Howdy Nashville!

I landed in Nashville around 1:00 Sunday. Sitting in the last seat gave me a great view of the gash in my guitar case as it rolled down the conveyor. Made for an anxious wait to get off the plane. The gash was about 6 inches across with various dents all around, and punched all the way through the bottom of the case. Miraculously, there were no marks on the guitar! Much relief there. I spent over an hour at the baggage claim as the guy called various numbers to check on my coverage option. In the end, they offered nothing. United Airlines, if you’re wondering. I was so exhausted by that point that I didn’t put up much of a fight. I’d been awake since 4 AM and hadn’t really slept much anyway.

But around 6 or so, Scott from the baggage claim called and said that he looked into it more and thought he could get it covered. I just had to bring the case in and leave it for his manager to inspect. I was a bit frustrated by this, since Scott had already seen it, and also because I needed the case to carry my guitar around Nashville!

But I figured, no matter what the airline does for me, the case is pouched. So I popped into Gruhn Guitars on Broadway and got a new one. They were also kind enough to write a formal assessment of the damage to let United know that it couldn’t be repaired. I’ll bring the old case to the airport today. Fingers crossed for some $.

It was about supper time when I got settled away at the hotel. Had a quick nap before heading to see the show at the Bluebird. The Sunday night shows have a group of songwriters who’ve played before and made it through the audition process. There were about 10 of them, I guess, and they each played three songs. There was a broad range of styles and experience levels. A couple of people stood out for me. One fellow’s name is Josh Wooten, a Nashville native who writes great, heartfelt country songs. Another was Sara Petite from Sacramento, I think, who has a great quirky Americana style and a great voice.

This show helped calm my nerves about playing the open stages this week, gave me an idea of what to expect from other writers and where I fit in the mix.

So, Monday morning rolled around and, despite how zonked I was, I couldn’t manage to sleep in past 8. Had breakfast at the Commodore in the hotel, which is also apparently a hot open mic spot, so I’ll be back there one night this week. Ran some errands around town, new guitar case, CDRs, printing labels, etc.

Checked in at SOCAN House around midday. What a lovely place! Great comfy furniture, awesome old wooden table that I love to write at. I got a nice start on a new song too. Had been singing and humming bits and pieces while driving around and scratched down some lyrics for it here. It’d be nice to finish it before I head home on Sunday.

Last night I lined up in the rain to play the open mic at the Bluebird. The fella next to me said it was a short line because of the weather! When the doors opened, we each wrote our name on a scrap of paper and put it into a basket for a random draw of play order. I came out #26. After Sunday’s show, I expected 2-3 songs but we got to play only one each. So I played This Old House, a song I wrote for my parents’ anniversary shortly after I moved to Toronto from St. John’s. It’s become a bit of a standby for me, good for getting the nerves out. And since I only had one song, it made the most sense.

The Bluebird is a “listening room” and unlike any venue I’ve ever played. NOBODY talks during performances. So it was easy to hear what you're doing, which then of course allows you to give a better performance. The song got a fantastic response, and I was really happy.

The people in this town are all so warm and friendly, it’s a good place to be. I met some folks in line who were very kind and shared their table with me all evening. Oliver, Pauline and Paula: Thank you! The Bluebird show ended at 10 and I managed to convince Paula to introduce me to another local venue, the Basement. It reminded me a bit of Bar None back in the day in St. John’s. There were gig posters overlapping each other and every inch of the walls and ceiling. Jason Adamo from Raleigh North Carolina was playing. Great voice, great songs. By the end of his set, I was pretty zonked so we called it a night.

This morning I’m meeting the SOCAN liaison at 10:30, and then off to ASCAP at 1:30. In between, I’m going to drop a disk into one of the writer reps at BMI and roam around music row. Then I’ll drop the old guitar case off at United and come back ‘home’ to work on the new song before heading out to an open mic. I think it’ll be the Commodore, we’ll see.

I think I’m allergic to something here. My throat feels really tight and sore just like it did before I started taking ragweed shots a few years ago. Not much fun, but I’m pretty sure it’s allergies and not that I’m getting sick.

  

That’s about all I can think of at the moment. Off to find a much-needed coffee and get this day rolling!

Head vs. Heart

Just a heads-up: if you have an 8 AM Sunday flight to the US, there’s really no need to get up at 4 and rush to the airport for the recommended 2-hour pre-board. There was a longer line-up at the Tim Horton’s than there was at customs!

Well, well. I checked the 'business' box as reason for visit on the customs card. That was fun.

The classic match-up of head vs. heart
This week was interesting. Remember that box of fancy blue demo CDs I had made and shipped to Nashville ahead of time? Well, I’ve decided to trash them upon arrival. I wrote a song in Aug-Sept called The Man I Want To Be. When we were nearly finished mixing it in October, I stumbled upon the same title on the NSAI website – a song by Chris Young. I bought the track on iTunes and had a listen. The hook line was pretty similar. I felt uneasy about it, but I went ahead and put it on the demo disk anyway. My head said “pull the plug.” But my heart said, “it’s a beautiful song and you guys have worked so hard on the demo, keep it.” The head was right, but I’m a slow learner.

That realization was hammered home by feedback from a NSAI song evaluator. She said great things about the song: liked the lyrics, good match of melody and theme, etc. But then she stated the obvious that I’d been pretending not to see. You’ve gotta write a new chorus and hook.

