January 31st, 2010
It’s snowing in Nashville today. One of those rare, dire forecasts of 3 to 5 inches seems to be coming true. For some unknown reason, I’ve been thinking about songwriter rounds and my experiences in them. Early on, I discovered that my fellow writers could sing and play in rounds much better than me. Performing out was hard for me and continues to be so today.
January 13th, 2010
Last night on American Idol’s second day of the Boston auditions, Nigerian-born Bosa Mora sang “You Look So Good In Love” and catapulted himself into the Hollywood final auditions. It seems to me that this song wants to be sung in other genres, namely Smooth Jazz/R&B. Jamie Foxx started it when he did a soulful version on the George Strait Special. It always gets me thinking of that day back in L.A. when Kerry Chater, Glen Ballard, and I unknowingly sat down and wrote a masterpiece. When people ask me about songs like that my only thought is “I sure am glad I wrote that day.” It’s in the air my friends, you just have to be there to pull it in. Write especially if you don’t feel like it. Click read more to see the video.
January 4th, 2010
One of my best amigos and co-writers is Mr. Charlie Black, lately of Mexico Beach, Florida. He lives there with his also hit songwriter wife Dana. Charlie and Dana reside at their virtual home on charlieanddanahuntblack.com.
On a dark rainy night, Charlie and I met up at Calhouns here in Nashville for dinner. Later on the spur of the moment, he agreed to let me interview him on several aspects of our songs together. This particular video is Charlie’s take on the Anne Murray hit “A Little Good News,” also recorded this past year by The Dove Brothers, a well-known Southern Gospel group.
One truly amazing thing about our collaborations is that we never wrote anything down while we were writing. We committed it to paper only after we were done. I hope you enjoy a little time with not only a great writer, but a greater person. Click read more to see the video.
November 20th, 2009
When I first left my promotion job with Mercury Records to be a songwriter, I mostly wrote alone. The first time the I networked for songs was when I signed with Chappell Music (now Warner-Chappell). I met a fabulous writer named Johnny Wilson, and the two of us wrote some songs that were recorded. I knew Johnny wrote regularly with another terrific writer Gene Dobbins, and they had some songs recorded as well. Since we wrote so well in pairs, I wondered if the three of us could write together with any success.
November 5th, 2009
For sometime I’ve been collecting books that fall in the areas of songwriting, songwriters, and music in general. These are five of my books that always invite me to take from the shelf and read a random chapter or two. Click read more to see the video.
