Tag Archives: Songwriting

Happy Halloween! Beware of Songwriting Vampires, Zombies & Werewolves!

October 31, 2016 Brent Baxter 5 Comments

In the spirit of Halloween, I figure now is a good time to warn you about a few of the ghouls who prey upon unsuspecting songwriters. Beware of…

VAMPIRES

They might look like your friends, but they are dead inside. Avoid these vampires- once their negative, pessimistic attitude sinks its teeth into you, you start to become one of them.

ZOMBIES

It’s easy to turn into a zombie because being a zombie means doing the easy, numb, thoughtless thing. Spend too much of your time with the zombies and you’ll wake up one day to realize you’ve been sleepwalking through life- just like one of them.

WEREWOLVES

No, the music biz is not so easily tamed. You can’t just go into beast mode on rare occasions and create a career. You need to run with a pack that is ALWAYS hungry and ALWAYS hunting. Don’t be a werewolf. Be a REAL wolf.

What about you? What are some songwriting ghouls that you have encountered? I’d love to hear from you!

And if you’d like to hear more about these monsters, Johnny and I dive into this topic on the newest episode of The C.L.I.M.B. podcast. It’s available on iTunes and at TheClimbShow.com. Check it out!

Happy HOWLoween!

Brent

Brent Baxter 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.

Biz

Encore: The Band Is A Brand. Are You Brand Conscious?

May 30, 2016 Brent Baxter 3 Comments

Here’s an encore of one of my very first blog posts. I’m sharing it for two reasons: 1) a lot of you have started following this website since it was originally posted (thanks!) and might find this post helpful, and 2) I need to lay low this week. I’ve been getting so busy with Songwriting Pro stuff that I’ve neglected some very important things (namely Bible study and prayer time). Plus, Emily and I are adopting and there is a TON of paperwork (and even more need for Bible study/prayer time).

Thanks for understanding. I hope to be back in the swing of things next week!

God Bless,

Brent

This is the part of songwriting I didn’t know I was signing up for- the business, strategic side of things. Sure, I have my MBA, but I really just wanted to write my songs and have them pitched by somebody to somebody and- whammo! Cuts. But the world is how it is, not how I wish it were. So now I think about artists as brands and try to act accordingly.

An artist is a brand, and they and their team (label, promotion, management) work really hard to position their brand (artist) into a certain place in the market. In business terms, they want to increase their market share- on radio and in our wallets. Everything supports the brand image: album artwork and photos, songs, videos, etc.

Artists are looking for songs that fit their brand.

Whether you are writing FOR or WITH a certain artist, it’s important for you to understand their brand. Ask yourself: who is their audience- who do they speak to? What message do they send to their fans? How do they deliver this message? How do they want to be perceived? This goes deeper than just “traditional country” or “pop country.”

If you can write a song that really fits an artist’s brand, you have a great opportunity. Think about “Real Good Man” for Tim McGraw. What a great song for him. Musically, it fits him well. Great feel, and Tim can sing it. Lyrically, that’s totally his persona- a real bad boy, but a real good man.

The artist is Coke. Their songs are Coke Classic, Cherry Coke, Coke Zero, Diet Coke, etc. They want songs that both reinforce and expand their brand. They may want Cherry Vanilla Coke or Raspberry Coke or something. Your song needs to fit on the same shelf. Your song may be the best $200 bottle of wine to be found, but it doesn’t matter. That artist is Coke.

Taco Bell doesn’t sell hamburgers.

My buddy, Tim Meitzen, told me one time, “They only have about three ingredients, but they keep putting them in different shapes!” That’s how some artists are. They keep giving you the same basic ingredients, but they put a little different spin on them. And when they do add something new, say, a Dorito as a taco shell, it still makes sense for the brand.

Luke Bryan is married with children. (So was Al Bundy, but that’s a different topic altogether.) Anyway, Luke has a family, but you wouldn’t know it from listening to his music. His music presents him as a Spring Breakin’ tailgatin’ good ‘ol party-boy who loves the ladies. I believe there’s only one song in which he has a wife and kids. But that was on his first album before he really found his image/voice/brand. And it wasn’t a single. Since he found his image, he has really stuck to it. And who can blame him? It’s working great.

It’s not about what you think an artist should sing or who they should be

… or where you think they should go as an artist. Unless you’re in their circle of influence, it doesn’t really matter what you want. Sorry.

