DAY - 209

"I'm a survivor in a business that constantly rejects you." Dick Clark

Wanted to post that quote in honor of Dick Clark.... and my latest rejection.   Heard back from Cliff Audretch III today.  He didn't bite on "Skinny Dippin' ".  He said,  there's no one at his label that the song would be a good fit for and that there was another country single released not to long ago with the same title.  Grrrr.... no impressing this man.  Doesn't mean I'm giving up on it though.

Sooo... today I decided to send Skinny Dippin' to Ryan Beuschel at ASCAP Nashville.  Looking to stay on his radar.  He's a pretty harsh song critic as well so we'll see what he thinks.

Scot Sax sent our latest song demo to his publisher to get some feedback.  Looking forward to seeing what happens with this one.  Will post the mp3 as soon as possible!! Stay tuned.

Onward and upward.

DAY - 208

My apologies for the delay!  Have you ever had one of those days where you HAD to be somewhere every, single, waking moment?  That was my Friday.  Had an early rehearsal with the Liv Devine band, getting ready for an upcoming show at Prospectors in Mount Laurel where we'll be opening for Country singer Craig Campbell. ("She Likes to Fish")  Should be a great show!  If you're in the area definitely come hang out....love to see you there!  Then, it was off to school for a couple finals.  From school, I went straight to teaching a couple guitar lessons. And finally, headed off to a gig from 8:30pm-12:30am. (Botto's in Swedesboro) Looonnnggg day! Anyway, I did manage to get some stuff done today to make up for yesterday's networking slump...

I'm working on the new song demo I'm doing with Scot Sax.  Scot's heading to LA this week and will be starting to pitching the new tune.  He just got the vocals done on Thursday and they sound great!  I cleaning up the track and sending him the rest of the instruments via internet (I love dropbox)  Let's keep our fingers crossed someones bites this week!  The new song will done soon and ready to post so stay tuned!!

Also, spoke with J Fred Knobloch about pitching One Tree Hill star turned Country singer, Jana Kramer one of our new songs.  Fred thought it was a great idea so now we're planning out demoing logistics.  Should be close to having 2 new ones with Fred and the Sweet Angeline team so stay tuned for those as well.

Hope you're having a great weekend!

DAY - 207

Did some digging today and found out that Jana Kramer (One Tree Hill star turned Country singer) will be starring in an upcoming movie that is now in production called "Heart of the Country".  Anyway, I found out the movie is looking for songs and I also found out that Jana Kramer is looking for songs.  I'm taking a guess, but if the movie becomes a hit, Jana Kramer might have a hit single to go along with it.  I'm smelling a potential opportunity in the making.  So...I emailed the production company today to try and find out contact info for the music supervisor of the movie.  We actually have Jana Kramer's management info because Sweet Angeline co-writer, Liv Devine, just opened for Jana only 2 weeks ago! I think we may have the perfect song to pitch her...just haven't demoed it yet.  Possibly more to come on this...

I also submitted to a listing on Taxi.com today... I submitted "Love Takes Work" http://mynameisaugust.bandcamp.com/track/love-takes-work-demo

 Here's what the listing says...

CONTEMPORARY COUNTRY SONGS with MALE VOCALS a la Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, Blake Shelton, etc., needed by the VP of A&R at a Major Nashville Label. QUOTING THE EXEC: "We need songs that have a positive message, not songs about bars or cheating." UPLIFTING songs that can provide a STRONG visual element are needed for this pitch. Familiar Country based themes are welcome but must be conveyed in an ORIGINAL and FRESH, CONTEMPORARY way! You'll want to be sure that your demo really sells the song's concept, energy, and feel, but all arrangements/recordings will be considered for this one. Uptempos are preferred but they are open to hearing mids and ballads, if they are amazing. 

DAY - 206

Just talked to J Fred Knobloch and he told me some cool news!  Here's the story...

