Thanks to my friend Lani Brandon for letting me use her keyboard this week. I wrote this tune after getting a few speeding tickets…seems I can’t speed without getting caught!
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Tag Archive: songwriting
This past Saturday was our 11th anniversary so I did what any good songwriter does [:) ] and wrote her a song.
If you’re interested, the last anniversary song I wrote Olivia was “Like This” from my album State I’m In.
Let me know what you think!
Download the MP3 here. Play here:
A little change of pace this week. I’ve played you eight new original songs in-a-row so I thought it would be fun to do a cover. This is the first Garth Brooks song I learned to play. It’s very James Taylorish so it fit me just right. It was written by Garth and Victoria Shaw from the album Fresh Horses.
She’s Every Woman
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This week I’ve got a new song that I wrote a couple years ago with my friend Chris Roberts. Chris is in the band One Flew South and is an all-around great guy. I’m actually going into withdrawl beacuse we haven’t written together in so long 
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Olivia and I love to go to estate sales, but they can be sad sometimes. This inspired us to write about “Pictures hanging on the wall.”
Make sure to comment!
Download the MP3 here. Play here:
So the schedule is all messed up this week! It makes for more fun, though…normally you get a “YouTube Sessions” on Monday, “Just My Opinion” piece on Wednesday, and a review / recommendation on Friday. But I just finished the YT Session last night so it will be up tomorrow night. Oh the joys of fitting it all in!
Check out this quote from a Cameron Crowe interview with Joni Mitchell from Rolling Stone in 1978:
Had Smith (Elektra/Asylum Chairman of the Board Joe Smith), in the course of running the company, ever discussed commercial direction with Mitchell?
“You don’t tell Joni Mitchell what to do,” he said.
Oh my, how have times changed. The music business used to be filled with people who wanted to serve the ideals and even whims of artists. Now artists grovel at the feet of anyone who will give them the time-of-day. Don’t get me wrong, there were always businessmen who took advantage of musicians, but today, people who make deals are king.
Can’t we bring the artist back? I don’t devalue the work and talents of dealmakers and businesspeople. I think marketers are vital. But it should all be in service to the music. And where does the music come from? The artist. Let’s give them some room and some honor and see if we don’t get better music.
I’m all for that. How about you?
Olivia and I lived in Boston for three years. We loved it: the city, our schools, the culture, all of it. One of the most famous buildings in Boston (and the tallest in New England) is the John Hancock tower in Copley Square. The architects said they could not improve on the beauty of the surroundings, including the amazing Trinity Church. So they built a building with mirrors so more of theat beauty could be reflected.
I must admit that it is striking. But as I was walking through New York recently I noticed that so much of the new construction is made of mirrors. There’s even an old, pre-war building close to Columbus Circle that is being renovated and covered in – you guessed it – mirrors. I got to thinking, “What if all the buildings are covered in mirrors?” ”Would there be anything left to reflect?”
I find this as a songwriter sometimes. I get so busy observing and commenting on life that it seems like I’m not living it. I think the same goes for journalists, painters, photographers, etc. There must be something beautiful, something meaningful to convey in our work for it to have meaning.
So, calling all creators: mirrors can be effective, but only if they have something to reflect.
A big shout out to my friend Arthur for inspiration on this new country (again!) song. We worked this very intense job back in March and we would try to make it bearable by talking through anything and everything. He was telling me about this new girl that he really liked but she didn’t quite know it yet. Now, we won’t talk about how it turned out…but, the inspiration he provided produced this tune. Enjoy!!
Download the MP3 here. Play:
This is the sixth week of the YouTube Sessions! I’ve got another country song for you. This one has quite an interesting inspiration…I was watching an interview with Jessica Simpson last week on TV. It struck me how she had been through so much — some self-inflicted, some not, but yet, for those few minutes in that studio she could just talk about music and leave all that stuff outside.
This got me thinking about how a person can do that for someone else. How “In Here” the outside world can just disappear for awhile.
Obviously, this song is just inspired by Ms. Simpson, not directed toward her .
Download the MP3 here.
This is the fourth song in the YouTube Sessions. I’m proud to bring you a brand spanking new song that took me forever to record (hard guitar parts take some time:)…I hope you like it!!!
Please comment and let me know what you think.
Download the MP3 here.
