What happened in Nashville?

Where does the time go? I’ve been back in Toronto for six weeks after Nashville Trip Numero Uno and have clearly not held up my end of the blog bargain. High time for some catch-up.

You already know about Sunday and Monday, so moving right along…

Tuesday morning
I had a great meeting with the SOCAN rep. We sat around in a café and had a nice long talk about Nashville, what I wanted to do, and how that fit in with how things generally worked there. It was a great orientation session; I got to ask questions and soak up some wisdom and enjoy the nice warm welcome to Music City from a guy who’s had just a wee bit of success in the business, in Toronto, New York and Los Angeles. Very cool experience indeed.

We didn’t listen to any songs, but I left him with a CD. He complimented my song titles, which he said were really an important part of the puzzle that a lot of unknown writers don’t pay enough attention to. He said I had some really unique and creative ones that made him curious about the songs, which he said was half the battle right there if your CD’s sitting on the desk of someone who’s looking for a song.

We talked about a lot of the things I’ve rambled about in other posts, so there’s no need to get too deep into it here. But one really cool thing he said in the end was “Sure, there’s a certain way things work here, but there’s also room to move within them. Whatever’s different about you and your writing can be an advantage. Don’t think about what you can’t bring that Nashville has. Think about what you do bring that Nashville doesn’t have.” Well, that’s about as close as I can get to a perfect quote after all these weeks, but certainly a good perspective.

Tuesday afternoon
My meeting at ASCAP was a bit of a train wreck. We started out  getting acquainted, he asked where I was from and what I wanted to do, etc. Nice, friendly guy. Tons of experience and success in various genres as a writer and producer in Canada, the US and UK. After a while, he said, “Okay, let me hear what you’ve got.”

I handed him the CD and he popped it into his stereo. Nothing. Tried the computer. Nothing.

“No problem,” I said. “I’ve got it all on my website for times just like this.” “Great,” he said and gave me the helm. But I’m a bit frazzled and can’t remember the password to the secure page on my website with all the demos! In between sweated bullets, I manage to find the password in my email and get the song rolling before long. It felt like a lifetime.

I few bars into the song, I notice his foot tapping and that he’s grooving to the beat. Phew.

“Got a lyric sheet?” he asked. Of course not. Why would I have a lyric sheet? It’s only common sense. Truth is that I did print lyric sheets, and they were sitting perfectly safe and sound back on the table at SOCAN House. Very smrt.

Luckily I’ve got lyric sheets on my website too! Ten seconds later he’s reading along.

“Ok, make it stop.”

Now, that is a phrase I think I’d be more comfortable hearing in bed with a woman than while having a song reviewed in Nashville.

Then the schoolin’ began. In the moment, it felt like he was tearing the song to shreds but, looking back, it wasn’t really all that bad. He had two key criticisms:

1.  The vocal wasn’t clear enough for a demo. “You’ve got to articulate so every word is understood.” Between my accent and vocal style, he couldn’t make out the words. In hindsight, I think we also overproduced the music which also made it harder to hear the vocal. This may sound like a little thing but, if you're pitching a song and the song can't be heard, 'tis a rather large obstacle.

2. “You started with the 2nd verse. I see it all the time. You can’t assume the listener knows what you know. You have to explain everything.”

He went into more details and made similar comments about the second song. We never played a third. Instead I got a condensed version of his blog and book about how to write a hit song. After all, that's the business he's in – finding and promoting #1 singles. He’s not looking for a lovely track #9. So I took plenty of notes.

Then he sent me on my way with a pat on the back, some compliments about structure and melody to ease the sting, and an invite to show him new songs in six months.

Lone survivor miraculously walks away from train wreck.

Tuesday evening
Open mic at Douglas Corner. The night is organized in rounds. Each set had four writers on stage together taking turns playing songs until everybody’s played two.

Number 26 again! Same as at the Bluebird. Can you believe it? My Bluebird friend Paula was kind enough to keep me company again, and I chat a bit off and on with Will, the writer at the next table.

Wednesday morning
Off to the Nashville Songwriters Association office for my first of two song-evaluation meetings. The evaluator, like everyone else so far in this town, was amazingly warm and friendly. She has over three decades of radio experience under her belt, in everything from DJing to regional program direction. She knows what makes for popular songs.

We reviewed four songs and the feedback was amazing. It was the first time I sat down with someone and really picked apart my lyrics. It reminded me of a creative prose course I took in university.

Two of the songs we reviewed were the ones from my train wreck the day before. But today’s work-shopping approach quickly put the ASCAP criticism in context. The songs didn’t have to be abandoned, they just needed some focused editing here and there.