There’s no way the song can be considered with the current lyrics. The Young song was a huge hit. Clearly, I need to work more radio time into my day. So…. several hundred dollars later, I have a box of 50 matching drink coasters. Don’t be surprised if you get a set for Christmas. :-)

So yesterday I went to Grand & Toy and picked up a pack of CD labels; I’ll burn a new batch of DIY disks today.

I also submitted two other songs to the same evaluator. It’s interesting how you think a song’s been finished for ages, when somebody comes along and asks a question about the lyrics. The feedback was really positive, but just a few things that she felt could be strengthened. It’s interesting that it didn’t upset me like it would have in the past. I remember getting feedback from a guy at Sony several years ago and it took months for me to see he was right and go revise the lyrics. That song started out as ‘New York’ on my old band’s EP and ended up as ‘Warning Signs’ on ‘Out Of Order.’

The reason why the criticism in this latest NSAI review (which was mostly favorable anyway!) didn’t upset me, is that I am more open now and genuinely interested in making the songs better. Whereas, before, I think I was stubborn and probably really just hoping for approval of what I had rather than wanting help to improve.

The funny thing about that poorly received critique years ago is that, when I finally came around and took the advice, I started applying it to other songs. Before that, I used to think that however a song came out initially, however the muse presented it first, that’s how it had to stay. What a load of malarkey!

Still though, editing songs for my own personal art (as my two albums have been) and editing songs for more broad commercial appeal, are turning out to be two different beasts. I’m proud of my two records, and I’ve had many strangers at shows etc give wonderful comments and compliments about the songs that they could relate to. But aside from the associations and interpretations those folks had with the poetic lyrics, the songs were primarily inward focused and, save for a few, not the sort of story-telling material that works best in Nashville.

So I’m adapting. And learning.

Tonight, for instance, I hope to learn from some of the best at the Bluebird.

Denting rules and bending ears

I haven’t arrived in Nashville yet and I’ve already broken a rule. Well, not really broken... perhaps just dented a little.

I sent a package to Keifer and Shawna Thompson. It was a little unusual and the goal was simply to catch their attention with the hope of making them curious. I realize they’re two of the busiest, most sought-after people in music right now but, y’know, there’s no harm in trying. For the sticklers out there, I should let you know that I did not send a song. I understand and respect the unsolicited material issue. I just wanted to let them know that there's a song out here that was written specifically for them about one of their interests.

Maybe the package will never find it’s way into their hands. But maybe it will. Maybe they won’t give it a glance. But maybe they will. Maybe they won’t want to hear the song. But maybe they will. You get the idea. So, if you happen to know them, please put a bug in their ear! It's a catchy, rockin' country love song.

Also, I have actually been to Nashville before. Last September, I rode my motorcycle about 800 miles from Toronto down through Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky to get to the end of a little old Tennessee highway called the 129 or, more affectionately, the Tail of The Dragon. I camped out there for a few days just riding back and forth that road and a handful of the many other winding wonders down there. Then I popped over to Nashville for a couple days, lucky enough to coincide with the Americana Music Festival and heard some great music. Then over to Memphis for visits to Sun Studio and Graceland. And then back up the 800+ miles to Toronto. What a ride! So, I’ve been to Nashville on holiday. Now, I’m looking forward to being there on business!

Tonight… what a lovely night, despite being stuck at work late, first with work and then trying to sort out some tech issues on my new website – which is live, by the way! www.singalakesong.com Please check it out and let me know what you think! Back to tonight... my friend Ashley in BC asked if I’d give her a little Skype concert. Luckily, she’s three hours earlier there, so me getting stuck late at work didn’t slow her down any. So it was a fun little ‘show’ and then we spent another hour or so just shootin’ the breeze. Good ol’ fashioned internet style!

And now I am very sleepy.

Please check out the website and say hi there with one of the email forms.

G’night.

Hot off the presses!

Got a fresh box of these babies today!

Ten days till Nashville!

Demo disk at the plant
Well, I managed to get the demo CD artwork and audio master off to the plant on Monday morning. Expect to get the disks back today or tomorrow since it was just a short run of 50 disks. Looking forward to showing you what it looks like.

New website in the works
singalakesong.com will soon be complete. I got a bunch of photography done on the weekend and wrote the text last night. It’s a pretty simple little site so it hopefully won’t take long for my friend David to get it coded.

The site will have a minimal design with a plain white background. So I wanted some portraits that would blend in cleanly, with a seamless white background. So I asked my ol’ pal Google and he pointed me to http://vimeo.com/9926921. What a great practical explanation.

So, on Friday, I hightailed it to a photo shop downtown after work to rent lighting gear or the weekend. Then I spent all Saturday moving furniture and learning how to set up and use the lights! A lot of trial and error, let me tell ya, a LOT! But it was really interesting and fun. That’s how I learn best, when there’s a specific project with a deadline.

My friend Lauren came over on Sunday to pull the trigger which was awesome since she has a much fancier camera than mine! Space was a bit tight in my apartment, but we managed to pull off the lighting setup. I think we got something ridiculous like 700 shots, which should cover it… since I only need four for the website!

Scheduling in progress
My ultimate goal is to get two scheduled meetings a day for the five days I’m in Nashville. So far, I have three… fingers crossed to line up more next week! Most folks are off work the rest of this week and Monday for the Thanksgiving break. So I’ll have a phone flurry ahead of me next Tuesday through Friday.

