DAY - 97+98

Home for the holidays.  My wife, Susan and I and our dog, Indy made the 14 hour trek back to NJ on Friday afternoon.  We were considering flying for the first time with the little guy but didn't want to chance it.  He's such a loud mouth (7 pound Yorkie) he'd probably have us kicked off the flight.  So we drove, in the rain, and arrived around 3:30am.  Honestly, sans the rain and the late arrival, the drive wasn't bad.  Leaving at 1pm put us in the D.C. area around 1am in which there was NO traffic.  If you've driven through that area you know how bad it can be!

Feels great having nothing to do but spend time with family and friends, relax and re-charge.  Besides last minute Christmas shopping, we've crashed my sister's bakery every day for a daily sugar rush. They're doing the "12 Days of Christmas Cupcakes"... a crazy new flavor every day!    www.sweettbakes.com

Down to business...

This weekend I booked a new writer's night.  Michael Scott, a songwriter from Franklin, TN reached out and asked me to join his writer's round at the locally famous Mercantile Deli in downtown Franklin. Check it out HERE.  I met Michael at the Bluebird Cafe writer's night on December 1st.  Like I was saying earlier, writer's nights are some of the best places to do quality networking.  Show up on time and prepared, play your heart out, and stick around to chat with people/watch the other writers perform.  You never know who you'll meet and who's gonna dig what you're doing.

Today, I reached out hit songwriter, Brent Baxter after reading a fantastic post on his blog (check it out) regarding being busy vs. productive.  The concept of the post is the very reason my blogging adventure  began.

It's almost 1:30pm... time to do some shopping before it gets crazy out there.  Not to mention, today is Day -11 of the 12 Days Of Christmas Cupcakes at Sweet T's ;)

DAY - 95+96

GRADUATED!  Wooo hooo...finally!  I have officially completed my 3 year journey back to music school and I'm proudly standing in the metaphoric light at the end of the tunnel.  It's bright, it's warm and it feels so good.  I thought going back to school would be a difficult...it was.  However, absolutely worth it for me.  Following in the footsteps of a family of professional musicians, I feel ready as ever to make my mark on the musical world.  Wish me luck :)

Yesterday, I reached out to hit songwriter and head of the songwriting department of Belmont University, James Elliott.  As both a hit songwriter and a distinguished professor I felt compelled to reach out to James and introduce myself.

Today, I emailed mega Nashville producer, Dan Huff in regards to the Band Perry's new project.  I pitched a song that is totally out-of-the-box.  The song is one I wrote with Grammy winning songwriter, Scot Sax.  The demo we did is totally retro rock/pop.  However, at the Steve Bloch Speedpitch session last week, one of the publishers loved it and said it could make a totally fresh country/pop song for a female singer w/ attitude.  I decided to give it a whirl.  You can check out the song HERE

Cheers!

DAY - 94+95

Sorry for the delay!   If I'm off this week I apologize.  Last week of student teaching, 2 major tests for certification, a meeting a Belmont University and packing to head back to NJ for the holidays.  It's a bit nutty but I'm keeping up.  I'll keep this short and sweet.

Yesterday, I reached out to song-plugger, and publisher Shane Barrett thanking him for hooking me up with one of his writers, Tammy Jacobs.  Tammy and I wrote a really cool tune.  Actually, you can check it out if you want...it's just a little acoustic work tape, but you'll get the idea... http://mynameisaugust.bandcamp.com/track/start-a-little-life-with-you-wt 

Today I reached out to hugely successful music supervisor, Alexandra Petsavas.  You can check out her stuff at www.chopshoprecords.com.  She is one of the top music supervisors in the biz.  I reached out to Alexandra to send her "Heart On A String".  My co-writer, J Fred Knobloch has been sending it around to the who's who of Nashville songwriters and producers and he's been getting rave reviews.  Come on Bublé!  I'll even give you some of the publishing ;)  Lol...wishful thinking. 

DAY - 93

Happy Happy Friday!  Glad the weekend is here although it's not going to be that relaxing.  I have to take two major tests (Praxis Exams for teaching certification) next week so this weekend my head is going to be buried in the books.  I'll be glad when it's over...that's if I pass...

Anyway, there's a new Country/Pop artist by the name of Leah Turner.  She has a single out called "Take the Keys" and she's signed with Sony Music in Nashville.  I've been hearing the song everyday on the Sirius radio station "The Highway".  Very cool voice and a fresh sound...not to mention a great song.  I just pitched a couple songs to her debut project.  We shall see...

