All posts by Brent Baxter

WordPlay, Write Like A Pro

Wordplay Thursday #168

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Welcome to Wordplay Thursday!

“New Year’s Eve is __________.”

Here’s a writing prompt for you. It’s a simple fill-in-the-blank. You can use one word or several. Feel free to get as crazy, genre-appropriate, or as imaginative as you want. The point is to get the creative juices flowing. And it’s a good thing to dig deeper, so don’t stop at the first idea that hits you. Try coming up with at least five things- and try to get IMAGERY in at least one of your plays!

“New Year’s Eve is  ________.”

I’ll give you an example to get you started:

“New Year’s Eve is a midnight confetti kiss.”

I’d love to hear what you come up with, so please share in the comments. Oh, and please keep your posts below an R-rating. It’s a family show, after all!

Wordplay Thursday is a fun way to generate new song ideas- and who doesn’t need more song ideas?  If you’d like an inside look at the techniques I use to find song idea after song idea- ideas that YOU can use, too- I have just thing for you!

CLICK HERE TO FIND GREAT SONG IDEAS!

God Bless and Enjoy the Journey,

Brent

SWP 4

The C.L.I.M.B.

The C.L.I.M.B. #46: Why Consumers Don’t Care

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On today’s episode: Christmas, Johnny’s absurd travel schedule, and why consumer’s don’t care when you say “check out my song!”

theclimbFINAL

The C.L.I.M.B. Podcast Episode 46 is live and ready for download!

In this week’s episode, Johnny and I tell you why consumers don’t care about YOUR music.  Yeah, that sounds harsh, I know.  But we tell you why they don’t care so you can start to get them to care A LOT.  You’re welcome.  (Be sure and subscribe so you never miss another helpful episode!)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE C.L.I.M.B. ON ITUNES

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE C.L.I.M.B. ON STITCHER (for Android)

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN ON THE C.L.I.M.B. WEBSITE

The C.L.I.M.B. stands for “Creating Leverage In The Music Business,” and that’s the goal of this podcast- to help singers, indie artists and songwriters like YOU to create leverage in the music business.  What is leverage?  It’s “strategic advantage; the power to act effectively.”  We want to help YOU make stuff happen in the music biz.

It’s exciting to see how folks are digging the show- and being helped on their CLIMB.  If YOU like it, we’d really appreciate it if you’d subscribe and leave a rating or review on iTunes.  Positive ratings and reviews help us to climb the iTunes rankings so more people become aware of the show and we can help more singers, songwriters, and indie artists like you make The CLIMB!The CLIMB iTunes review 3

CLICK HERE TO LEAVE AN iTUNES REVIEW

Climb reviews

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE C.L.I.M.B. ON ITUNES

If you aren’t on iTunes, you can listen to the show at our website:

TheCLIMBshow.com

If you have an Android phone, you can subscribe to the show on:

Stitcher

Thanks for your time. It means a lot to me, and hopefully it’ll be a lot of help for you!

God Bless and keep C.L.I.M.B.ing,

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.

WordPlay, Write Like A Pro

Wordplay Thursday #167

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Welcome to Wordplay Thursday!

“Christmas is __________.”

Here’s a writing prompt for you. It’s a simple fill-in-the-blank. You can use one word or several. Feel free to get as crazy, genre-appropriate, or as imaginative as you want. The point is to get the creative juices flowing. And it’s a good thing to dig deeper, so don’t stop at the first idea that hits you. Try coming up with at least five things- and try to get IMAGERY in at least one of your plays!

“Christmas is  ________.”

I’ll give you an example to get you started:

“Christmas is posing for grandma’s camera in the matching red turtlenecks she bought for all us grandkids.”

Wordplay Thursday

I’d love to hear what you come up with, so please share in the comments. Oh, and please keep your posts below an R-rating. It’s a family show, after all!

Wordplay Thursday is a fun way to strengthen your “imagery muscle.”  If you’d like an inside look at a bunch of techniques I use to find and use great imagery in my songs- techniques that YOU can use, too- I have just thing for you!  (But this opportunity won’t last long- so check it out now!)

CLICK HERE TO UPGRADE YOUR IMAGERY!