Fred goes way back with the former VP of Music Strategy at CMT, Jay Frank.  He let me know that Jay Frank has since left CMT and has started his own label, its called DigSin. DigSin is a label that bases its marketing strategy on breaking artists through social media versus purely radio.  Side note: Its a small world because I actually sat in one of Jay Frank's workshops that he presented at the Taxi convention in LA about 2 years ago. AND...its even a smaller world because I just checked out the website and found out that my good friend's band Bronze Radio Return actually just signed with DigSin!  Crazy how big, yet how small the music industry really is. Check it out  www.digsin.com

ANYWAY, Fred happens to be sitting with Jay Frank right NOW (as I write this) at a convention in Nashville and he asked me if he could play Jay some of our stuff!!  Without question, I text Fred back immediately and said hell yeah!  He said, he wants to show him some Sweet Angeline stuff as well as "Heart On A String". (the song Fred and I wrote)  Completely stoked about this!!  I sent Fred some final versions of songs, "Bass Drum", "Boots" etc... (just in case he didn't have them) to play for Jay.  Its cool because I am inadvertently networking with Jay... without even speaking to him.  Love it when that happens.  Keeping my fingers crossed he takes an interest!

Cheers!

DAY - 205

Good day for rock n' roll. Spent the morning working on a demo for the second song Scot Sax and I wrote.  Its turning out pretty cool!  All bare bones stuff so far, but the track has a cool vibe...its a light-hearted, poppy, neo-folk tune with a little reggae infusion.  Scot has a female singer that will be cutting vocals on it this Thursday.  Can't wait for you to hear!

I heard back from EMI Music Publisher, Katie O'Halloran today.  She is seriously the nicest woman EVER!  I've never had someone go out of their way so much to help me make connections.  Today she let me know that she will be playing some of my work for her boss at EMI!! She told me her boss may know more people in Nashville and in the Country music industry in general that I may be able to connect with.  So pumped!  I responded to Katie's email, thanking her graciously for going out of her way to help and sent her a link to my full catalog.  If you'd like, you can check that out here too :) www.mynameisaugust.bandcamp.com 

DAY - 204

Every Monday I go to Starbucks.... same time, same Starbucks.  Every Monday I see the same guy... dressed up, full suit, tie and briefcase, sitting by himself in the middle of the cafe, INTENSELY playing a driving simulated video game on his iPhone. (the kind of game where you actually steer the iPhone as if it were a steering wheel)  He's wearing head phones,  flailing around in his chair, and making grunting noises in the middle of a moderately quiet Starbucks.  I mean if you googled "I don't care what other people think, it would be a picture of this guy's face.  He is literally the poster child for "I don't give a shit".  Every Monday, never ceases to amaze me...almost inspiring...almost.  My apologies if you thought that story was going somewhere...just had to get that off my chest.  


Heard back from Rob Chiarelli today. (refer to Day - 203)  He let me know that he checked out the link I sent him to "Bass Drum" and that he would keep it on file for an artist who would make a good fit for the song!  That's amazing news considering the artists that Rob works with are people like Christina Aguilera, Madonna, Train, Leann Rimes, etc, etc, etc...www.finalmix.com check it out.  So needless to say, I'm pumped about that.  I sent Rob the full finished demo mp3 of "Bass Drum" along with the lyrics.  Here's the full finished demo... just posted yesterday... http://mynameisaugust.bandcamp.com/track/bass-drum

Another iron in the fire...

DAY - 203

"I am not judged by the number of times I fail, but by the number of times I succeed: and the number of times I succeed is in direct proportion to the number of times I fail and keep trying. 
 Tom Hopkins 

Started off this beautiful Friday with a recording/rehearsal session with Sweet Angeline.  Today we began recording vocals on the song J Fred Knobloch sent us to demo sing.  We also have a show tomorrow (refer to Day 200) so we put in some much needed rehearsal time.

I sent an email to EMI Music Publisher, Katie O'Halloran. (Katie is the one who featured Sweet Angeline on her website and also introduced me to EMI songwriter, Heather Longstaffe)  I just wanted to send an email thanking Katie again for the introduction to Heather and to say hi and follow up.

I also reached out to LA Producer, Rob Chiarelli.  Rob is one of the guys I met at the TAXI convention in LA a couple years ago.  I sent him "Bass Drum" to get his opinion and also to let him know that I'm looking to get it placed.  We'll see if it creates any leads.

Have a fantastic weekend!!

