Tag Archives: Music

Why Benton Blount Is Successful

May 21, 2014 Brent Baxter 1 Comment

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.

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The first time I met Benton Blount, I thought I’d walked into the wrong room. My cowriting buddy, Skip Black, had set the three of us up to write, telling me, “This guy named Benton… country singer… record deal on Golden Music…” Well, my default answer when it comes to writing with a signed artist is “yes.” (See my post, “Things I Say Yes To”)

So I go walking in, but Skip isn’t there yet. There’s a guy sitting there looking like a rock ‘n roll UFC fighter. “Uh… you seen Skip?” Then Benton opened his mouth and filled the room with his Carolina drawl. Immediately, I knew it was gonna be an interesting day. (That was the day we wrote “Could’a Fooled Me,” which is on his album, “Stripped.” Check it out here.)

We continued to write, but as these things happen (too often), Benton’s label folded and he made the move back to the Carolinas. I don’t know for certain, but my guess is that his phone wasn’t ringing quite as often. But he didn’t quit, he just kept working. Guess you could call that, “drive.”

Benton and I have stayed in touch- not just because he’s a good guy and cuts my/our songs (“I Don’t Have To Prove I’m Country” “Could’a Fooled Me” “Go To Him” “God Sent A Woman”) I’ve been sure to always send him songs when he’s looking and to write when we can for one simple reason:

I believe in Benton Blount as an artist.

And this is more than just a gut feeling. It’s based on a few factors- ones I think you should consider when deciding how much time and energy to invest in an artist.

1. Talent

Benton is a singin’ fool. No doubt that he knows how to sing. And his voice would stand out on country radio. He’s also a solid songwriter (who’s smart enough to cut the right outside song).

2. Hustle

Benton isn’t waiting on Music Row to pick him. He’s already picked himself. He’s writing, recording and releasing albums. He’s out on the road playing a lot of shows. It’s obvious that he’s not afraid to work. And his booking agency and sponsors apparently agree.

3. Fan engagement

The Benton Blount experience isn’t confined to one of his shows. He’s been consistently engaging with his fans (and making new ones) through social media. At this moment, he has over 16,000 Facebook fans, 44,000 Twitter followers, and 27,000 Instagram followers. He’s also put out a lot of videos on YouTube. Careers are built on fan support, and he certainly has that (his latest album was fan-supported on Kickstarter).

Of course, hard work, talent, and persistence don’t guarantee anyone a major label record deal and radio hits (though it’d be nice if they did). But either way, I’m happy to have songs I’m proud of sung by a real singer- no matter how many people hear them at the end of the day. But given what I know about Benton… I’m betting it’s going to be a LOT of people.

You can find out more about Benton at… www.bentonblount.com

God Bless,

Brent

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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!

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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!

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Biz, Cowriting, Songplugging

The Artist Camp: Multiple Points Of Contact

May 19, 2014 Brent Baxter 4 Comments

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Gaining access (and keeping access) to an artist is kind of like rock climbing- you always want to have more than one point of contact with the mountain. It’s a dangerous thing to be hanging by one hand- if that one rock gives way or that hand slips… bye, bye.

Likewise, if your only point of contact with an artist is her producer, what happens if she switches producers? What happens if you have a light point of contact with the artist herself, but she starts letting her A&R person book all her cowrites because she’s too busy out on the road? Bye, bye. You might’ve just fallen off the mountain.

This kind of stuff has happened to me, so I’ve learned the hard way not to rely on only one point of contact with the artist. Nowadays, if I’m targeting an artist or a project, I try to secure multiple points of contact. If I know the A&R person, I try to develop a contact with the producer as well. If I’m writing with an artist, I’ll suggest a 3-way cowrite with one of her other regular cowriters. Bascially, I want to surround the artist. I want to dig in deeper than a tick in a dog’s ear so there’s no way they can scratch or shake me off!

Of course, you want to balance the time you spend surrounding one artist with taking time to develop other points of contact in other artists’ camps. Just like you want to have more than one point of contact with an artist, you want to be in more than one artist’s camp. Think of it as diversifying your portfolio. After all, most new artists aren’t very successful. What happens if the ONE artist you’ve invested all your time in fails? Bye, bye.

God Bless,

Brent

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Biz, Cowriting, Songplugging

The Artist Camp

May 14, 2014 Brent Baxter 7 Comments

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You may hear about songwriters trying to get into an artist’s “camp.” What does that mean? Well, it’s not a place to unroll a sleeping bag and sing your songs around a campfire, that’s for sure.

An artist’s camp is made up of the people in the artist’s inner circle- those who have access and influence. For each artist, the mix may be a little different, but an artist’s camp usually includes the artist, producer, A&R point-person, and favorite cowriters. The camp may also include the artist’s publisher or other friends in the music biz.

Each artist has his or her own camp, and it’s often hard to know who really has the artist’s ear. For example, the A&R person for Artist A may be a big influence on what gets cut, but Artist B may not care at all what his A&R person thinks.