I’m really excited about what I’ve got lined up so far. My first meeting is with a veteran songwriter and producer who is the SOCAN liaison in Nashville. Let me tell ya, I am so grateful for my membership in SOCAN and the opportunity it gives me to meet this man. Holy cow. I also have appointments booked with two NSAI mentors I’ve already spoke with one of them a couple times on the phone and she’s been very gracious and generous with her time to answer questions and offer advice. I must say, I’ve had nothing but great interactions with the Nashville NSAI folks so far and I’m really looking forward to finally meeting them in person. I haven’t talked to the other fellow yet, but I’m really looking forward to getting his feedback on my songs, since he’s had cuts with some pretty big names! I think I'm a mix of excited and scared half to death about that session.

I should also be able to line up meets with an ASCAP rep through a referral by the owner of SOCAN House, where I’m staying all week (thank you again SOCAN!). Hopefully I can set something up with a BMI rep too.

Boy, am I’m ever getting stoked now!

A [bottle of] Port in the Storm

On Saturday night, Al and his wife and I went over to share a meal with Jo and his family. If you haven’t been following along, Al and Jo are my production partners for new batch of Nashville demos. In addition to being a great guitarist, Jo’s also a great cook. So we were all looking forward to it.

I was also looking at it as a chance to toast all the music we’ve made together these past few months, especially since it would be the first time all three of us were in the same room together for any of it!

After getting the invite a week or so in advance, I started thinking about this bottle of port I’ve been saving for over seven years. I kept it tucked away in a kitchen cupboard with a post-it note saying “DO NOT OPEN” in case any guests happened to get simultaneously curious and thirsty.

It wasn’t a particularly fancy or valuable vintage. In fact, it had quite a modest little price tag. But, over the years, its value had grown immensely in my head.

You see, the bottle had been a gift to my little sister in 2003; and she died in a car crash in 2004. So I’ve been holding onto this bottle with the idea that I would use it to toast some grand accomplishment. My greatest feat. Something that would really honor her memory and our bond as best as I could possibly imagine. 

Only problem was, every time I reached a goal, I’d ponder it and think to myself, “No, this one’s not big enough, I’ll wait.”

In 2006, I ended a lifetime of procrastinated travel dreams and told my boss I was going to Thailand for a while. I also 'popped next door' to Australia, dove the Great Barrier Reef and made a great friend in Melbourne with whom I still keep in touch today. Upon return, I sat down with my buddy Dave to mix my first solo record, which I’d self-produced over the previous two years with two microphones and an old PC in my apartment, and help from some amazing friends and musicians. I launched that in April 2007 and was incredibly happy with it, yet it didn’t seem like enough reason to crack open that bottle of port. Later that year, I also fulfilled a boyhood dream and bought my first motorcycle. No toast. Last October, I concluded over a year of working with amazing indie producer Don Kerr on my second record, and I launched it at a big party for my 40th birthday! A friend flew in from LA to sit in on drums for a couple of songs. Some of my dearest friends joined me on stage. My mother even came to town for the show. I thought for sure I’d break the seal on the bottle that night. But yet again, it just didn’t seem big enough.

So, I'm sure you can imagine, as I was getting ready to leave for dinner at Jo’s on Saturday, it was pretty hard reaching for that bottle. I was thinking “Well, we’ve only finished the demos. It’s not like anything’s come of it yet… can hardly justify toasting that.”

It’s strange, the things we hold onto. Or, more so, the ways we hold onto them.

Finally, it occurred to me that, instead of waiting to toast the perfect ending, maybe Maureen’s memory would be better served by toasting a beginning.

So I brought the bottle along, and that’s what we did. “To Nashville and many more great things ahead.”

Evolution of a Demo Part 2

As promised back in October, here's the updated demo:

http://thecountryroad.blogspot.com/2011/10/evolution-of-demo.html

... scroll to bottom of page for 3rd mp3.

Dear Benjamin Hayslip et al

This was supposed to be just an update, but...

I rented a car tonight to drive to Ajax and sit with Alex to finalize the master for the demo disk. We did exactly the same routine two nights ago. But after taking 'one last listen' it dawned on me that the vocals in one of the songs were too low. It shames me to say that it came down to the wire to realize it. T'was a stressful discovery, since I was scheduled to send the disk off for copies yesterday morning. But Jo and Al came through and got the mix revised in a jiffy. It's been hard doing anything in a jiffy thus far, trading files back and forth online and working around three different schedules. But when the chips were down, the gents stepped up and got 'er done. Thanks guys.

So... I was taking the on-ramp to the 401 when Martina McBride's "I'm Gonna Love You Through It" came on the radio. By the end of the first chorus, I was choked up. By the end of the second verse, there were rivers down my cheeks.

      She said, "I don't think I can do this anymore"
      He took her in his arms and said "That's what my love is for"

I was reminded of something I'd read early today from an interview with producer Anthony Smith:

"A great song goes right past the brain straight to the heart." Indeed. Well done, writers Benjamin Hayslip, Sonya Isaacs and James Yeary.

The lines may not have the same impact written on a page as they do in the context of the story and the performance. So go have a listen. Good stuff.

Time Flies

I’m nursing a rye and ginger or, rather, a rye and ginger is nursing me. Listening to the five final mixes I’m uploading to Alex’s FTP for him to master this week.

I’ve barely seen the light of day all weekend. Recorded a lot of guitar, lead and harmony vocals, bass for one, and keyboards for a couple – accordion, piano and wurli (one of my favorite instruments) thanks to good ol’ MIDI samples!

Alex gave me a drum track for one of them -- a shuffle on snare with brushes. I absolutely loved most of it, but the bridge rhythm didn’t sit right. So, rather than go back to him for a re-do, I edited 20 bars in the middle! Kind of tricky, but kind of fun too! If you knew how straight 4:4 my brain is, you’d be impressed!