DAY - 202

Today I reached out to Country star Luke Bryan's management and pitched Skinny Dippin'.  Since its coming straight from me and not from a publisher it may be considered "unsolicited" and therefore dragged and dropped right into the trash....BUT...since I did some legwork to get the contact, I figured I'd give it the good ol' college try.  Who knows...I may get lucky one of these days :)

I didn't want to stop there so I also read through some listings on Taxi.com and came across one I thought was pretty interesting... I submitted "A Higher Place" http://mynameisaugust.bandcamp.com/track/a-higher-place

Here's what the listing said:
HEARTFELT, PASSIONATE ROCK SONGS a la Foo Fighters, U2, Bruce Springsteen, etc., needed by a busy LA Producer recording a young war Veteran looking for songs that capture that experience, along with situations of "Carrying on" and "Moving on with your dreams." This can be a great listing for the right songwriter! The style of your demo is NOT as important as the emotional impact of the material, both lyrically and melodically. TAXI TIP: Songs with GUTS that can translate to radio will work best! This artist does write his own material, but is open to EXCEPTIONAL, DYNAMIC songs. They'll be looking for songs that can break through to radio, so please send your best. 

DAY - 201

Late to bed, early to rise... seems to be a pattern the past couple days and will probably continue for another couple weeks.  Not exactly what Mr. Franklin had suggested for becoming healthy, wealthy and wise, but that is what my insane schedule permits right now.  And life goes on...

This morning I submitted "Cupcakes & Wine" to a new listing on Taxi.com.  This is what it said...


CONTEMPORARY COUNTRY SONGS with FEMALE VOCALS in the style of Carrie Underwood to Dixie Chicks, etc., needed by a Creative Executive at a Major Publisher in Nashville. Tracks submitted should have STRONG melodic emotion, MEMORABLE lyrics, with SOLID lyric hooks that grab the listener in a BIG way. THINK: The driving vocals of Carrie Underwood meets the ATTITUDE of the Dixie Chicks. QUOTING THE COMPANY: "We are NOT looking for tracks about drinking or cheating. We are more interested in songs with a POSITIVE and UPLIFTING message. Songs that move them with visuals, emotions and great melodies. Keep the intros under :20." FEMALE vocals only! Vocal and instrumental demo presentation must be top-notch

Then it was off to a writing session with Scot Sax (refer to last week Day 196)  Another cool session!  In the midst of writing/making edits to the first song we started last week, we side tracked into a brand new idea and just let it unfold.  It actually turned into an almost completely finished song which I'll be starting to demo a track on this week!  Let the muse take you where she wants go.  :)  

DAY - 200

200 days down, 165 to go....

Day 200 started off early with a recording/rehearsal session with 'Sweet Angeline'. We have a gig this Saturday, performing at the Big Brother's Big Sister's event,  "Bowl For Kid's Sake"!  If you're in the area feel free to come hang out for the show!  This Sat. April 21st @ 7pm Brewsters Pub, Laurel Lanes, Rt. 73, Mount Laurel , NJ.

After rehearsing,  I emailed Anna Maki at ASCAP Nashville to book a writing room for Wednesday, June 13th.  (That's when I will be getting together with EMI Songwriter Heather Longstaffe)  I've never booked a writing room at ASCAP but apparently they're available for out-of-town writers so I'm psyched to check it out!

Later today,  I emailed Jody Friedman from HD Music Now because I found out that The Band Perry is looking for songs to record for their forthcoming album.  A couple months ago, I remember Jody mentioned that he wanted to pitch them "Cupcakes & Wine". http://mynameisaugust.bandcamp.com/track/cupcakes-wine  Though I don't think The Band Perry would be my first pitch idea for Cupcakes I figured it would be a good idea to contact Jody about it.  Any song pitch to a major artist is better than no pitch at all...you never know what the artist is going to decide / what direction they want to go in.  So we shall see.  I also reached out to Jody to touch base about his contacts at Disney regarding, "Heart On A String".

DAY - 199

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal.

- Hannah Moore



Another hectic week ahead.  Can't wait for the semester to let out for Summer!  These next 2 weeks are going to be a whirlwind of exams, performances, gigs, recording, teaching and writing sessions.  I don't know how exactly I'll fit it all in, but it always seems to work out somehow.   Sometimes it truly is hard to keep your eye on the prize when SO many other things start coming into play.

Making use of my recent return to Taxi.com, today I uploaded a bunch of new demos, cleaned up my homepage, scoured the listings and found some really cool stuff!  You can check out my page at Taxi.com here  www.taxi.com/mynameisaugust  I ended up submitting to a listing I thought had some nice potential. I submitted "Skinny Dippin'" http://mynameisaugust.bandcamp.com/track/skinny-dippin Here's what it says...

