DAY - 9

Just finished an all day writing binge with J Fred Knobloch.  We skyped with Sweet Angeline co-writer Liv Devine until about 12pm and then keep writing on through til after 4pm.  We're wrestling with the lyric/melody on the new "old" song idea I was talking about last week.  This one isn't coming out as clean as I thought it would.  We tackled the chorus which is most important hurdle, now it's about getting into the nitty gritty.  I heard an interview with Toby Keith and he said he won't even continue writing a song unless he has a good chorus.  Agree? Disagree?  Either way, I guess it's working for him.  Anyway, we'll have to let this one simmer a little more.

Fred and I also started production on the demo for "Summertime Looks Good On You".  It's sounding really cool so far!  We actually changed the feel of the song from 6/8 to 4/4 for this version.  It's such a strong hook and overall lyric that we decided to get a little more commercial with the production and arrangement.  It's damn near impossible to get a 6/8 feel on country radio!  That being said, both Kellie Pickler's and Miranda Lambert's new singles are in 6/8. (or 3/4 ) Fred and I both still LOVE the original 6/8 feel so in the end we'll probably demo it both ways.  There's always something to be said about first instincts and having it both ways can't hurt.

Today I reached out to Brooke Arrington, creative director from Red Vinyl Music here in Nashville.  I met Brooke back in March when I was in town with Sweet Angeline for our Bluebird Cafe showcase.  She was the special guest publisher at a song pitch session at ASCAP.  She REALLY dug our pop song "Insomnia".  She actually said, "If that song was in my catalog I would be pitching it right now!"  Although Red Vinyle doesn't handle pop, Brooke knows her stuff so I wanted to drop a line to keep in touch.

That's it for today.  Tomorrow I have a writing session scheduled with the young and super-talented, Megan Redmond.  Stay tuned!