This session also reminded me of something I’d read in preparing for the trip: that you’re going to get a lot of different feedback about each song, so you have to take it all in and considering everything… and then decide what to do.

Here’s an example of the kind of feedback that I got in this session:

One song is a male-female duet where the couple is relating how they sometimes fight but always realize how precious they are to each other and then make up. A pretty simple notion, I thought, but the idea of the conflict wasn’t coming across clearly. To an objective listener, it seemed like the information about “the fight” came from out of the blue in the bridge and didn’t seem to naturally follow everything that had been said so far in the song. This is what the ASCAP fellow called “writer’s assumption.”

We also talked about some specific word choices here and there. Overall, she really liked the melody and most of the lyrics. The story just needed to be shaped a bit more. This was the song with the unclear vocal from the day before, so I asked about that. She said she understood the lyrics easily enough and thought she would have even without a lyric sheet (I remembered to bring them to this meeting!), although it was hard to say for sure. She did say that the production of the song really wasn’t necessary and, even if I wanted to keep it as a full band demo, there was no need to keep the guitar solo. That was purely a matter of artistic performance and added no value to the song as a writer’s demo.

We reviewed three other songs in similar detail. One appeared to need about the same amount of work and the other two just needed little tweaks. I learned that a few phrases I used would never be used in southern speech and were therefore stumbling blocks for a Nashville publishing audience. I would never have known this talking to people back in Toronto. This lead into a discussion about the value of co-writing, particularly the possibility of finding a local writer who would instinctively know things like that.

Overall, I got a much better review than I’d expected. If yesterday was a train wreck, then today was just a pause at the railway crossing.

Wednesday night
One of my SOCAN House hosts was playing in a pro round at Douglas Corner, so they invited me to join them for the show.

Daryl Burgess and AJ Masters were the main writers for the night and played in both of the evening’s rounds. Two other pairs of younger writers took stools 2 and 4 for each round, though I didn’t make a note of their names at the time, sorry.

What great songs! All night. Amazing.

Thursday
My second NSAI meet was with a fella who's had several cuts and top ten hits. We talked for a half hour or more before turning on a song. Lots of great insight and things to consider. Co-writing was a big one. For instance, this guy only writes lyrics. He said he doesn't even think about the music side of it. Turns out most songs in Nashville are co-writes between at least two people, sometimes three or more people.

So we managed to squeeze two songs in and holy cow, the things he instantly sees in a lyric. We talked about things like tone, plot, narrator… again, like a creative writing course, though with broader strokes than the day before.

As I was leaving, I bumped into Will from the night before at Douglas Corner and he told me about an open mic at Fiddle & Steel.

I spent the afternoon working on some edits, met Paula for a bite to eat and then it was off to Fiddle & Steel. This wasn’t so much a writer’s night as it was no holds barred open mic. So there was a mix of originals and covers and even a bit of celtic fiddling. One fella was an amazing writer. I wish I could remember his name now… it may be in my journal… I’ll have a look-see and post later if I find it. I think he was from Texas.

It’s been a while since I was in a bar with smoking. When I got home, I smelled like cigarettes and beer, which got me thinking on a song… so I burned the midnight oil on that.

Friday
Spent a couple hours finishing off the new song and recording a rough demo. Then went off in search of breakfast and had a relaxing stroll downtown.

Got an email from the SOCAN rep saying he really liked two of the songs I gave him and that, while the could use some tightening up, he thought they were strong enough that he’d try to set me up with a more experienced local co-writer! Awesome.

That night, I was just a hair too late to sign up for the Commodore’s writer’s night, but I stuck around for the show. I think they’ve got one every night of the week, so I’ll be playing there next visit for sure.

Saturday
I spent the afternoon with Will and his buddy Rocky. We played at Broaster’s Chicken (there are writers rounds everywhere in this town!) and Ri’chard’s and, in between, we hung out at Rocky’s jamming and shootin’ the breeze.

After saying so-long to the boys, it was back to the Bluebird in hope of catching the feature act. I had no idea who it was, but I knew it would be good. And boy was it ever. Skip Ewing with Barry Walsh on piano and Vinnie Santoro on drums. There were only a few tickets left at the door and the fine folks at the BB managed to squeeze me in and find a chair – right next to Skip! He had a video crew there, so I'm in a lot of the shots, trying to blend into the background.

They played one of the most beautiful songs ever: Something That We Do. Skip co-wrote it with Clint Black and, while Clint obviously recorded a great version of it, there was something magical about the way Skip played it at the Bluebird this particular night. There were tears in my eyes. 





And that was my last day in Nashville. Sunday, I was on a plane back to YYZ.

So... what the heck have I been up to since? I promise it won’t take nearly so long to fill you in on that.

Cheers,
ML

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.”