Think of it like a dart board. The artist is the bullseye (usually- though sometimes the producer or label head REALLY makes the final decision on what gets cut). The members of the artist’s camp occupy the various concentric circles around the bullseye. The closer to the bullseye, the more influence that person has over the project.

If you’re looking to get into an artist’s camp, it’s good to figure out the layout of his dartboard if possible. And remember, nothing gets you in a camp like GENUINE friendship. If you’re just using the artist, it’ll be really hard to get past the outer edges of the dartboard. Good luck!

God Bless,

Brent

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Craft, Mini

Chasing Rhymes And The Thought Behind The Line

May 12, 2014 Brent Baxter 1 Comment

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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

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Craft, Money

5 Ways Songwriters Can Financially Prepare To Make “The Jump”

May 6, 2014 Brent Baxter 18 Comments

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“The Jump” is the financial leap from a full-time day job to pursing songwriting on a full-time or serious part-time basis. It may be when you quit your job to sign a publishing deal, or it may be when you quit your full-time job to write, whether paid or not. You have to put yourself in a position to survive long-term. The odds are against you landing a big publishing deal or a life-changing cut in just a few months. Basically, if you’re gonna jump out of the boat, take a life-raft. You don’t know how long it’ll be before you wash up on the shore of the promised land, if ever.

Here are five ways to prepare to make “the jump.”

1. Get out of debt.

Debt raises your break-even income. Getting out of debt frees up money for other things. You might want to read my post, “Debt Is A Dream-Killer” and “4 Ways Debt Kills Songwriters’ Dreams.”

2. Save money, save money, save money.

Like I said, you’re probably not going to land a publishing deal or big cut right out of the box. Be prepared to pay the rent for a while.

3. Build a side gig.

What can you do on a flexible part-time basis to generate income? I spent over a year as a Starbucks barista – those 20 hours per week (from 5am to 10am) got health insurance for my family (saving $600 per month). I also got a TON of free coffee, which rocked. I miss that part- but not the getting up at 4am part. Maybe you wait tables or get some other part-time job. Or maybe you build your own side business, like selling on ebay, teaching guitar lessons, or whatever else you can do. The point is not to totally rely on music for your income, at least starting out.

4. Build spousal support.

Does your spouse work? Few songwriters can support their families with only their songwriting income. I know some writers who are fortunate enough to have a spouse that works (and wants to). I’m fortunate enough to have a wife who stays home with our kids and also keeps a few haircut-and-color clients on the books each month (or at least did before we had the second baby- we’ll see what the future holds). And even more than any financial support from your spouse, you’ll need his or her emotional support. That’s huge. You have a big, long roller coaster ahead of you. If you don’t have support at home, it’s going to be doubly difficult.

5. Lower your overhead.

Along with dumping debt, how else can you lower your monthly expenses? Maybe you don’t need all 7,000 channels. Maybe you can eat at home a few more times each month. Getting on a budget and naming each dollar at the beginning of the month will be a big help. You’ll need to be disciplined with your finances.

Good luck. Build it to last.

God Bless,

Brent

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Biz, Muse

Jigsaw Songwriting

May 5, 2014 Brent Baxter 1 Comment

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If you’ve ever put (or attempted to put) together a jigsaw puzzle, you know how you set the box right in front of you so you can keep looking at the finished picture? That’s how it should be with your songwriting career.

It’s a huge help to keep your “big picture”- your goal- in front of you as you sift through the mountainous stack of puzzle pieces. The pieces are your everyday choices- cowriters, song ideas, networking opportunities, performance opportunities, pitch opportunities, etc. Your big picture should help you determine what to do (and not do) and when to do it.

Keeping your finished picture in mind helps you see how certain pieces might fight together and where they go on the board. Keeping the finished picture in front of you also helps you stay motivated. You can look at it knowing it’ll be beautiful when it’s complete.

God Bless,

Brent

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Biz

Songwriters, Plan Your Productivity

April 30, 2014 Brent Baxter 4 Comments

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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…

Part of the fun of being a songwriter is that a lot of your time is a blank canvas waiting on you to decide which brushes you want to pick up. It’s not like some jobs where you know, “I’m going to get to work at 8am and do this and that until 5pm every day until I quit, retire, get fired, or die of a heart attack.”

I definitely prefer the blank canvas. But it comes with its own dangers. The blank canvas doesn’t make you pick up any brushes. It doesn’t tell you what you should be doing when you sit down to work. You have to decide.

If you’re like me, you have limited time for your songwriting work. Maybe you get up early, while the spouse and kids are still in bed, so you can do some dreamwork before you have to go to your jobwork. Maybe it’s some free time on your lunch break. Or maybe it’s after everyone else has gone to bed.