I ran into a branding issue with Lady Antebellum.

Back before Lady A existed, I wrote a song with Hillary Scott, Casey Koesel, and Jon Armstrong called, “A Woman Scorned.” It’s a fun, rocking, fairly aggressive song that shows off Hillary’s vocals really well. Later, when she, Charles, and Dave formed Lady Antebellum, they started playing our song in all their shows (it’s on YouTube). They even cut it for their debut album. Score! Right? Wrong. When it came time to deciding which last couple of songs wouldn’t make the record, “A Woman Scorned” was reduced to a bonus track. That was disappointment with zeroes on the end of it. But after hearing their album, I understood why. It didn’t fit their brand. It was too aggressive. Even though the song had served them well and helped them get their deal, it didn’t fit the image. I couldn’t argue with that.

The lyric and melody BOTH have to work for the artist.

I’ve mainly focused on lyrical content, but the music has to fit the artist’s brand, too. Miranda Lambert isn’t likely to cut a song that sounds like Shania Twain no matter how well the lyric fits her. Ask yourself: is this song the right kind of pop? The right shade of country?

And it’s important to remember that these brands change over time. They aren’t locked in forever. Lonestar was one thing before “Amazed,” and another thing after. Toby Keith was one thing before “How Do You Like Me Now” and another thing after. Kenny Chesney had a slower, but no less important transition to beaches and nostalgia. So don’t lock a brand in your mind with super glue. Make sure to look for the shifts that are inevitable.

Agree? Disagree? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

God bless and enjoy the journey,

Brent

Cowriting, Craft, Songplugging

The Advantages of Cowriting

February 1, 2016 Brent Baxter 13 Comments

Nashville is a cowriting town.

It seems that everyone that moves or spends time here gets sucked into it eventually. But maybe you’re unsure if it’s something you want to try. Maybe you’ve always written alone and you’re worried about the unknown. Maybe you think another writer might pull your song in the wrong direction. Maybe you don’t see the value in it.

If that’s the case, consider these advantages of cowriting:

1. More relationships.

The writing room can be a very lonely place. Some of your cowriters will become close friends, and that’s awesome. For me, one of my favorite parts of songwriting is getting to hang out for hours with people I admire and enjoy. Each of your cowriters also has his or her own network. That means they can help you mean more publishers, artists, other cowriters, etc.

2. More pitch / promotional power.

If you write a song alone, it’s up to you- and only you– to get it into the right hands (a publisher, a producer, an artist, etc.). However, if you add a cowriter or two, now you have more people to play the song out live at songwriter nights or pitch it to publishers or artists. It multiplies the chance that your song will be heard by the right people.

3. More ideas.

When you write alone, you have to come up with every single melodic and lyric idea yourself. If YOU don’t think of it, it doesn’t end up in your song. However, when you cowrite, you and your cowriter help each other overcome those creative roadblocks. “Two heads are better than one.”

4. Less creative ruts.

When you only write alone, it’s harder to stay out of creative ruts and it’s harder to pull yourself out of them. Maybe you find yourself going back to the same tempos, moods, chord progressions or stories time after time after time. However, it’s hard to stay in a rut if you’re writing with a bluegrass female on Monday and a pop-country guy on Wednesday.

5. Less excuses, more productivity.

It’s pretty easy to break writing appointments with yourself. Nobody’s going to call wondering where you are, and you’ll probably get bonus points with your spouse if you did the laundry or mowed the yard instead. But if you know someone expects you to be online or in the writing room at a certain time to write, you’re a lot less likely to bail. Likewise, it’s pretty easy to walk away from your guitar or notebook when you hit a creative roadblock in a song. But it’s a lot harder to just walk into the other room and turn on the TV when you have a cowriter sitting across from you. That would be just plain awkward.

6. Faster learning curve.

Cowriting allows you to learn from your fellow songwriters. You get a front row seat to observe how they think, how they overcome obstacles, etc. You may pick up a cool alternate tuning or a way of constructing a lyric that you would’ve only discovered on your own years later. Plus, a good cowriter will challenge you to dig deeper and write better songs. I know that’s definitely been true for me.

This is not to say that cowriting is always the best thing in every circumstance. But it sure has helped a lot of writers (like me) get more successful more quickly. What about you? What other advantages of cowriting would you add to this list? Leave a comment below- I’d love to hear from you!