God Bless and Enjoy the Journey,

Brent

SWP 4

Cut Study, Write Like A Pro

Bad Cheating, Great Songwriting. Carrie Underwood and “Dirty Laundry”

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Apparently, Carrie Underwood hates cheaters and loves great imagery.

Much like her mega-hit “Before He Cheats” (which you can read about HERE), Carrie finds herself betrayed by a no-good boy.  And, again, she ain’t putting up with that mess.

“Dirty Laundry” has a lot of great things about it- strong production, powerful vocals, a catchy melody and an empowering lyric.  But for now, I want to focus on the songwriters’ use of imagery.  Writers Hillary Lindsey, Zach Crowell and Ashley Gorley know what they’re doing, ya’ll.

Right off the bat, the songwriters hit us with images…

“That lipstick on your collar, well, it ain’t my shade of pink
And I can tell by the smell of that perfume, it’s like forty dollars too cheap
And there’s a little wine stain on the pocket of your white cotton thread
Well, you drink beer and whiskey, boy, and you know I don’t drink red”

This verse does a few important things – and it does them well.

The images show us the situation- they don’t just tell it.  Showing is so much more powerful than telling.  The writers could’ve just said, “I caught you cheating on me.”  And while we’d understand the information, it’s not emotionally engaging or particularly entertaining.

Instead, the writers bring us alongside Carrie as she discovers the clues to his infidelity.  We see the pink lipstick, smell the cheap perfume, see the wine stain, etc.

Showing us the clues involves us as listeners.

We discover the clues at the same time Carrie does, and we come to the same conclusion.  Don’t believe me?  Listen again and tell me when Carrie says the word “cheat” or “cheated.”  She doesn’t.  She doesn’t have to.  The pictures are the proof.  We don’t have to wonder how she knows he cheated or even if she’s mistaken.  Nope.  We’ve seen the evidence and can pronounce him guilty.

Also, the imagery tells you more about the characters than just “he’s a cheater.”

You learn that he drinks beer and whiskey, but not wine.  We learn that Carrie’s character wears pink lipstick, likes quality (at least fairly expensive) perfume and drinks white wine- but not red.

I already feel like I’m getting to know these characters- and we’re just a few lines into the song!  And we know them not because the songwriters TOLD us about them, but because they SHOWED us about them.

That’s some strong songwriting.

(Side Note: Normally if a man does Carrie wrong, she resorts to either property damage or murder.  This dude definitely gets off easy!)

Strong imagery like we find in “Dirty Laundry” can really make a song stand out.  If you want to build YOUR imagery skill so that YOUR songs stand out, I have a great opportunity for you.  In Songwriting Pro’s upcoming live online workshop, I’ll reveal several techniques that I and other pro songwriters use to create killer imagery.

CLICK HERE IF YOU WANT YOUR SONGS TO STAND OUT.

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.

SWP 4

WordPlay, Write Like A Pro

Wordplay Thursday #166

15 Comments

Wordplay Thursday

Welcome to Wordplay Thursday!

“Last night’s _________ turned into this morning’s __________.”

Here’s a writing prompt for you. It’s a simple fill-in-the-blank. You can use one word or several. Feel free to get as crazy, genre-appropriate, or as imaginative as you want. The point is to get the creative juices flowing. And it’s a good thing to dig deeper, so don’t stop at the first idea that hits you. Try coming up with at least five things- and try to get IMAGERY in at least one of your plays!

“Last night’s ________ turned into this morning’s  ________.”

I’ll give you an example to get you started:

“Last night’s Jack Daniels turned into this morning’s jackhammer.”

Wordplay Thursday

I’d love to hear what you come up with, so please share in the comments. Oh, and please keep your posts below an R-rating. It’s a family show, after all!

Wordplay Thursday is a fun way to generate new song ideas- and who doesn’t need more song ideas?  If you’d like an inside look at a bunch of techniques I use to find song idea after song idea- ideas that YOU can use, too- I have just thing for you!

CLICK HERE TO FIND GREAT SONG IDEAS!

God Bless and Enjoy the Journey,

Brent

SWP 4

The C.L.I.M.B.