It’s 12:09 AM Monday morning. Just got an email from Jo saying he did a lot of work on one of our band mixes today, some of which were the same ideas that I sent him in an email this eve. Nice to know we’re headed in the same direction!

One bummer though: I had second thoughts re the lyrics for another one we’re working on. Similar to the early version of A Great Little Town, this other one doesn’t resolve and needs more work. Realistically, I don’t know if that’s possible in time for this trip. But fingers crossed… you never know.

Work in the morning… time for bed.

Crunch Time

Well, we’re down to crunch time with the demos.

Crunch time? You’re thinking, “You’re not leaving until mid December. ¿cuál es el problema, hombre?”

Well, no problema exactly, but definitely a bunch of stuff that needs to get done now in order for a bunch of other stuff to get done next week, so all the stuff gets done in time for the trip!

I need 1-2 weeks turnaround time for CD duplication and printing. The work will only take a few days, but it’s not like my project is the only one on the shop floor! Then add on a few days or more to send the disks down ahead of me so I don’t have to worry about getting them through customs. They’re demos, so not for sale, but that kind of thing won’t necessarily be understood by officials. And I don’t want to ruin the new art work by stamping ‘promo’ or ‘sample’ on everything.  Before the CDs can be copied, Alex needs all the final mixes to do a nice master EQ of all songs, putting them all at similar volumes etc, so the disk is easy to listen to on any stereo or headphones.

Like most things in life and especially creative endeavors, other things have gotten in the way and delayed bits and pieces. The big one lately was that Jo got called out of town for a week on business which slowed down his final mix work on two of the three full-band demos.

But he whipped one of them into shape since getting home this week; so we’re in good shape there. I did a few takes of vocals last night on that and will edit a final track this weekend. The big stress with this song was that it’s a male-female duet, so I had to line up another singer. But I couldn’t schedule a session until I knew when the final music would be ready. When I got the music this week, wouldn’t you know if, but I couldn’t track down the singer I’d lined up! So today was a bit of a scramble to find someone else. Luckily a songwriter friend put me in touch with a great local singer who’s coming over tonight to record!

After that, I have to do my final vocals and harmonies for the other full-band mix that Jo has (and hopefully will send me over the next 24 hours). There’s also a song of his that I wrote new lyrics for and we’re trying to get that whipped into shape too. It’s a bit out of my range, so we’ll see what comes of it. When I’ve got the final vocals, I FTP those tracks back to Jo and he’ll drop them into his mixes, tweak levels, EQ settings, etc., and then he’ll send those to Alex for the CD mastering!

I must say, internet file sharing has been the key to moving things along. Alex set up an FTP site where we up/download tracks at various stages. It’s pretty cool. With the three of us having entirely different schedules and life demands, it would have been impossible to collaborate in person. There were certainly times when I really just wanted to sit down in a room with a guitar and work on a song with them, but things have worked out pretty well in the end.

The rest of this weekend, I’ll be steaming away on the six acoustic demos. I think two are pretty much done. The others just need some tweaking. One could really use a good piano or lead guitar in addition to my rhythm but I couldn’t line anybody up yet for that since I really just finished the song yesterday!

That song is called The Ballad of Jack Flynn. I’ve had it for a few years, but the chorus melody never really sat quite right with me. This week I tried changing the start from the 5 to the 2 chord, which then lead to a slightly different riff between lines, and that seems to have done the trick. So it’s a last-minute addition to the package.

So, on Monday morning, the plan is to FTP all the final mixes to Alex for a hopefully quick and painless mastering session. 

Alex is already finished the full-band mix for the song he was producing. It sounds great – sort of a Tim McGraw kind of feel. 

I should be able to send a CD off for dupes before the end of the week. Fingers crossed.

Once the demos are out of the way, I have to figure out what the heck to do with the new singalakesong website. Writing, design, photos, oodles of html tech stuff that I don’t even remotely understand! And or course there's always more reading to be done about the Nashville scene.

Okay… onward. I’ve got some chores to do before the music mayhem begins tonight.

Ug. Voicemail.

Today, my horoscope says "Your charisma has a magnetic pull today. You can attract romance, partnership, funding or the object of your desire. Let your light shine on what you really want."

Yesterday was the day that I phoned Tim McGraw's producer. I know... Michael Who?? Anyway, I had a quick little script, left a great voicemail, confident yet friendly, and hung up. Only problem is that the inbound message said to press 1 when done. Uh-oh. What if my message wasn't saved? So I revised my script and called back, apologizing if there were two messages from me, etc. I was so nervous leaving that 2nd one. What do you think I forgot to do at the end? Yup. Didn't press 1. Can't risk leaving 3 messages... Sadly, I'm reminded of George Costanza.

I wonder what yesterday's horoscope said.

Evolution of a demo

I thought I’d share how a recent song has evolved from the first draft through the editing and demo processes.

A Great Little Town in February
Have you ever fallen for someone and felt so different from the day before you met them that it’s like you’ve arrived in a completely new physical place? This song is called “A Great Little Town, You.” Nice, simple little sentiment. I wrote it in February and haven't thought much about it until a week or so ago.

Here’s a recording of it from February, the day it was written:

February Demo – First Draft


Verses 1 and 2 talk about the journey of life so far. The chorus is about discovering a new little "town" that’s different from everything else so far along the road. And verses 3 and 4 go on to talk about the town as the beginning of a new journey.