CONTEMPORARY COUNTRY SONGS a la Brad Paisley to Keith Urban, etc., needed by the Director of A&R at a Major Nashville Label for a newly signed male artist. QUOTING THE COMPANY: "This artist isn't your average lyricist, so please keep this in mind! Think, left-of-center to slightly tongue in cheek lyrics, that aren't too over the top but are still commercially viable." Despite the "left-of-center" lyrical mention, NO PROFANITY and NOTHING TOO CRUDE! MEMORABLE hooks, COMPELLING lyric stories and a unique twist on familiar ideas. Conversational lyrics will certainly rise to the top - make sure a youthful edge is present. Mid to uptempo material will be preferable, but all tempos will be considered at this point. MALE vocals ONLY. Vocal and instrumental demo presentation MUST be top-notch!

DAY - 198

Happy Friday the 13th!  I'm coming close to the 200 day mark.  Gotta keep pushing, no time to relax!

Today I got together with the Sweet Angeline team and Nashville hit songwriter, J Fred Knobloch for a Skype writing session.  Awesome day!  We plowed through an entire song... arrangement/lyrics and all. And, I have to say... it kicks A$$!  Not biased or anything ;)    Its a no-brainer... fun, bouncy, pop song with a chorus that you could sing by memory after hearing it one time.  We're going to steer it into the contemporary country genre and will demo it as a guy/girl duet and possibly as a solo male or female as well.  Sometimes its good to have a couple versions of the same song for pitching purposes.  There's not that many guy/girl groups out there so doing a solo male or female version as well will make for a broader range of options and help to not limit your pitch.  Can't wait for you to hear it!  Speaking of things I can't wait for you to hear...J Fred also started on a demo of the other song we just finished.  One after another baby...let's keep 'em coming!

As promised, I submitted to my first new listing on Taxi.com.  If you're interested, this is what it looks like...I submitted "20/20" http://mynameisaugust.bandcamp.com/track/20-20

CONTEMPORARY COUNTRY SONGS with MALE VOCALS a la Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, Blake Shelton, etc., needed by the VP of A&R at a Major Nashville Label. QUOTING THE EXEC: "We need songs that have a positive message, not songs about bars or cheating." UPLIFTING songs that can provide a STRONG visual element are needed for this pitch. Familiar Country based themes are welcome but must be conveyed in an ORIGINAL and FRESH, CONTEMPORARY way! You'll want to be sure that your demo really sells the song's concept, energy, and feel, but all arrangements/recordings will be considered for this one. 

DAY - 197

Today I re-joined Taxi.  Taxi coins itself as being the world's leading independent A&R company.  Basically, its a site  that posts listings for Labels looking for artists, Publishers looking for songs/songwriters and TV & Film licensing firms looking for songs. (much like MusicXRay but the listings are a lot more legit) Once a year, Taxi holds a HUGE music convention in LA that is free for members. (This is where I met Jason Blume,  Dave Trotter, Cliff Audretch III and others that I've blogged about in the past 6 months) How Taxi differs from other sites like music x ray and also the reason that it is very respected by music industry professionals is because they have a screening process.  What's that you might ask?  Well, when you submit listing, there's a music pro working for Taxi that screens every song submitted and only forwards the best of the best to the actual Label, Publisher, etc... looking for songs.  Understandably, its sucks to find out your song isn't being forwarded.  However,  I respect the process because it does indeed assure major opportunities from legit, major companies...for example, my song "Caroline" was forwarded to VP of A&R at EMI Music Publishing last year through Taxi.  It might not be for everybody, but my experience has been great... especially with meeting people and networking at the convention.

Anyway, I took about a year off and just re-joined today...mainly because I found out that even professional, published songwriters are using the site as an extra tool to get placements!  This means the competition is stiff, but overall I think its worth it.  We shall see.  My account takes 24hrs to reboot but as soon as it does and I submit to a listing I'll post it on here so you can see what they look like.  Also, feel free to check out www.taxi.com and read all about it!