Have a great weekend!

DAY - 92

The winter concert is tonight for my school and I'm conducting 3 songs.  First time I've ever conducted a group in concert.  A little nerve racking.  I have to head back to school soon so I'll make this quick...

Today I pitched producer, Michael Knox 2 songs for Jason Aldean's new project.  Obviously this is a long shot.  Jason is probably getting pitched thousands of songs.  But hey, here's hoping mine goes to the top of the pile ;)

Cheers!

DAY - 91

Today I pitched "Here We Go Again" to producer, Luke Wooten in consideration for Dustin Lynch's new project.  On Monday night,  4 out of the 6 industry pros took a copy of that song. (Refer to yesterday) I know Dustin is looking for something on the New Country side of things and I figured it'd be a good pitch.  I haven't heard anything from the FGL camp yet so I'll keep the pitches flowing.  Fingers crossed, prayers being said.

Just got an email from J Fred Knobloch with a brand new mix and master of "Heart On A String".  He did such a great job on it.  Definitely kicked it up a few notches.  This song still remains one of my absolute favorite songs I've been a part of writing.  Fun fact: My father wrote and recorded the horn parts and my mother played tenor sax on it. :)

DAY - 89+90

Apologies for the delay....

Last night I participated in Steve Bloch's Speed Pitch.  Personally, I thought it was great!  I meet with over 6 music industry pros in less than 2 hours.  From publishers, to managers, to an American Idol finalist, all of whom were looking for music.  I had a fantastic night with amazing response!  5 out of the 6 people I met with wanted copies of one or more of the songs I played for them and 3 of which gave me their personal contact info.  Couldn't have gone better! :)  If you've got a decent size catalog of well-recorded music I highly recommend this event.  You can even do it via Skype.  However, the vibe I got was that some of the pros actually liked meeting in person.  I for one liked meeting in person as well.  You have a better shot of making an actual connection.  Nothing beats a hand shake.  I also met a really cool songwriter who was also attending the session.  All in all, a great night.

Today I reached out to the 3 people that gave me their contact info.  Unfortunately, I'm technically not supposed to divulge the names...but... what I can say is that one was the American Idol finalist, and the other 2 were song pluggers for publishers.  I'm sure if I develop a relationship with any of these people in the future I'll be able to throw out some names.  ;)

So that's the story! 

DAY - 88

I had a half day of teaching today due to inclement weather!  That's 3 extra hours of precious time to use however I wanted to.  I have to say it was a productive 3 hours.  Not only did I work on my professional resume, I cranked out a decent sounding work tape for the song I wrote with AWMG writer, Tammy Jacobs and I contacted Steve Bloch to sign up for his "Speed Pitch" this coming Monday night.

After finishing the work tape I sent it over to Tammy for some final tweaks after which we'll discuss demo options.  I'm pumped... it's a really fun tune.  Looking forward to posting in the near future.

And yes,  I decided to partake in one of Steve Bloch's "Speed Pitches".  I discussed the Speed Pitches about a month ago but couldn't find which day to refer to.  Anyway, if you're interested...  www.steveblochmusic.com 

I had a great phone convo with Steve today and I'm really excited about the event on Monday.  There's going to be some very cool industry pros attending this week!

I'll tell you all about it on Monday night afterwards or on Tuesday.

Have a great weekend!

DAY - 87

Heard back from Bluebird Cafe today with a date for March!   I also from Terry Seay at All About Z Music with a writer's night date for February.  (refer to yesterday)

Today I reached out to hit songwriter, producer, remixer, DJ, and A&R rep for Major Bob music, Jesse Frasure aka Telemitry.  (Can you say over achiever? Geez...save some work for the rest of us :) )

I decided I'd contact Jesse to introduce myself.  I really admire his writing and production and his ability to be so versatile.   I let him know a little bit about myself, and that I'd love to meet this month to play him some music.  Of course this is a long-stretch.  He is undoubtedly a busy man so for him to want to meet with an unknown is highly unlikely.  But like I said before, that's what this blog is about.

Cheers!

DAY - 86

Today I reached out to Bluebird Cafe as well as some other booking contacts to book myself on some more writer's nights.