Oh, and here’s one more advantage…

7. Complimentary strengths.

Few songwriters are equally strong at both lyrics and melody. Even fewer are equally strong AND GREAT at both. So, if you’re like most of us, your songs can benefit from finding a cowriter who is strong where you aren’t. And this doesn’t mean just “strong at lyric” or “strong at melody” or “strong at producing.” It could even be more specific things like “great at idea development,” “brings in killer hooks” or “writes awesome images.”

You want to find cowriters who have valuable strengths. And YOU become a more valuable, in-demand songwriter as you develop strengths in different areas. One area which has helped me attract and grow some valuable cowriting relationships has been my ability to write with strong imagery.

Writing with great imagery has helped my songwriting career and helped get my songs cut.

Imagery in songs like “Monday Morning Church” (a top-5 hit for Alan Jackson), “Last Night Last” (recorded by Lady Antebellum), “Crickets” (the title-track to Joe Nichols’ current album), and “When Your Lips Are So Close” (Canadian #1 hit and Single Of The Year for Gord Bamford) helped them get recorded and released. I’m living proof that it’s a valuable skill.

And since strong imagery is such an important part of professional-level songwriting, I’ve put together a course on imagery. It’s called, “Use Imagery To Supercharge Your Songwriting (Like The Pros Do)” and it’s available now.

By the end of the course, you’ll have the basic skills to:

Effectively use both literal and figurative imagery.
Make your story come to life using imagery.
Prove your character’s personality using imagery.
Make your listener connect to your character’s emotions using imagery.
Hook your listener in the song’s first few lines using imagery.
And to begin more songs (more easily) using imagery exercises as the start of your songwriting process.

If you want to join a LIVE workshop or learn more about how to “Use Imagery To Supercharge Your Songwriting (Like The Pros Do)” CLICK HERE or on the image below.

God Bless,

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.

Craft

Gather Images By Writing The Video For Your Song

January 27, 2016 Brent Baxter 1 Comment

Sometimes, as writers, we have the tendency to leave too much information in our heads and off of the page.

Maybe we know the story too well- maybe because we’ve lived it. Either way, our lyrics can sometimes just comment upon the story without actually giving us the story.

You might say, “Last night, you made me cry,” without telling us that he made you cry BECAUSE he “looked at me with cold blue eyes like I was some stranger he was telling goodbye.” It’s up in your head- you see the picture when you sing that line. But the listeners won’t see that. They can’t. They’re not in your head.

You want to build the habit of showing us the cause of the emotions, not just telling us about the emotions.

One way to help in this process is to “write the video.” This is not actual storyboarding. It’s just stream-of-consciousness (or more thoughtfully) writing down what you see in your mind’s eye when you’re thinking about the story in your song. Memories or make believe, it doesn’t matter. Just capture the sights, sounds, tastes, touch and smells of your story.

This process is good for a few reasons:

1. It gives you a stack of images to draw from in your lyrics.

You can now pick out the coolest, most true images for your song. You’re not stuck just using what you can think of in the moment. Instead of “well, that’s the best I could think of at the time,” you get to say “that’s the best I could think of. Period.”

2. It helps you really crystalize your thoughts.

Instead of vague notions you’re trying to capture in your song, you’ve already sketched out your story. Now, instead of trying to come up with the next rhyme, you’re more likely to think about what the thought needs to be. And a cool thought is much more important than just a cool rhyme.

3. It helps you reach past cliche’ images.

It might be easy to just write about her “feet on the dashboard” because that’s what country songs say (and you’re just focused on finding a line that sings well). However, if you spend more time on the story without being constrained by “next line syndrome,” you’re more likely to say, “Well, no. Her feet weren’t on the dash. One leg was curled up under the other.” That’s way more original and more believable.

So, remember. Focus on giving the listener the cause of your emotions, not just your emotions. Write the video to your song, and you’re more likely to see the video OF your song someday.

Since strong imagery is such an important part of professional-level songwriting, I’ve put together a course on imagery. It’s called, “Use Imagery To Supercharge Your Songwriting (Like The Pros Do)” and it’s available now.