DAY - 196

Running around like crazy today.  Just got a second to breath so here I am at the Starbuck's on Broad street.  (I know I said I was trying to cut down on coffee... baby steps)  Kicked off the morning with a writing session with Grammy winning songwriter Scot Sax.  This is the first time Scot and I got together to write. I have to say, for a first session, it was great to say the least!  We vibed out for a while watching a vintage Stones DVD filmed at a concert in Texas back in '78, showed each other some new projects/songs we've been working on and then dug right in.  The most notable thing I remember about collaborating with Scot is that... he is FAST!  I don't think I've ever written with someone who spits out great melody, chords and lyrics as quick as Scot.  I brought a cool new idea to the session and we just ran with it. (actually, I should say Scot ran, I trailed behind like a fat kid out of breath) :)  I'm super pumped about the concept and where the tune is going.  We'll be getting together next week to finish up!  If you haven't heard Scot Sax you can check out his multiple projects here... www.scotsax.com be sure to check out his band's Wanderlust and Queen Electric...great music, great songwriting!

Today I sent an email to Carie Long who is also Director of A&R and Show Dog Universal Music (refer to yesterday)  I also sent her Skinny Dippin' and let her know I'm hearing it for Joe Nichols who's a Show Dog artist.  We'll see if she bites.  

DAY - 195

Today I reached out to Cliff Audretch III at Show Dog Universal Music Nashville.  I met Cliff briefly, a couple years ago, at a music convention in LA and just recently made the connection that he's the same Cliff Audretch who is in charge of A&R at Show Dog! (one of the biggest labels in Nashville) Small world!  Anyway, I wrote him an email and sent him the newest country demo, Skinny Dippin' http://mynameisaugust.bandcamp.com/track/skinny-dippin  I gave him a brief description and let him know what artists I could hear recording the song.  We'll see what he thinks!

BUSY week coming up...Besides having a ton of homework and rehearsals EVERY night for school, I'm getting together with Scot Sax tomorrow and I have a skype session with J Fred Knobloch and Sweet Angeline on Friday.  Looking forward to it all and praying the creativity is flowing :)  Stay tuned!

DAY - 194

I hope you had a great weekend! Due to indigestion issues, I'm trying to lower my coffee intake. Sooo... today has been long, tiring, and slightly irritating. I was going to try and not drink any coffee at all today, but I broke down around noon and had to grab a small cup.  Having been a '2 large cup a day' coffee drinker, you can imagine the withdraw.   Fighting a nagging headache at the moment.  Anyway, Doctor's orders and I know its healthier, so I'm up for the challenge.

Today I rescheduled the writing session with Scot Sax (refer to day 185)  for this Wednesday.  Looking forward to the session...I've got some cool new song ideas, so I'm definitely psyched to collaborate and see what happens.   Stay tuned!

Also, today I submitted my song, "Half the Girl" to MTV independent music licensing.  MTV is searching for songs from indie artists to place in their TV shows.  I've always wanted to get my music in MTV shows because they often give the song and the artist credit while the show is running (usually in the bottom left hand corner of the TV Screen)  It often results in a really decent amount of iTunes downloads and website traffic from new listeners around the country.  I'll keep you posted if I hear back!  If you want to hear "Half the Girl", you can do so here http://mynameisaugust.bandcamp.com/track/half-the-girl

DAY - 193

Today got kicked off early with a Skype meeting with J Fred Knobloch and the Sweet Angeline team.  We went over logistics for the new song and made plans for demoing.  After that, it was time to rehearse for a wedding Sweet Angeline is playing tomorrow.  Nothing too crazy....just playing Blake Shelton's "God Gave Me You" for the candle lighting portion of the ceremony. Hopefully I can get some footage of it and be able to post this weekend!

Heard back from Heather Longstaffe today... we booked a Nashville writing session for June 13th at ASCAP.   Definitely looking forward to it! If you have't checked out Heather's music, you can do so here... http://www.heatherlongstaffe.com/  DO it..cause its REALLY cool!

Anyway,  that's it for today.  Hope you have a great weekend and a Happy & Blessed Easter.  Cheers!

DAY - 192

Just firmed up the dates for my next trip to Nashville.  My girlfriend Sue is the maid of honor at her best friend's wedding in Asheville, NC on June, 9th and since Nashville is only a couple hours away (being the lovely, supportive, girlfriend she is) she suggested we extend our trip and make a beeline for Music City... and trust me, I'm not complaining! :)  Long story short, we'll be arriving into town, Monday, June 11th and leaving Sunday, June 17th.

After deciding on the dates last night, today I reached out to EMI Music Publishing songwriter, Heather Longstaffe (refer to day 180) to get a session together while I'm in town.  Looking forward to writing with Heather...I think we have a lot of songwriting traits and ideas about where country music is going in common.  Stay tuned!

