectionist in me. Even when I was in school, I viewed anything less than perfect as a bit of a failure. Some failures were easier to swallow than others, but the need to do better always kept me going. Now, as I focus on my writing, the fear of failure is always one step behind me. And that's what keeps me running. So as I sat in the workshop, terrified to find out that I've been doing ev...

When I first began writing God knows how long ago (stop doing the math people, it makes me feel old!), I remember reading one piece of advice that everyone felt the need to give to beginners, such as myself... "Find people to co-write with". Seems easy enough, right? Wrong! So so so wrong! Because as a beginner, it seems like nobody, who has been doing this for a decent period of time, is ever interested in writing with you. Honestly, can you blame them? I mean, these folks have spent years mastering their craft, and us newbies approach them with our "I can't get enough your love, it's a gift from above." crap.  Honestly, when nobody wanted to write with me, being the know-it-all teenager that I was at the time, I just shrugged my shoulders and said "I've got this". But, in all honesty, those people who wouldn't give me the time of day turned out to be some of the best "co-writers" I've ever had. Because those people refus...

So, here's the scandalous story behind a steamy summer romance song I've been working on for several months ... One sunny day, we were driving down to French Lick ... Okay, it's about to heat up in here ... I was looking out the window ... ... ... And I saw a broken down Pontiac on the side of the road. ... That's it. I just saw a rusty old Pontiac on the side of the road. It had seen it's better days, so I thought "hmm...I'm going to write a song about that car". I know that some songs come out of long personal struggles that we face. Some songs come from the emotions we are feeling. Some songs come from alcohol. And some songs just come from a broken down Pontiac on the side of the road. So the first two lines literally came to me within' a mile of passing that car. I typed them into my phone and decided to work on it at a later time. I'd been tinkering with this on and off for the past few months, but decided to finish it this ...

When New Year’s Resolutions began popping up on my news feed several days ago, I thought about chiming in. However, after a couple of near posts, I decided to actually wait until the new year to decide on my resolutions. In all reality, I needed a little more time to reflect on 2013. I was finally able to actually say hello to Jake at the NYE Show at Brothers Bar in Bloomington. He performs "Longshot At Best", a song I co-wrote with Aaron Layton. I’m not going to lie, 2013 was a roller coaster ride. I dealt with the highs of landing a perfect job, spending time with good friends, eating at the Loveless Café (Not a big deal for some. But that’s one of my favorite restaurants), visiting my family in Illinois and standing in the front row at a Montgomery Gentry concert. Man those boys put on a show!  2013 was also a big year in my songwriting career. I was able to record a demo on music row, which was awesome. Dale Guthery at The Sound Office was so patient and helpf...