One of the biggest advantages about living in Nashville is being able to get involved in writer's nights.  These events are some of the best places for solid networking... both business contacts and future co-writes.  Not to mention, they're a lot of fun!  I'm also finding that some songwriters even host their own writer's nights at some great venues around town.

After speaking with someone at Bluebird today I found out that after you play at least 4 writer's nights they'll give you your own night (if they think you can handle it)  

3 more to go 'til you see "Michael August & Friends" on the calendar!  ;)

Cheers!

DAY - 85

Today I reached out to mega producer, Buddy Cannon.  Mr. Cannon is in the midst of producing Kenny Chesney's latest project and is looking for songs.

I pitched 2 relatively new songs for the project.

I also just posted so you can check them out as well...

Summertime Looks Good On You:  is brand new song I wrote with Nashville hit songwriter, J Fred Knobloch.  Fred and I finished up the demo about a month ago and this is the first pitch.  It's a total country/soul type throw back tune with some very cool and modern loops/production. Fred is singing the vox on this demo and we're both singing the backgrounds.

Rambler's Lament: is a song I wrote with Eric Schwank.  This is actually a live recording of Eric performing the song in my studio back in NJ.  One acoustic guitar, one voice, one take.   It was only supposed to be a work tape, but his performance was so heartfelt and compelling I decided to use it as-is.  

Hope you enjoy!

DAY - 84

I hope you had a fantastic holiday weekend.  I relaxed, ate, drank, and spent, a little too much...but I guess that's what Thanksgiving is all about...right?  Time to get back to the gym and back to work!

I played the world famous Bluebird Cafe last night.  It was a blast!  I got there around 7:30pm and the line at the door was already down the street. It's unbelievable what the show, "Nashville" has done for the Bluebird.  It's always been a famous spot since Garth Brooks set foot on stage in 1987 and was discovered that night.  Now, with the popularity of the TV show, nightly attendance at The Bluebird is of the charts!  Last night was no different.  It was fantastic playing to packed house of folks from all over the world.  I'm not kidding...USA, Canada, Holland, Ireland, and Australia were all in the house last night!!  Crazy.

Today I had a short Skype writing session with long-time friend, bandmate and co-writer, Eric Schwank.  Eric had a great idea that we started laying the groundwork to this afternoon.  It has the makings of a really strong country rock ballad.  Now all we have to do is NOT screw it up.  Lol...easier said than done.

Before the session today I reached out to the Creative Director of Magic Mustang publishing, Juli Newton-Griffith.  I've been hearing some great things about Magic Mustang and their writers. (Jason Aldean and Thompson Square happen to be Magic Mustang writers) I tried reaching out to the other creative director Keithan Melton in the summer but never heard back so I figured I'd try to make another contact.  We shall see.

More to come this week. Stay tuned!

DAY - 83

Turkey day is almost here and I can already taste it. At the moment, my lovely wife, Susan is already prepping for tomorrow's festivities!  We decided instead of flying back to NJ we would spend Thanksgiving in Nashville, just the two of us.  At first, we thought we'd go to one of our favorite restaurant spots for dinner, but then Sue had the wild idea that we should go all-out and cook ourselves a full T-day feast...a practice run, if you will, for future Thanksgivings. :)  So, the fridge is stocked and the cabinets are overflowing with the usual suspects and even some interesting new recipe items.  Tomorrow will be a day of cooking, drinking, relaxing, and of course EATING!

Today I had a morning writing session with the very talented, Tammy Jacobs.  The session went fantastic and we finished up the song we had started a few weeks ago. (refer to Day - 72)  It's an upbeat, fun, love song with a conversational vibe and super catchy chorus.  Looking forward to demoing.

After the session, I reached out to Donald Jenkins. (refer to Day - 49)  Donald and I had talked about getting together for coffee so I figured I'd reach out and set it up.  I also dropped another line to songwriter, Rich Karg. (refer to Day - 66)

 Along with the music industry, I will be out of commission until Monday.

Wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Cheers!

DAY - 83

Thanksgiving break is officially here!  5 days off to recharge, relax, catch up, and enjoy the holiday.  As soon as I got home my head hit the pillow and I was out like a light for 2 hours.  I felt like I was getting sick, but I think it's just the fact that I've been in 'go' mode since September 1st.  I've been performing a juggling act for 3 months and I feel my concentration getting weary. (As you can probably tell looking over the last week or so of posts) This break came at a perfect time.  Can't wait to do nothing but cook food and make music.