By the end of the course, you’ll have the basic skills to:

Effectively use both literal and figurative imagery.
Make your story come to life using imagery.
Prove your character’s personality using imagery.
Make your listener connect to your character’s emotions using imagery.
Hook your listener in the song’s first few lines using imagery.
And to begin more songs (more easily) using imagery exercises as the start of your songwriting process.

If you’re ready to “Use Imagery To Supercharge Your Songwriting (Like The Pros Do)” CLICK HERE or on the image below.

God Bless,

Brent

Muse

Beware of Songwriting Vampires, Zombies & Werewolves!

October 30, 2015 Brent Baxter 4 Comments

In the spirit of Halloween, I figure now is a good time to warn you about a few of the ghouls who prey upon unsuspecting songwriters. Beware of…

VAMPIRES

There are people out there who will suck the life out of your dreams. Dwelling in (and on) the darkness, these predators never see the bright side or the silver living. Little by little, their biting comments slowly bleed you of your hope and optimism (“What makes you so special?” “Oh, the music biz is rigged- you’ll never make it.”). They might look like your friends, but they are dead inside. Avoid these vampires- once their negative, pessimistic attitude sinks its teeth into you, you start to become one of them.

ZOMBIES

They are among us, and their number is legion. They shuffle off to their soul-sucking day jobs like a mindless herd. They never dream. They just respond to whatever happens to be in front of them. They stagger back home and sit mindlessly in front of a TV or computer screen for hours feasting upon whatever catches their eye (“lightsss… sooo… preeetttyy…) It’s easy to turn into a zombie because being a zombie means doing the easy, numb, thoughtless thing. Spend too much of your time with the zombies and you’ll wake up one day to realize you’ve been sleepwalking through life- just like one of them.

WEREWOLVES

If you want songwriting success, you must avoid running with a pack of werewolves. These are folks who only “turn into” songwriters about once a month. The majority of the time, you’d never suspect they have that hidden side. They think they can just go about “normal life” for a few weeks, then suddenly unleash their inner songwriter for a night or two and somehow make a killing in the music business. No, the music biz is not so easily tamed. You can’t just go into beast mode on rare occasions and create a career. You need to run with a pack that is ALWAYS hungry and ALWAYS hunting. Don’t be a werewolf. Be a REAL wolf.

What about you? What are some songwriting ghouls that you have encountered? I’d love to hear from you!

Happy HOWLoween!

Brent

Biz, Craft

Replay Wednesday: Bullseye

October 14, 2015 Brent Baxter 6 Comments

(Here’s a Man vs. Row post from back in the archives.)

You walk into a room called “Country Music” and Mr. Music Row hands you darts. He says, “These darts are your songs. Hit a bullseye with a dart, and that song gets cut.” You look at the wall on the far side of the room, and you notice that there are bullseyes of all different sizes. Some are fairly large, and some are small. Some are so small, you’re not sure they’re really even there. It’s up to you to pick your darts and start throwing.

The room is also full of other songwriters. Some are just lobbing darts in the air. They don’t aim at anything, they just throw. They figure if they throw enough darts, something is bound to land eventually. Some songwriters throw dart after dart after the smallest bullseyes on the wall. Some throw darts at blank spots on the wall, where they would like a bullseye to be. Some are so busy aiming, that the dart never leaves their hand.

If your goal is to get a song recorded by major artist, your best bet is usually by throwing at “the big bullseye.”

Well, how do we do that?

We make choices as songwriters. And the better we are at our craft, the more options are available to us. For example, you can choose to write an idea as a slow ballad, or you can choose to write it as an uptempo (fast song). The uptempo song is the bigger bullseye. You can choose an idea that makes your singer look good (bullseye) or look bad (small bullseye). You can write the song from the point of view of an 85 year old woman (small bullseye) or as a 21 year old girl (bigger bullseye).

How do you know what the big bullseye is? Well, size of the bullseye is simply a measure of how much demand there is for a certain type of song. This changes over time, so you need to be aware of the market. Trends shift. What was a big bullseye in the 1990’s might not be a big bullseye anymore.

However, one type of song always seems to be a big bullseye. This is the “first-person uptempo positive love song.” That’s not exactly shocking news, if you pay much attention to the radio. This type of song is probably your best bet to get a cut. I’m not saying, however, to never write a small bullseye. Those can be hit from time to time- it’s just harder to do. What I’m saying is to be aware of the realities.

Be intentional. Be aware of the choices you make.

God Bless,

Brent

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.