The C.L.I.M.B. #44: 6 Music Industry Myths

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On today’s episode: floaters, Brent’s loneliness, Tom Petty, viral videos, lottery winners, and 6 music industry myths that will destroy your career (unless you destroy them first)!

theclimbFINAL

The C.L.I.M.B. Podcast Episode 44 is live and ready for download!

In this week’s episode, Johnny and I drive a stake through the heart of 6 music industry myths!  These myths will KILL your success, so we’re doing our part to kill them first.  You’re welcome.  (Be sure and subscribe so you never miss another helpful episode!)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE C.L.I.M.B. ON ITUNES

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE C.L.I.M.B. ON STITCHER (for Android)

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN ON THE C.L.I.M.B. WEBSITE

The C.L.I.M.B. stands for “Creating Leverage In The Music Business,” and that’s the goal of this podcast- to help singers, indie artists and songwriters like YOU to create leverage in the music business.  What is leverage?  It’s “strategic advantage; the power to act effectively.”  We want to help YOU make stuff happen in the music biz.

It’s exciting to see how folks are digging the show- and being helped on their CLIMB.  If YOU like it, we’d really appreciate it if you’d subscribe and leave a rating or review on iTunes.  Positive ratings and reviews help us to climb the iTunes rankings so more people become aware of the show and we can help more singers, songwriters, and indie artists like you make The CLIMB!The CLIMB iTunes review 3

CLICK HERE TO LEAVE AN iTUNES REVIEW

Climb reviews

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE C.L.I.M.B. ON ITUNES

If you aren’t on iTunes, you can listen to the show at our website:

TheCLIMBshow.com

If you have an Android phone, you can subscribe to the show on:

Stitcher

Thanks for your time. It means a lot to me, and hopefully it’ll be a lot of help for you!

God Bless and keep C.L.I.M.B.ing,

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.

Think Like A Pro, Write Like A Pro

Great Advice From Our Newest “Play For Publisher” Event!

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Play For Pub

Here are some great lessons from our latest Play For A Publisher Event!

Last week, we another great “Play For A Publisher” event. Our guest publisher was Tim Hunze of Parallel Music on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee. Today, I’d like to share some of the best takeaways from the evening. I’d like to give a hat-tip to Chris Smith, who put many of these points together. Thanks, Chris!

Tim’s a big sucker for cool opening lines.

Tim is a “title freak.” If you have a great title, he’s already interested. You’re “winning before your song is spinning.”

Don’t just sit in the same situation for the whole song. Have some sort of resolution or journey.

If you can demo it, do it. Much of what is coming to him has at least a track or loop of some sort. Most of his writers are writing with track guys. That said, if you’re not in the industry full time, a guitar/vocal will work. A great song will get through.

What’s the “WHY” of your song? Why are you sharing this song/story with the listener? Why should the listener care about hearing your song?

Keep writing up-tempo. He still gets 10-to-1 ballads. Even from pro Nashville writers. He always needs up tempo.

In songwriting, most of the time girls like sensual more than sexy. So don’t just talk at her, paint her into the scene.

Sometimes Tim will cover the choruses with his hand and just read the verses to make sure the verses have a good, natural flow to them.

Challenge yourself to come up with a new idea. A unique spin on an old thing. He listens to 100+ songs a day, so ideas, melodies, lines, titles, all need to be fresh.

Sometimes songwriters forget that they know more than the listener- and they don’t get enough of the important information out of their heads and onto the page. As a result, the listener is either confused or emotionally disconnected from the song.

For commercial country music, don’t rely too heavily on mystery. Spoon feed the listener. Don’t be too clever and don’t leave them wondering what the song was trying to say. If the listener is trying to figure out what’s going on, they’re in their heads- not their hearts.

There’s value in bringing a “change-up” song to a publisher or A&R person- a song that’s great but not “the usual.” Even if it’s not exactly what they need, it’ll be a breath of fresh air. (As long as the song is killer, of course.)

Two things Tim harps on with his writers are idea and melody. Neither can be stale.

If you have a stale melody, the best lyric in the world won’t be heard.

What does Tim look for in a writer? He said it’s a “feeling and a vibe.” It’s a feeling that the writer “has something to say.”

