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

FREE GIFT

Hey, ya’ll! At the bottom of today’s post, I’m going to let you know about some free stuff I’m giving away to all of you great Man vs. Row subscribers. Now, on to today’s post…

It’s easy to start chasing rhymes. This is when you write a line with a setup rhyme and, instead of concentrating on what needs to be said, you just try to get the payoff rhyme to work.

For example, line 2 of your verse says, “You’re the one I love” setting up an “of”-sounding rhyme in line 4. It’s easy to spend lines 3 and 4 just getting to, “Girl, we fit like a glove,” without really stopping to consider what the thought behind the lines should be.

The thought behind the line is more important than the rhyme at the end of the line.

It requires intentionality, discipline and time to build the habit of putting the thought behind the line first. But it’s worth it. It helps your song to be more thoughtful (less surface) and more interesting (less cliche’). Figure out the THOUGHT first, then figure out the rhyme.

God Bless,

Brent

MAN VS. ROW… LIVE!

I’m excited to be speaking on song idea discovery and development at the 2014 Songwriting And Music Business Conference in Nashville, TN! Click the image below to find out more. I’d love to see you there!

FREE GIFT

As a way to say “thank you” to all of you who subscribe to Man vs. Row by email, I’m going to give away some cool stuff in July (2014). If you subscribe to MvR, I’ll send you a free report, “10 Things The Pro Knows.” I’ll also send you the guitar/vocal of “Crickets,” which is the title track of Joe Nichols’ current album. You’ll get to hear the song as Joe heard it when he decided to record it. You’ll also receive the lyric file of the song- and this lyric file includes “Baxter’s Boneyard” – all the lines that DIDN’T make it into the song (see if you agree with our choices). It’s something nobody else has seen, and I think it’s pretty cool. But, again, this gift is only for those who subscribe to Man vs. Row by E-MAIL. These gifts will be sent by email, so if I don’t have your email address, I can’t send it to you. God Bless!

YOU VS…

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

Have you seen those Humane Society commercials about pet adoption?  You know- the ones with Sarah McLachlan singing “Angel?”  Those are sure hard to watch- just heartbreaking.  And you know why?  It’s the PICTURES.

If those commercials only had the music and somebody TELLING you ABOUT sad, neglected animals, they wouldn’t have nearly the same impact.  Telling us about abused animals transmits information to our brains.  But SHOWING us abused animals transmits information to our hearts.

And that is why we should put pictures in the lyrics of our songs.

God Bless,

Brent

YOU VS…