Happy Thanksgiving! I thought it would be cool if we as songwriters could take a moment to be thankful for what songwriting has brought to our lives. It could be our own songwriting or songwriting by other people. Maybe it was a song somebody wrote for you. I’ll start.

I’m thankful that songwriting brought me to Nashville, where I met my wife. I was roommates with her brother (a cowriter), and she came to visit. Thank you, songwriting!!!

I’m thankful for all the hours I spent back home with my best friend, Tim Meitzen, camping and writing songs around a campfire. Those nights of creating and dreaming are some of my favorite memories.

I’m thankful for all the hours I’ve been blessed to spend in the writing room with good people and great talents. I’m thankful for all the laughter in those rooms. I’m thankful for some of the tears in those rooms. I’m thankful for the honesty in those rooms. And for the private concerts when I get to write with great singers!

I’m thankful for the songs that act like time capsules. I’m thankful that I can listen to worktapes and demos and remember the fun I had writing those songs or the people and situations that inspired them.

I’m thankful that my kids and grandkids (Lord willing) will be able to listen to my songs and remember me and know me through them.

I’m thankful that the other day I got to hear my wife and kids upstairs having “praise time.” They were banging away on instruments and singing along to a gospel song I helped write. That was a blessing.

I’m thankful that I live in a country where I can pack up, cross state lines, and chase a crazy dream. In a lot of countries throughout a lot of world history, people have been TOLD what their jobs will be. I’m thankful for this freedom.

I’m thankful for everyone who has ever told me they like one of my songs, or that it moved them.

I’m thankful for every person who has believed in me- everyone from my parents to friends back home to publishers who’ve signed me to deals.

I’m thankful for every artist, indie or major, who has ever sung my words.

And I’m thankful for the Man vs. Row community. You’re awesome.  What are YOU thankful for today?  I’d love to read your comments!

God Bless and Enjoy the Journey,

Brent

Brent Baxter is a hit songwriter with cuts by Alan Jackson, Randy Travis, Lady Antebellum, Joe Nichols, Gord Bamford, Ruthie Collins, Ray Stevens, and more. He’s written a top 5 hit in the US and a #1 in Canada… so far.