How do songwriters get songs to a guy like him? Events like Play For A Publisher, NSAI, PROs (ASCAP, SESAC, BMI), attorneys…

He probably gets 5 or 6 random writers reaching out to him each day. That 8-15 new songs per day, in addition to his writers and other writers he knows.

If you were there, what takeaways did YOU get from the session?  Please leave it in the comments!

I want to give another shout-out to all of the writers who joined us for the event. Tim was honestly impressed by the overall level of the songs and songwriting. Ya’ll really represented the Songwriting Pro community well!

“Steam” by David Hill, Gelman, McKinney
“Never Be Tennessee” by Curtis McCabe
“Some Days” by Barry McGuire
“Drink You Up” by Leslie Bowe, Karen Kiley
“Jesus, The Beatles & Me” by Donna King, Lee Black, Gina Boe
“Bent” by Mindy Gars Dolandis, Amanda Williams
“Leavin’ Town” by Chris Smith
“Girl In Every Song” by Jim Logrando, Sean Spollen
“Santa Fe Rain” by Roy Semlacher, Allen
“Grass Stains” by Pat Aureli, Todd Dickinson, Marty Dodson

Tim specifically mentioned reaching out to a couple of ya’ll. If he does, please let me know- I’d love to share that with the community!

Also, I know many of you who entered would still love to get personal feedback on your songs. While I didn’t have time to send feedback on each of the Play For Publisher entries, you CAN book a one-to-one coaching/mentoring session with me. I’ll be happy to discuss your song with you (and anything else you want). CLICK HERE TO BOOK A COACHING SESSION.

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.

SWP 4

WordPlay, Write Like A Pro

Wordplay Thursday #165

10 Comments

Wordplay Thursday

Welcome to Wordplay Thursday!

“The night is __________.”

Here’s a writing prompt for you. It’s a simple fill-in-the-blank. You can use one word or several. Feel free to get as crazy, genre-appropriate, or as imaginative as you want. The point is to get the creative juices flowing. And it’s a good thing to dig deeper, so don’t stop at the first idea that hits you. Try coming up with at least five things- and try to get IMAGERY in at least one of your plays!

“The night is  ________.”

I’ll give you an example to get you started:

“The night is young, and so is she.”

Wordplay Thursday

I’d love to hear what you come up with, so please share in the comments. Oh, and please keep your posts below an R-rating. It’s a family show, after all!

Wordplay Thursday is a fun way to generate new song ideas- and who doesn’t need more song ideas?  If you’d like an inside look at the techniques I use to find song idea after song idea- ideas that YOU can use, too- I have just thing for you!

CLICK HERE TO FIND GREAT SONG IDEAS!

God Bless and Enjoy the Journey,

Brent

SWP 4

The C.L.I.M.B., Write Like A Pro

The C.L.I.M.B. #43: 5 Ways Songwriters Make Their Lyrics Too Old

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On today’s episode: shacking up, drinking, plastic surgery, Barney the dinosaur, and making your lyrics too old!

theclimbFINAL

The C.L.I.M.B. Podcast Episode 43 is live and ready for download!

In this week’s episode, Johnny and I discuss 5 ways that some songwriters make their lyrics too OLD.  It’s a “young” market, and you can torpedo your song’s chances of success by putting these 5 things in your songs!  (Be sure and subscribe so you never miss another helpful episode!)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE C.L.I.M.B. ON ITUNES

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE C.L.I.M.B. ON STITCHER (for Android)

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN ON THE C.L.I.M.B. WEBSITE

The C.L.I.M.B. stands for “Creating Leverage In The Music Business,” and that’s the goal of this podcast- to help singers, indie artists and songwriters like YOU to create leverage in the music business.  What is leverage?  It’s “strategic advantage; the power to act effectively.”  We want to help YOU make stuff happen in the music biz.

It’s exciting to see how folks are digging the show- and being helped on their CLIMB.  If YOU like it, we’d really appreciate it if you’d subscribe and leave a rating or review on iTunes.  Positive ratings and reviews help us to climb the iTunes rankings so more people become aware of the show and we can help more singers, songwriters, and indie artists like you make The CLIMB!The CLIMB iTunes review 3

CLICK HERE TO LEAVE AN iTUNES REVIEW

Climb reviews

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE C.L.I.M.B. ON ITUNES

If you aren’t on iTunes, you can listen to the show at our website:

TheCLIMBshow.com

If you have an Android phone, you can subscribe to the show on:

Stitcher

Thanks for your time. It means a lot to me, and hopefully it’ll be a lot of help for you!