Now, it’s a catchy little melody and a lovely sentiment that I really like. But from a song-crafting point of view, I thought it could use some work. Here’s why:

There were two key things, one in the lyric and one in the musical structure. With the lyric, there wasn't any certainty or closure to the idea that ‘yes, this is in fact a great place for me to be.’ Structurally, the verse and chorus have almost the same chord progression. The changes happen quicker in the chorus, which brings its energy up with the melody shift, but there’s still a similar feel to the rhythm of the two sections.

Here’s the February verses 3 and 4:
So here I stand
With my feet on new ground
Think I’ll take a look around
There are pathways
I wonder where they lead
Is there one for you and me?

Have I arrived?
Where I dreamed to be one day
In a place where I can stay
There are tingles
All up and down my spine
Have I put the past behind?

A Great Little Town in October
With some time away from the lyric and the emotions at the time, I could look at the song more objectively. My critique of the verses above boils down to this: “So here I stand” sounds final, whereas “Have I arrived?” is clearly not. Well, there were questions in the “So here I stand” verse, but with still more questions in the subsequent “Have I arrived?” verse, the song wasn’t progressing. There were chronology and concept issues there for me.

I tackled both those issues by editing one of the verses into a bridge that would resolve the concept, while the musical and rhythmic change would add the break I thought was needed before going into the final chorus.

Here’s the October re-write as verse 3 and bridge:
Have I arrived?
Where I dreamed to be one day
In a place where I can stay
There are tingles
All up and down my spine
Have I put the past behind?

BRIDGE
Here I stand on new ground
I like the look of what I found, this town
I’ve seen where a lot of wrong turns lead
But this turn is right for me, finally

Now, the bridge added certainty and closure to the idea that was missing before. I also tweaked a few other words here and there (including a nice new line in the choruses) and refined the music, most notably in the intro.

Here’s the October demo:

October Demo – Edited Lyrics & Arrangement


I played this one for my production partner Alex, asking him to do a better mix of it for me. He'll also record a nice little shuffle on the drums, which will make the song more dynamic and really help the chorus spring to life.

November Demo

As promised, here's the final demo. Differences since October are a little remixing and mastering and addition of drums, which put a nice bounce in its step.

Bye-bye Baby

Apologies for the headline trickery... I'm not leaving yet. Just my bike. In the big scheme of things, it's a wee little thing. But every fall, there's a sad day indeed for me when my bike takes a ride on its own... into winter storage.

My bike rides into winter storage.

I just checked the weather in Nashville and it's 16°C (61°F) and sunny, so a little more two-wheel friendly than it is here today. In Toronto, it's 9°C (48°F) and windy with some nasty-looking clouds getting ready to unleash. Though, I do a little bright spot trying to fight its way through. Still, a very autumn vibe in the air. I half expect to see Ichabod Crane ride by. I just hope it's not on a bike!

This is my first bike. A 2005 Suzuki V-Strom DL650. I guess every little boy wants a motorcycle. But I never did anything about it until 4 years ago. I'd just gotten back from a couple months in Thailand where I'd been renting various little scooters to roam around the country side. One ride in particular, I was roaming aimlessly on a gorgeous snake of a road through the mountains north of Pai. Absolutely incredible views, luscious tree canopies so that you're riding through a thick green tunnel half the time. And omigosh the bends! It was the biggest scooter I'd been able to find on the entire trip. I think it was a 150 CC! And I was riding with a new pal from Hawaii on the back! We nearly ran out of gas. I think that was the ride that got me hooked. The little boy was back, and he wanted a motorcycle.

When I got back to Toronto, I went to see a buddy's band play and they had an old motorcycle video playing on the wall behind them. I was entranced! I heard the band play, but I don't think I caught even a glimpse of the boys on stage! After their set, I asked Mike the drummer what the video was. He said it was a documentary from the 70s called On Any Sunday, following two groups of motocross riders around the weekend racing circuit. One of the pro-am guys was Steve McQueen! He rode a Triumph.

Anyway, next thing you know, I'm surfing the web looking for safety courses and licensing info. Come spring, I had the V-Strom, and I've put a whole lotta miles on it since. About 10,000 km each season.

The coolest ride so far was 1,301 km (808 mi) from Toronto, Ontario to Deals Gap, North Carolina in September 2010. The reason for the trip was the last 11 miles of US 129 in Tennessee. They call it the Tail of the Dragon. 318 turns in 11 miles. It reminded me of the mountain ride in Pai, except different trees, a bigger engine and a lot more fun.

I'd had a few stalls between West Virginia and Knoxville, so I stopped into a shop to get it checked out. The guy said it was strange for a V-Strom to have any trouble, so figured I must have gotten some dirty fuel along the way. He cleaned and tuned the injection system, popped a new air filter on for good measure, and I was on my way. Of course, it was getting late by then and, for the last hour or so, it was pretty slow riding in the dark on a hairy little mountain road. I was thinking, if I make it out of this alive, I don't know if I'll have the nerve to try the Dragon tomorrow. Just as I was thinking maybe I was on the wrong track, I saw the Deals Gap hotel sign. Could not have felt more relieved!

I pulled up and pitched my tent in the back field (something like $5-10 a night versus a room). A few Harley guys invited me over for a cold one with them and let me tell ya, did that beer ever go down good! So I told them about my ride and that I was a bit spooked about trying the Dragon. One of them asked "which way did you ride in?" I pointed up over the hill and they all let out big belly laughs. Turns out I'd just had my first ride on the Dragon – in the dark!

Well... all this talk of motorcycles and, wouldn't you know it, looks like the sun's coming out. Too bad my wheels are 40 km (25 mi) away by now.

Do, not think.