Unfortunately, it’s so easy to waste that precious little time with just deciding how to spend that time. “Should I consolidate my hooks from the week into my hook book? Should I find an idea to write? Rewrite? Do I set up publisher or pitch meetings?”

Deciding among these options- heck, just figuring out what your options are- can seriously eat into your time. Or maybe you never really decide- you just hop from one shiny object to another without any plan or direction. (“How’d I end up reading this blog about the top ten running backs in Arkansas Razorback history?”)

My time is mostly in the morning while Em, Ozzy, and Ruby Jean are still in bed. However, I’m not at my sharpest first thing in the morning. So I’ve learned that, to be my most productive, I need to plan my productivity. So that means I’ve started keeping a running task list. As I’m driving around and working during the day, I think about what I need to do over the next few days. That way, when I’m still a little foggy in the AM, I just reference my list, pick the highest priority and get to work. This also works if Em and Ozzy take a nap or if Em goes to bed early- I can get my list and hopefully knock something out in that “bonus time.”

I HIGHLY recommend that you keep a task or “to do” list handy while you’re at your non-songwriting job. ‘Cuz let’s face it- you’re probably thinking about it while you’re at work, anyway. Don’t lose those moments where an idea hits you- whether a song idea or a to-do idea.

When you maximize your productive time, you maximize your chance of success.

God Bless,

Brent

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Craft

Rhyming The Line Before The Chorus

April 28, 2014 Brent Baxter 4 Comments

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The line right before the chorus is one of the most important lines in your song- it sets up the chorus and helps determine the impact the top of the chorus has on the listener. (In basketball terms, you could say the last line of the verse or pre-chorus throws up the alley-oop so the chorus can dunk it.)

But sometimes that line, instead of serving the song or chorus, is trapped into serving the rhyme that comes before it. For example, a writer can get too focused on, “The line above ends in ‘blue’ so I have to write the next line so it ends with an ‘oo’ sound.” This can result in a line that’s weaker than it should be.

To avoid this trap, I’ll often figure out the IDEA of the set-up line, but intentionally leave it unrhymed before moving on to the last line of the chorus. I’d rather have the more important line dictate the rhyme of the less important line. This frees me up to focus on finding the strongest idea for the last line of the verse- on finding the best idea and figuring out the best way to say it. After I have that figured out, I can go back to the set-up line and figure that one out. Hope that helps!

God Bless,

Brent

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Biz

Success, Drip By D.R.I.P.

April 23, 2014 Brent Baxter Leave a comment

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Success is not an overnight explosion- regardless of how an “overnight success” might be viewed by others. No, success is usually more like water wearing away a stone, drip by drip. It’s little things making a big difference over time.

So let’s look at the DRIP method of success:

D – Discipline

It’s doing the difficult things, things which require discipline in the first place. It’s getting up early to write. Or skipping your XBOX time to work on some new chord progressions. It’s making that uncertain phonecall.

R – Repetition

It’s the repetition of doing the right things consistently- not just once or sporadically. It’s doing the right things over and over again, day after day, month after month, and year after year.

I – Integrity

Being dishonest or dishonorable might win in the short term (sometimes). But the music business is a relationship business, and word will get around. If you don’t have integrity- if people don’t feel they can trust you, you will become isolated, and you won’t have those important strong relationships.

P – Purpose

Purpose is two-fold. First, you need to know why you’re running this marathon. If you don’t have a strong sense of purpose, it’s very easy to quit. Secondly, you must act with purpose. Keeping your purpose (goals, etc.) in mind helps you figure out what the important tasks are- the tasks which require disciple, repetition, and integrity.

God Bless,

Brent

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Cowriting

Writing With A Hit Songwriter Is NOT A Magic Bullet

April 21, 2014 Brent Baxter 17 Comments

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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…

I know as a (former) amateur songwriter hoping to go pro how easy it is to think that writing with a hit songwriter could solve everything. It’s tempting to think that just by getting in a room with a pro that it’ll change your world and you’ll be on your way to a hit. Well, let me tell ya something…

I ALWAYS have a hit songwriter in the room … ME … and most of my songs still don’t get cut.

Sure, there are advantages to writing with a pro or a signed artist, but there is no magic bullet. Not if you want to build a songwriting career. Sure, you may get into a room to “write up” with a hit writer. And you might even write a really good song. But one really good song doesn’t mean much in the long run (read more about this in my post “The Song.”)

Sure, there are ways to be wise and efficient and give yourself a better chance of success, but there is no escape hatch that lets you avoid hard work- not if you want to be great over the long haul. So pack a lunch and plan for this to take a while. Work hard, work smart, and enjoy the journey.

God Bless,

Brent

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I believe in Benton Blount as an artist.

1. Talent

2. Hustle

3. Fan engagement

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1. Get out of debt.

2. Save money, save money, save money.

3. Build a side gig.

4. Build spousal support.

5. Lower your overhead.

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D – Discipline

R – Repetition

I – Integrity

P – Purpose

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Helping songwriters turn pro.