List of my finished songs
Soon to come to this page...
Excellent links!
Well, I just happen to live in Nashville and write songs. I wrote my first song in 1995, and haven't stopped writing since. I thought my strength was
in writing lyrics, but I started writing some of my own music and I think it
is better than my lyrics most of the time. I've found it's best to write the kind of
music that you are good at writing, even if someone wants to comission you to write an
'80s/techno/alterna-jazz/tejano fusion, just don't work on it unless that is your specific area.
Most of my songs are Christian, but some are country, and some are mainstream pop. I'm also getting into writing some folk and bluegrass and rock music.
I have made a country demo with a co-writer and have sent it to some
of the A&Rs/music publishers in town! So I'm really starting to get serious.
I have about 500 songs right now, and I just keep writing them. Maybe
I'll get around to typing out all of my song lyrics, so you can
see them sometime.
How do I get my ideas for songwriting?
Songwriting is a way to express my thoughts about a particular thing.
Wayne Kirkpatrick suggested writing down ideas for songs in a notebook,
as soon as you get them. I write mine on a sheet of paper and sometimes
do a little cutting and pasting: putting all these ideas together, to
make a song. Lucinda Williams has a similar process called "cannibalizing"
(coined by her father), in which she merges songs together to become one.
T Bone Burnett said to look for ideas everywhere, especially in art,
nature, and literature. Carolyn Arends has a similiar idea of writing
songs, articulating her take, her feelings and thoughts about literature
and nature. If a new idea is presented to me in literature I write
about why I agree with it, or why I disagree about it. Somethings you
can't disagree about, like facts or the way certain events happened. But
you can put your perspective on it.
Most people write about love. Why? Maybe their strength is music, and
they just write about what they know and they just don't keep their eyes
and ears open 24/7 for a songwriting idea. I try to take an intellectual
approach to songwriting; usually I won't try to explain things by saying
this is the way it is, but I try to get people to think about things.
Amy Grant said that you wouldn't find "Amy Grant" by dissecting her
lyrics. If you dissect my lyrics, you would find me. Ok, except in my country
songs. My life isn't that exciting, although it may be that terrible.
And finally, Pam Sheyne says,
"Songwriters are the life blood of our industry and ... earning a royalty is what
is keeping that songwriter alive, hence in the grand scheme of things keeping music alive." Click on the link for full quote.
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