Just finished reading an article on a songwriting blog called, Our Scattered Words (OSW). It's a really cool blog with tons of great interviews and a wealth of insights. I was turned onto it because I follow hit songwriter, Brent Baxter's blog (manvsrow.wordpress.com) and he happened to be featured on OSW. The address is ourscatteredwords.com if you're interested. Please excuse the re-blogging, but I thought this was a great highlight.
OSW: Do you sing or play an instrument? If not, do you think it would change your writing if you did? Brent Baxter: No, I don’t sing, and I haven’t strummed a guitar in years. I’m strictly a lyricist. Having those other skills surely would’ve changed how I write and what I write. I’ve heard it said that your limitations define your style, and that’s sure true of me. I’m sure I wouldn’t be as good of a lyricist if I could write strong melodies. But what would that trade-off be? It’s better to be great at one thing than to be mediocre at several- at least if you want to monetize your songwriting.
"It's better to be great at one thing..." That hits home for me. I personally get caught up with trying to be great at EVERYTHING (musicianship, melody, lyrics, hooks/concepts, arrangement, recording, production) and sometimes I spread myself too thin. Hmmm...food for thought. Not to mention, this speaks to the very nature of co-writing and teamwork. Ideally, two or more writers with strengths in different areas, collaborating to create something great. How many hit songs were written by one person? A small fraction. Fred Knobloch said something similar to me in a discussion we were having about success in songwriting. He said, "Sooner or later you're going to figure out what you're REALLY good at. Do that."
Enough talking shop, let's get to it. Today I reached out to owner/director of Creative Nation, Beth Laird. Earlier, I tried to connect with the creative director, but I haven't heard back. So... I decided to go right to the top. It's a long shot, but we shall see. I also reached out to a couple songwriters in Nashville I've been meaning to connect with. I've received a lot of great referrals lately and have begun setting up dates for when I return full-time in late October.
Over the weekend, besides submitting to a listing on MusicXRay for the TV show, "The Biggest Loser, I did a ton of research on new contacts. Trying to connect with someone everyday gets harder the longer you do it!! Gotta take the time to dig deeper. Cheers!
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