Tea & cookies
Two days ago, I heard from my friend Ashley who'd been in Equador for most of the past year studying meditation and organic farming. She took such a big leap leaving everything here behind, that it's hard not to be inspired by her. She was back home for a jam-packed two-week visit and wanted to know if I could squeeze her in. Of course I could. We met for tea and cookies at the Only Cafe in the east end. It isn't the only cafe, it's just called The Only. Strangely enough, so is another one in Peterborough! I guess that means neither of them actually is.

But back to the tea and cookies...

So, with Ash being the spritual, motivational seeker type that she is, I told her about a little tailspin I'd gotten myself into last week, how I'd been doubting myself and feeling scared of what lay ahead, and of somehow screwing it all up. She said "doubt isn't real." Simple as that. What a lovely and sussinct way of nipping that in the bud! So we went on to have a great chat about how progress comes from action – from continually doing a little bit more all the time, and not getting caught up in thought. I've decided to do less thinking.

So what have I been doing since the infamous Revelation Of The Schedule 11 days ago? Not updating the blog, that's for sure! Well, last week was a bit of a write-off. But I'm back on track this week.

Telling stories
There was another NSAI meeting this Tuesday night. I didn't bring a demo for feedback and there was no guitar there, so I couldn't play one live. One fella played one, and we each gave our two cents on that. But mostly we talked about story telling, progressing the story from one verse to the next, and so on. Dan played 4 or 5 Nashville hits as examples and we discussed their lyrics, poetic devices, stories, characters, etc. It was interesting.

So that session inspired me to buckle down and make some progress with verses for a new song I've been mulling over for a while. The idea started with one line that I came up with on a motorycle ride a few months ago. I often sing gibberish melodies as I'm riding along and they eventually turn into real words. It's a cool way to focus on melodies and not get caught up in what the chords are – perhaps another way to look at doing vs thinking! I recently discovered that sitting down with the guitar too soon can limit my melody possibilities, because I end up jamming the early melody idea into the bounds of my basic rhythm guitar skills. So I've been taking a more fluid and patient approach.  

The chorus is essentially a fun little folksy way of saying 'I'll go any distance to be with you' or 'nothing can keep me from you.' So this week, after the NSAI session, I decided to come up with a story. I've been working on the lyrics and melody in my head everwhere I've been in the past four days. On the train, in coffee shops, the grocery store, here at home. Came up with a nice little story about a couple who've been in love pretty much their entire lives, since they were little kids and didn't even know what love was. Amazing life-long friends turned into lovers. I managed to resist the tempation to pick up the guitar until last night, only after I felt like I really had a nice little unusual melody worked out. Then it ended up being a fairly quick process of writing the guitar part – and, it's a part that I never would have wrtten if I hadn't taken my time on the vocal melody.

Slabs of stone
I love how a melody often tells me what the words will be. I once heard an Innuit carver say that he never knows what he will make from the slab of stone in front of him. He said that there's a spirit in each piece and he just helps it out into its final shape. I thought that was pretty awesome and it reminded me of how songs often come from somewhere inside without me really having a specific goal in mind. Even now that I'm being more objective and proactive with writing, there's still an element of that mysterious discovery process with the lyrics and story rising up out of the melody. It's magic.

I wrote the first verse on the train ride home yesterday and just finished the second and the bridge tonight. I'm really digging it and will bring an acoustic demo of it to Nashville. I'll likely run it by my buddies Alex and Mike first, though. They tend to be good sounding boards for lyrics.

So... 51 days to go and I've got another song.

Doing. Not thinking.

My first step south

I just wanted to look back at how this whole idea
started bouncing around in my head.

In May, I went to a SOCAN event that offered an opportunity to meet a publisher for 10 whole luscious minutes. That didn’t sound like enough time to accomplish much of anything. But, looking back, you'd be surprised what you can take away from 10 minutes if you’re really curious.

The fellow I met was from Ole’s office in Los Angeles. He'd been writing, producing and pitching songs on his own for years before Ole recruited him. He also had a lot of experience in his earlier days as an indie artist. So he's seen songs from pretty much every perspective. Better yet, he was happy to talk, and I was certainly eager to listen.

How am I supposed to sell that?

I asked "What about demos? I've heard that producers just want to hear basic guitar demos." He said "a producer might but, as a publisher, how am I supposed to sell that?" He said a strong pitch is all about the whole package. I thought: okay, the song’s in the box, the production is the wrapping. Gotta have some nice wrapping.

He also said the biggest thing to understand getting started in pitching songs is something that took him years figure out when he first moved from artist to publisher/producer: don't write a song and wonder what artist could do it. Instead, write a song specifically for someone and figure out how to pitch it to them."

With these gems in my pocket, I left the meeting with all cylinders firing. I felt really energized and positive for the first time in a long while.

The fun bit

I'd recently fallen in love with a new country record. So I started researching the artist and found out that we had a similar interest in motorcycles. Two days later I had a new song. This was a whole new writing experience for me – I’d never written a song for someone else to play and I’d never approached the writing process itself like I did this time.

Most of my songs have a definite rock flavor and, with a few exceptions, my lyric style has been poetic and sometimes abstract. Quite different from the more linear story-telling style that’s predominant in the country genre.

I’ve recorded two of my own CDs and have written a bunch more songs besides, but they’re all about things in my life, experiences, struggles, hopes, etc., that are very personal to me and the people around me. I rarely “decide” to write a song. It’s more like the ideas are bubbling under the surface as I’m going through the experience. Like they are forming in my subconscious and then come out in a flurry as a resolution or understanding of what’s been going on. It’s a sort of mysterious sounding process, I admit. Years ago, I was really adamant about leaving them as they were in whatever form the muse presented them. But in recent years, I’ve spent much more time crafting and revising both music and lyrics.

