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.