Biz

Songwriting Seeds Grow Slowly

April 13, 2015 Brent Baxter 2 Comments

Songwriting seeds can (and usually do) take years to bear fruit. Here’s a case in point.

My cowriting buddy, Ruthie Collins, started her first radio tour as a solo artist late last year (2014) on Curb Records / Sidewalk Records, and her debut EP is now available on iTunes. I’m blessed to have a song on there called, “Vintage.”

Ruthie and I met back in 2008 while she was in a duo called Wild Honey and was just coming off Season One of CMT’s “Can You Duet.” Sheree Spoltore introduced us one day at NSAI, and we started cowriting.

You can do the math. First cowrite in 2008 to first release in 2014 is a long time. But that’s the thing about the music biz- things can take a long time to develop. (Heck, I had a Randy Travis cut that took 2 years from cut to release!)

You have to be patient.

Ruthie and I wrote a lot of songs before we wrote “Vintage” (with Jessica Roadcap). But those songs and days weren’t wasted- we were building our trust and friendship. This is not a rich-quick business. It’s more of a probably-not-ever-rich business, honestly. So my advice is this:

Write songs you enjoy with people you enjoy. Because it’s those people you’ll stick with long enough for some seeds to bear fruit.

You can check out Ruthie at: ruthiecollinsmusic.com

You can get the EP on iTunes <HERE.>

God Bless,

Brent

A GIFT FROM BRENT

Thanks to those of you who have already downloaded my book, Hit Songwriting: How A Songwriting Coach Can Fast Track Your Success! You made it an Amazon bestseller in the Songwriting and Music Instruction categories, and I really appreciate it! However, if you haven’t downloaded your copy yet, you can get it FOR FREE at www.GiftFromBrent.com or by clicking on the image below. Enjoy!

Biz, Muse

Songwriting: Not For Control Freaks!

March 2, 2015 Brent Baxter 8 Comments

Songwriting is a terrible career for control freaks. Sorry. It just is. There is just so much that’s out of your control, and you need to make peace with that.

You control a few things. You control how hard you work… and that’s about it.

You don’t control your natural talents. For example, I can work really hard on my singing and melody-writing, but I’m never gonna be great. So that means I have to give up some control. It’s not me singing the demos or up on stage at the Bluebird. It’s not me writing the melody. Sure, I have input and cowriter approval rights, but it’s not total control. It’s collaboration.

If you don’t have solid producer chops (or communication skills), you don’t have full control over what happens in the demo session. It’s not you playing every lick on every instrument. You just have to hire the best and hope for the best, giving your input along the way.

Once you start pitching the song, you don’t control the reaction of anyone who might hear it. You can’t tuck them in bed the night before to make sure they’re awake and focused. You can’t keep a bad-news email from hitting their inbox just before your meeting, etc.

And if your song makes it to the artist and they like it, you can’t control if they just cut a similar song the week before so they pass on yours.

And you sure don’t have control if an artist takes your song into the studio to cut it. You don’t hire their musicians. They don’t have to cut the song just like the demo. And the artist doesn’t have to sing it exactly like you want.

And you don’t get a vote on whether your song makes the final album or gets singled.

So many things can happen to derail your song. But that doesn’t mean you’re not doing your job. Your job is to work really hard, write the strongest songs you can, and do your best to put them in a position to win.

At the end of the day, that’s how you should evaluate your success:

Did I work hard?
Did I write the best song I could?
Did I do what I could to get my song in front of someone who can say, “yes?”

If so, you controlled what you could. Make peace with the rest. I know it’s hard, but when you stop spending all that emotional energy on being a control freak, you have more energy to devote to your life, your family, and to working on things that matter.

God Bless,

Brent

THE PRO KNOWS

To BE a pro, you need to THINK like a pro. In this complimentary report, learn the mindsets that help the pro songwriter get cuts, earn respect in the industry, and maintain long-term success in the music business. Just click on the picture below to download this complimentary report today!

Craft

Songwriters, Write The Video For Your Song

February 16, 2015 Brent Baxter 2 Comments

Sometimes, as writers, we have the tendency to leave too much information in our heads and off of the page. Maybe we know the story too well- maybe because we’ve lived it. Either way, our lyrics can sometimes just comment upon the story without actually giving us the story.

