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.