God Bless and keep C.L.I.M.B.ing,

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.

Think Like A Pro

Hey, I Remember That!

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It’s not about you.  It’s about the listener.  What’s in it for the listener?

As we began discussing a few weeks ago (READ IT HERE), successful songwriters know it’s not about us- it’s about the listener.  When it comes to your song, what’s in it for the listener?  What’s going to make them stick around till the end and hit “repeat?”

If your song doesn’t have something in it for the listener, there’s no money in it for you.

Yep.  I’ve said that over the past few weeks, and I’m gonna keep saying it till I finally run out of this series!

So I’ve been pointing out some things you can build into your songs that can connect with your listeners.  So far, we’ve discussed “It’s What I Want To Hear” and “It’s What I Want To Say.” and “That’s Who I Am.” and “Give The Listener Great Advice!”    This week, let’s talk about…

all about the listener

“Hey, I remember that!”

A powerful way to connect with a listener is to push the nostalgia button.  Take the listener back to a point in their past that they recall fondly.  Use your song like a time machine.

When you do this effectively, your listener isn’t so much connecting to your song as connecting to their own past THROUGH your song.  This can be very powerful.  Let’s look at a few examples.

“Boys Of Fall”

by Kenny Chesney (written by Casey Beathard, Dave Turnbull).  This song takes me back to playing high school football.  It takes me back to running through a banner, the taste of grass in my mouthpiece, all of it.  It makes me miss those days.  Love that song.  It makes me think of my teammates like Steve Caughron, Willy Kuykendall, and Brian Krug.  Good times.

“19 Something”

by Mark Wills (written by David Lee, Chris DuBois).  This song describes a lot of my formative years.  Big hair, parachute pants and Stretch Armstrong all conjure up childhood memories.  It’s fun to remember when getting a microwave was a big deal.  The Challenger disaster is definitely NOT a feel-good reference, but it takes me back to intermediate school, watching it on a big TV rolled into the classroom on a big cart.

“Every Head Bowed”

I dug into my own history and nostalgia for a song I had recorded by Randy Travis, “Every Head Bowed” on Randy’s “Around The Bend” album.

Randy Travis- Every Head Bowed

Twinkies, corduroy coats, clip-on ties and “I Surrender All” each make me recall growing up going to Calvary Baptist Church back in Batesville, Arkansas.  And I know my cowriter, Brandon Kinney, had a lot of the same experiences at his home church back in Texas.  Mining our nostalgia made the song more real, which helped it connect to Randy- and hopefully to a lot of other people, too.

“Old Alabama” “Doin’ It To Country Songs”

by Brad Paisley (written by Brad Paisley, Dave Turnbull, Chris DuBois, Randy Owen) and “Doing It To Country Songs” by Blake Shelton (written by Marty Dodson, Jacob Lyda, Paul Overstreet) each use nostalgic artists to bring an extra “smile” to the songs.  Paisley, of course, builds his song around classic Alabama hits.  Blake doesn’t reference The Oak Ridge Boys in his song, but they add their distinctive sound to the record.

Most longtime country fans probably don’t hear Alabama or Oak Ridge Boys music that often these days, so these newer songs remind us of hits like “Mountain Music,” “Elvira” and others.

So one way to make your song more “cut/able” is to have your lyric connect the listener to his or her own past.

So here’s your homework.  Turn on the radio or your favorite playlist- or dig through your stack of favorite albums.  Find a song or two that answers the question, “What’s in it for the listener?” with “Hey, I remember that!”  Please leave a comment and let me know what you discovered!

If you want your songs to be more “cut/able” – able to be cut – then you should definitely check out my new, expanded and upgraded version of “Cut/able: Lessons In Market Smart Songwriting.” It’s five powerful lessons will help you write songs that artists want to sing, radio wants to play, and listeners want to hear! CLICK HERE TO WRITE CUT/ABLE SONGS.

cutable-2-3d-cover-large

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.

SWP 4