Anyway, that was a bit of a ramble. The main point being that the way I wrote songs in the past was entirely different from the approach I took with this one.

I approached this new song like it was my day job (I’m a marketing writer). It didn't bubble up from under the surface. I sat down and picked an audience and a subject. I did research to fill in any details I didn’t know. I really made a plan for the song and stuck to it – how the verses would progress, what the bridge would do. Whereas most of my own songs “just come out,” I had to put a lot more effort into this one. The main chunk of it came in the first two days, but I’ve been tweaking it off and on for a couple months now. It's been work. But, you know something? It's also been a lot of fun! And I’m really proud of the result.

You’re probably thinking “Hey buddy, this would be a good place to post an MP3.” But I must admit to being a bit superstitious about that. I want the artist I wrote it for to hear it first. And I don’t even know how to go about doing that yet!

The scary bit

So the song was written. Then what?

Well, then the publisher's words started ringing in my ears again. How am I going to sell it? How was I going to wrap the package? I can sing well and play guitar, but my git skills are strictly rhythm. And I’m just starting to fumble my way around a piano again after many years away from it.

I had to find a way to make a really good production. But I couldn’t afford to go into a studio. I felt with all my heart that it was a catalyst for bigger things ahead – things that I’d dreamed of for a long time but was afraid to pursue. I felt fantastic about the song and the future possibilities. But when it came to present reality, what I felt was desperate. I had to ask for help.

Needing help is a scary notion. What if it doesn’t come?

Now, a lot of people would think this is just foolish talk. Who the heck wouldn’t ask for help? Well, let me tell ya, there are plenty of folks out there who don’t ask for help, even when they need it most. There are oodles of reasons. Depression, low confidence, lack of knowledge about what’s out there or where to look, fear, feeling overwhelmed, etc. For people like that [like me], sometimes it’s just easier to hide.

Breaking out of that pattern was my first step toward Nashville.

Rolling with the punches

Friday was a pretty crap day. I woke up to a wee home-maintenance crisis and had to phone my boss saying I wouldn't be coming in. That was also stressful because there's a lot going on there right now, and they need me for it. After spending half the day dealing with the apartment, I got two emails from my music-production partners that put me more on edge.

They said the demo workload for the Nashville trip had become too heavy. Jo said "Why so many songs?" Al said "I'd prefer to do fewer songs well than ram a full bunch through." This surprised me because I didn't think much had changed. But after I'd put everything together in a single status report, the list looked a lot longer in writing that it had in our heads. 

The initial plan
I wanted to bring 7-8 of my newest songs to Nashville and perhaps a few marketable tunes from my own indie albums. I thought, in the event that I'm lucky enough to find some interested ears on this first trip or even over the next year, a good range of material in one place would be better than just a couple of songs.

So the initial plan was to have full productions of 4 songs and acoustic-vocal demos of another 3-4. By 'full' demos, I mean pretty much what you'd hear on a band's CD: drums, bass, multiple guitars, perhaps keys, lead and backing vocals. Then, last month, I wrote a new song that we felt was strong enough to add and Al wanted to try a full production of it. I obviously loved that idea. So we were up to 5 full demos.

But September had snuck by and we were now behind schedule. In hindsight, I don't know if we were ever really on schedule, but we'd only now realized it. The clock was ticking and stress was building.

At this stage in the game, there's a lot of studio work: producing, playing, recording, editing, mixing, pondering and sometimes redoing parts of it. With the songs written, my job right now is listening to what Al and Jo produce, giving feedback and describing any changes I think are needed. 

As a song moves farther through the process, the later changes are usually minor. But the first draft is a whole different animal. The producer takes my rough sketch recording of guitar/piano and vocal, and puts his mark on it with a full arrangement -- which could mean changes to tempo, key signature and even style treatments. Then I listen to the producer's work and decide if I'm comfortable with how it represents the core song. It can be a stressful step.

Keep in mind that we're all on different schedules with different life demands. There are also day jobs and wives and kids and parents and friends and gigs and volunteer work and dogs and bills and chores. So none of our music collaboration is ever done in the same room or at the same time of day. We work primarily by email and occasionally by phone.

Re-evaluating the situation
After looking at what was left to do on these 5 songs, plus new lyrics and vocals for one that Jo had brought to the project, I decided to cut 2 songs from the full-demo list. This was a bit of a let-down, but I'm so excited about the top two songs (which will also be the most time consuming), that I didn't want anything jeopardizing the quality of their tracks.

Then I did something absolutely revolutionary. I made a schedule! Just imagine. All those years of business school finally paying off. Key deadlines for various parts of the process -- drum tracks for song 1, guitar tracks for song 2, vocal sessions, and so on. It worked wonders. Less work + more clarity = less stress. 

For the next two weeks, the production focus is on the two top songs. Then it'll shift to the odds and ends needed for the other full demos, which are already close to being final mixes.

In the meantime, I continue writing and tweaking lyrics in preparation for the final vocal sessions, and working on song selections, arrangements and guitar parts for the simpler acoustic demos.

The plan is to have everything mixed and mastered by the end of October, with a little buffer time factored in, plus two weeks for CD dupes and printing, and another week for shipping to my Nashville friend at the end of November.

This all got sorted late Friday.

On Saturday, I sent Jo a demo of a chorus edit I made following the NSAI group feedback. 