Following yesterday's pitch to Joey Moi (Florida-Georgia Line's Producer) I made the same pitch to their manager, Seth England at Big Loud Shirt.  I figured I'd tackle both ends of the spectrum with this pitch in hopes of getting a listen.  I can only imagine how much material they're receiving and sifting through at the moment.  Fingers crossed, prayers being said.

Cheers!

DAY - 82

It's snowing in Nashville.  Fireplace + movie + couch = perfect Monday night.

Today I pitched Joey Moi a song for Florida-Georgia Line's next project.  Joey Moi is producing the record and they are looking for songs.

I pitched, "Here We Go Again".  It's an upbeat, fun, summer anthem and I thought it'd be perfect for FGL's second album.

Kirk Penney, my co-writer, recorded what I like to call a super work tape. (A very detailed and produced recording that's not a high polished demo) We've been getting rave reviews from a few publishers who told us to pitch it as is.  So we are!  Fingers crossed.  

You can check out the song link above.  Hope you enjoy.

Cheers!

DAY - 81

“The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.”
– Steve Jobs

Happy Friday!  It's a rainy one here in Nash-vegas.  Another week flew by.  I can't believe I'll be done my grad program student teaching requirements in less than a month, thus fully completing the program!   Talk about another week flying by...the past few years have flown by.

Today I reached out to senior creative director at ASCAP Nashville,  LeAnn Phelan.  I had reached out to LeAnn back in August regarding getting together for a meeting to chat about being new to town, play her some music and basically,  get on the radar.  LeAnn offered to meet with me on a date that I was back in Philly so she told told me to contact her towards the end of November to re-schedule.

I'm hoping we can meet either next week or the following.  That's all for today.  I'm going to take the free afternoon and work on some new music.

Hope you have a great weekend.  Cheers!

DAY - 78 + 79 +80

Wow... talk about falling behind.   Time to play catch up...

1) I heard back from mega hit producer Scott Hendricks. (refer to Day 70)  Not the best of news.  He said, he was pretty much too busy to meet.  A little bummed, but obviously I knew it was a long shot.  I'm sure he's swamped and to take precious time to meet with an up-and-comer with no referral is probably not top priority on his to-do list. Can't fault me for trying ;)  However, he did offer a few suggestions and wrote me back a sincere email.  I wrote back thanking him for his time and asked for permission to send songs for future projects.  Hopefully our paths cross in the future.

2) Yesterday, I wrote with Nashville singer-songwriter, Megan Redmond.  Fantastic session.  Out of the 3 times we've written together, we came out with 3 really strong songs.  That's a pretty damn good batting average.  We're just now looking into demo options.  Can't wait for you to hear.  

3) This afternoon has been a whirlwind of emails and follow-ups.  Securing demo singers, booking sessions, song editing, following up with co-writers, scheduling new co-writes, and following up with the jingle stuff.    

It's been a less than ground-breaking couple of days.  Great for new music, not so much for business.  But, that's how it goes sometimes.  Onward and upward!

DAY - 77

Trying my best not to fall behind.  It's been a hectic start to the week.  This blog post will cover yesterday Monday, November 18th.

I had a great weekend/monday of writing and recording.  I worked with two great songwriters one of whom has been a co-writer of mine for over a year and the other was a first time write.  Both were great sessions!  On Sunday I wrote with new friend and co-writer, Brad Oliver.  Brad is fantastic vocalist and producer, best known for his rock stylings with Rose For Apollo.  Besides having an artist career, Brad is an all around great writer.  Not to mention, an awesome guy.  We had a productive first session and looking forward to working a lot more in the future.

Yesterday's session was with Canadian/Nashville songwriter, Kirk Penney.  As usual, Kirk and I had a killer session in which we finished the majority of a new song.  Btw, apologies for not posting any new demos lately...more to come soon.

To back track even more, Saturday I had the very talented Megan Redmond come to my studio to lay down vocals for a "female version" of the jingles I've been working on.  Speaking of which, tonight I need to finish those up because the company is making the pitch on Monday.  Fingers crossed they dig my work.

Some bad news... I heard back from producer, Carson Chamberlain (refer to day 74)  regarding the songs I pitched for Easton Corbin's latest project.  He thanked me for sending the songs but said he was going to pass.  Oh well,  at least he got back to me. lol!  Back on the horse.

Speaking of back on the horse.  Today I pitched Josh Turner.  I'll let you know how that goes.