You might say, “Last night, you made me cry,” without telling us that he made you cry BECAUSE he “looked at me with cold blue eyes like I was some stranger you were telling goodbye.” It’s up in your head- you see the picture when you sing that line. But the listeners won’t see that. They can’t. They’re not in your head.

So you want to build the habit of showing us the cause of the emotions, not just telling us about the emotions.

This process is good for a few reasons:

1. It gives you a stack of images to draw from in your lyrics. You can now pick out the coolest, most true images for your song.

2. It helps you really crystalize your thoughts. Instead of vague notions you’re trying to capture in your song, you’ve already sketched out your story. Now, instead of trying to come up with the next rhyme, you’re more likely to think about what the thought needs to be. And that’s much more important than just a cool rhyme.

3. It helps you reach past cliche’ images. It might be easy to just write about her “feet on the dashboard” because that’s what country songs say (and you’re just focused on finding a line that sings well). However, if you spend more time on the story without being constrained by “next line syndrome,” you’re more likely to say, “Well, no. Her feet weren’t on the dash. One leg was curled up under the other.” That’s way more original and more believable.

So, remember. Focus on giving the listener the cause of your emotions, not just your emotions. Write the video to your song, and you’re more likely to see the video OF your song someday.

God Bless,

Brent

KNOW THE ROW

You’re invited to be a part of an exclusive Google Hangout with myself and music publisher & former ASCAP Membership Representative, Chad Green. Ask Chad YOUR questions face-to-face as we discus how YOU can get on the radar of a publisher or PRO! There are only TWO spots left, so don’t wait- click the image below to find out more:

Muse

Are You On The P.A.T.H. To Songwriting Success?

February 9, 2015 Brent Baxter 9 Comments

Songwriting is a journey. If you have big dreams for your songwriting, then it’s a long journey. It’s been my experience that a wise path is critical to a successful journey. Here are the elements of a wise P.A.T.H.

Purpose.

Why are you on this journey in the first place? Where do you want to go, and why do you want to go there? Without a clearly-defined purpose, without a desired destination at the end of the path, all you can do is wander. Find or define your purpose.

Action.

The path will not travel under your feet. You have to get moving! Take action, but not just any random action. The point isn’t to walk in circles or to run in place. Take the action you believe will move you in the direction of your purpose.

Time.

Any purpose worth following will not be fulfilled overnight. You have to put in the time. You have to resolve yourself to sticking with it for the long haul.

Habit.

Habit multiplies the effects of your efforts. When you have Purposeful Action Taken Habitually (hey, that spells P.A.T.H., too), that’s when all your positive momentum starts adding up like a snowball rolling downhill.

The path to success is paved with the stones of Purpose, Action, Time and Habit.

God Bless,

Brent

In the spirit of Halloween, I figure now is a good time to warn you about a few of the ghouls who prey upon unsuspecting songwriters. Beware of…

VAMPIRES

ZOMBIES

WEREWOLVES

Happy HOWLoween!

Artists are looking for songs that fit their brand.

Taco Bell doesn’t sell hamburgers.

It’s not about what you think an artist should sing or who they should be

I ran into a branding issue with Lady Antebellum.

The lyric and melody BOTH have to work for the artist.

Nashville is a cowriting town.

1. More relationships.

2. More pitch / promotional power.

3. More ideas.

4. Less creative ruts.

5. Less excuses, more productivity.

6. Faster learning curve.

7. Complimentary strengths.

Writing with great imagery has helped my songwriting career and helped get my songs cut.

Sometimes, as writers, we have the tendency to leave too much information in our heads and off of the page.

You want to build the habit of showing us the cause of the emotions, not just telling us about the emotions.

1. It gives you a stack of images to draw from in your lyrics.

2. It helps you really crystalize your thoughts.

3. It helps you reach past cliche’ images.

In the spirit of Halloween, I figure now is a good time to warn you about a few of the ghouls who prey upon unsuspecting songwriters. Beware of…

VAMPIRES

ZOMBIES

WEREWOLVES

Happy HOWLoween!

If your goal is to get a song recorded by major artist, your best bet is usually by throwing at “the big bullseye.”

Be intentional. Be aware of the choices you make.

A GIFT FROM BRENT

THE PRO KNOWS

KNOW THE ROW

Purpose.

Action.

Time.

Habit.

KNOW THE ROW

Helping songwriters turn pro.