Sticking to the schedule.

Taking criticism

aka Welcoming help

<Tuesday, Sept 27>

Twiddled thumbs for an hour or so after work waiting for rush-hour to subside. Incidentally, rush hour could use a new name since it spans 3:00 to 6:30 in the Toronto area. Finally hopped on the motorcycle at 6:34 only to abandon the cherry-red glow of the expressway parking lot shortly thereafter. Wove my way through alternate routes and somehow managed to arrive just a couple minutes late for my first NSAI local meeting in Brampton. Hooray for motorcycles.

NSAI stands for Nashville Songwriters Association International. I’ve only been a member for a few months yet, but it’s already been worth it. Got some great advice over the phone from the friendly folks at HQ, and there are plenty of great resources on the website: blogs, webcast libraries, articles, recommended reading lists, all sorts of good stuff. I’m really looking forward to meeting the Nashville gang in December and highly recommend you join if you’re an aspiring songwriter.

Meanwhile, back in Brampton... a small and friendly group of writers welcomed me to the fold. First part of the meeting recapped topics from a recent webcast. Then they asked what I was up to and what I hoped to get out of the whole experience. They’ve all been to Nashville, and a couple have regular cowriters there, so it was nice to get their insight.

Then we took turns playing new songs and getting feedback. Everyone else just played guitar, so I felt a bit funny playing the full-on demo CD, but they welcomed it and the mix got great reviews!

When it was done, everyone had a go at something they liked and something they didn’t quite get about it. Karl said he was caught off guard by a lyric in the bridge. So we talked about an alternate line I had for the first verse, and they all agreed that would be a better setup of the song and the bridge. This was great, since I’d been thinking the same thing myself and it was encouraging to hear other people say that I was on the right track with the edits.

Then, something I wasn’t expecting at all: Gayle asked, “What’s a v twin?” I told her “It’s a kind of engine. The song’s a motorcycle metaphor.” Lights when on for her. “Oh, a motorcycle! You should really say that in the lyrics.”

Shut up and listen

I kind of shrugged this off, thinking the audience I wrote it for would know their engines. What a dumb thing to say or even think. I wasn’t a jerk about it (at least I sure hope I wasn’t), but I definitely could’ve been more openly accepting of the comment instead of trying to justify why the existing lyrics made sense. Because, hey, if it wasn’t clear to a fresh set of ears, then it just wasn't clear. Thankfully, I ended up taking a step back when I got home and seeing her point. Made a nice little edit that really ties the whole song together much more tightly now. Lessons learned: don't narrow your audience with an esoteric lyric; and shut up and listen.

Thank you, Gayle.


Another good suggestion came from Dan. My chorus ended on the 5 chord of the scale, so it felt to him like it was left hanging at the end and needed to resolve. In my head, it did resolve because the chorus was followed by a guitar break that started on the 1 chord. But, again, to an objective listener, the resolve wasn’t really there in the lyric.

Shaun built on Dan's comment and noted that I didn’t have the exact song title in the chorus, or anywhere in the song for that matter. This, I’m learning, is a rather large faux pas in country music, especially if you want a song to have commercial appeal. He said, “Let’s say people hear it and like it. They’ll never know what to ask for on a radio request line!” Pretty solid point there.

So I stewed on that for a while and decided to add a bar to the end of the chorus and write a new lyric that resolved the concept, with a final note that resolved the melody. And, wouldn’t you know it, the song is much better now for it.

What's even more interesting about chorus fix is that I'd recently finished another song and done all the same stuff on my own without thinking about it. So, it's good to know that I do have the right instincts. Also good to learn that I should always go back and try to make every song better -- especially the ones I think are fine as-is.

By the time I brought this song to the NSAI meeting, it’d been pretty much ‘complete’ for several weeks. Even though I wanted honest, constructive feedback, perhaps I didn’t really expect them to find any cracks in the dam. Silly me, standing in a puddle.

Dare I say it's water-tight now?

Maybe one day you’ll hear it on your local station. And, if you want to phone in a request, don’t worry, the title's in the chorus where it belongs.

Start somewhere. Anywhere.

I set up the blog account last week and have since been awaiting inspiration for a poignant first post. It may escape the untrained eye, so I will let you all in on the secret: the poignancy has not revealed itself. Or maybe it has and my untrained eye I missed it. In any event, the longer I wait to get started, the farther I'll fall behind... Same ol' story.

I never understood why people blogged. I just didn't get it. There are probably oodles of reasons. But, now that I'm starting my own, perhaps I have an inkling of at least one reason.  

I reckon if I can keep a regular account of what I'm up to, and put it out there for anyone and everyone on the worldwide thingamajig to see, then maybe I'll feel a little extra bit of responsibility for keeping up with what I'm up to. Every little bit helps.

If you're the curious type, then you're probably wondering "What's this guy up to that he wants our help keeping up with?'

So, what's this guy up to?

The short answer is that I'm finally heading to Nashville to try and pitch some songs. 

The long answer is a lot longer. And perhaps one that I'll really just be discovering for myself along with you.

And, with that in mind, calling this blog post "the beginning" is a teeny bit misleading. So I'll likely be following up with some flashback/retrospective posts as well as regular to-do and what's-done lists, etc.

When it's all said and done (supposin' it ever is), it'll be a nice little journal for me to look back on when I'm writing my first Grammy acceptance speech.  

Now some of you are probably thinking "Pfft. This guy's pretty full of himself." To you I ask: what would be the point of aiming to not write a Grammy acceptance speech? I think we've all got that one covered.

So it begins...