*If you haven't heard the new song demo, Skinny Dippin', you can check it out here... http://mynameisaugust.bandcamp.com/track/skinny-dippin

DAY - 191

NEW SONG DEMO!  For your listening pleasure, here's the latest song from the "Sweet Angeline" team...  its called Skinny Dippin' http://mynameisaugust.bandcamp.com/track/skinny-dippin  If I may quote myself from yesterday's post..."Its a super-catchy, fun, and....dare I say, sexy... summer song. (best listened to while enjoying a margarita or corona w/ lime) I hope you enjoy :) I plan on pitching this one to artists like Billy Currington, Blake Shelton, Luke Bryan, Josh Turner etc.  


Instead of me contacting someone, someone actually contacted me today.  I received and email from Katerina from Minoan Music.  Minoan Music is a music licensing firm that handles placing music for Tv, film and advertising.  Katerina reached out today to let me know she had stumbled across my music and liked what she heard.  I wrote back and let her know if she's interested in collaborating in some way I'd love to talk further.  Also, if she's working on any projects that she thinks my music would be perfect for to please let me know.  So that's about it.

DAY - 190

"Everyone starts off as a bad imitation of someone else and inevitably finds their own voice."

-Tom Waits  ( and thanks to my long time friend and co-writer Eric Schwank for sharing)

One of my favorite bands growing up and still to this day is Counting Crows.  I looked up to Adam Duritz like he was the biggest rock star that ever lived.  I wanted to be able to write, perform and sound just like him.  As a teenager, I would sit for hours learning all their songs.  I even used to fantasize about going on tour together.  (ok... maybe I still do)   So obviously it was a natural progression that when I started writing my own songs I would try to imitate them.  I would TRY to sound poetically mysteeeerious and abstract. (key word being "try") However, a lot of those songs usually ended up a jumbled mess of teenage angst and thought patterns only I could understand.  But, as I grew as a musician and as a writer and immersed myself into as many styles of music as I possible, as Tom Waits put it so perfectly, I eventually found my own voice.  Though I might add, if it wasn't for the "bad imitation" I may never have been inspired in the first place.

Today I finished a brand new demo!  Its a super-catchy, fun, and....dare I say, sexy... summer song. (best listened to while enjoying a margarita or corona w/ lime) Its called "Skinny Dippin'" and it was written along with the "Sweet Angeline" team of Tyler and Liv.   The demo will be up for your listening pleasure tomorrow!  Anyway, today I sent the song to Nashville music publisher Shane Barrett.  I met Shane at ASCAP when I was in Nashville in January and have been keeping in touch.  Shane is actually responsible for getting "Crazy Girl" (a number one country song in 2011) to the Eli Young Band, making it their first hit single!  He also has cuts on numerous records including, Luke Bryan and Billy Currington.  I actually wrote Skinny Dippin' with Billy Currington in mind.  Needless to say, my mind made that connection today and I sent it to Shane hot off the press!  We'll see if he digs it.

Alright time to hit the sack and dream of touring with 90's rock bands.  Goodnight!

DAY - 189

Apologies for the delay...This blog covers yesterday's (4/2/12) events: 

Today was a little hectic to say the least. Unfortunately, not as much time spent on networking as I had hoped.  After classes, from 9am-4:30pm (with no break today) I had to head straight to teaching.  I had a little window of opportunity to sit and get some emails done...

 I scheduled a skype session with J Fred Knobloch on Friday to go over details on demoing our latest song and also to go over the song he wants us to sing for his demo.  Scot Sax and I ran into a little scheduling snag so we're re-working the session.  And last but not least, I started researching and going over details for my next Nashville trip in June!  I'm highly considering joining NSAI.  Check it out http://www.nashvillesongwriters.com/   NSAI is a highly respected songwriting organization in Nashville that strives to provide opportunities for songwriters. (both Signed and Indie writers)  They hold workshops and pitch sessions with major industry reps, host meet and greets, and put on showcases...and that's only a small fraction of the opportunities they present.  I haven't been living in Nashville yet so I haven't felt a strong pull to join, but lately, everyone I talked to has been raving about the organization.   I'm looking into what they have going on in June and if it's something worthwhile, I'm definitely going to join.  More to come on that.  Cheers!