Alright I have to skype in for my seminar class in  6 minutes.  More to come tomorrow.  I need t make up for one day worth of networking still!

DAY - 76

TGIF...and this time I really mean it.  This has been a stressful week.  Student teaching observations, lesson plans, a couple jingles, and a few writing sessions.  My head is fried.  A strong cocktail is in order...better make that a few.

Tonight Sue and I are meeting up with some friends at this crazy dive bar in Nashville called Santa's Pub.  It's a smoked-filled, wood-paneled, triple-wide trailer serving up the coldest beer in town straight from the kitchen. AND...it's literally owned by a guy that looks like Santa...people actually call him, Santa. Lol!  Check it out...  www.santaspub.com  Not only was it voted the nation's best dive bar by Maxim magazine but it's a rockin' good time. (if you can stand the second-hand smoke) The best karaoke spot I've seen yet.  And apparently, you never know who is gonna pop in unannounced.

Down to business...
Today I followed up with Celia Froehlig from Black River Entertainment.  Basically just to touch base, send some new material and see about potential co-write opportunities.  Besides working on my writing schedule for next week, that's all I had time for today.

Hope you have a great weekend.  Cheers!

DAY - 75

Today I reached out to some Film and TV connects including two companies that I already have songs licensed with.  (Audiosocket, Crucial Music)  I'm beginning to put out some feeders and stir up some potential TV & Film opportunities for my music.  After meeting with publishing vet, Abbe Nameche and having her enthusiastically suggest doing that for my pop material I've been slowly but surely gathering new contacts and putting feelers out.  I have to be honest, I've been out of the TV & Film game for a few years so I have to get my feet wet again.  NOW is as good of a time as ever!  I also reached out to some individuals that do Film & TV work such as NYC producer, Jeremy Cimino. (Jeremy produced both "Insomnia" and "Bass Drum" in my pop catalog)

Onward and Upward.

DAY - 74

Today I pitched 2 songs to country singer, Easton Corbin's next project. I sought out contact info for the producer of the project, Carson Chamberlain, got his email and made the pitch about 5 minutes ago.  

I pitched "Saying Yes" and "Skinny Dippin'".   You can check these songs out here... www.mynameisaugust.bandcamp.com

Easton had a cheeky summer smash called "All Over the Road".  After checking out more of his material,  I figured he'd appreciate the tongue-in-cheek humor of these two songs.  We shall see.

I heard back from Dana Parish last night. (refer to yesterday)  Still so pumped for her!!  My favorite part of that article is the story about how she asked a music exec if he would have pitched the song to Celine and the music exec admitted that he would of had her change the word "girl" in the title.  She said, if she left it in his hands the song would have been dead in the water.  Instead, she took it into her own hands and now she has not only 1 but 2 Celine Dion cuts!!  Totally inspirational.

Looking forward to busy weekend of music making.  Jingle producing on Saturday morning and writing with a new co-writer (Brad Oliver) on Sunday morning.   Good vibes.

DAY - 72+73

Apologies for the delay on yesterday's post.  It was nonstop day.

DAY - 72
After student teaching, I hopped in the car and headed straight to a writing session.  Yesterday afternoon/evening I had my first session with Tammy Jacobs.  Tammy is a published staff writer with  AWMG entertainment.  She is predominantly a lyricist and a very talented one, as I found out in our session.  I've never worked with a lyricist before but I have to say, it was a lot of fun!  For once, I could take my mind off the lyric and concentrate the majority of my efforts on music and melody.  Talk about team work.  Not to mention, we came into the session on the same page idea-wise.  After chatting a bit, Tammy brought up the fact that I just got married and thought it'd be cool to write something along those lines.  So happens... I had just the right hook stored away.  Love when it's that easy.  Needless to say, the session went great and we finished the majority of a new tune.  Looking forward to finishing it up at our next session.

After writing with Tammy, I hopped back in the car, picked up Sue and we headed downtown to check out Whiskey Jam at Winners Bar.  It was packed!!  Whiskey Jam is a high energy writer's night in which both artists and writers perform solo or even with a band.  Sue and I met up with some friends  and had a great time checking out the scene.  Hoping to get a spot on the Whiskey Jam line up soon!

DAY - 73
Today I reached out to the super talented, Dana Parish.  Dana is a songwriter and an artist doing some amazing things. What do I mean by amazing things?  How 'bout 2 songs on the latest Celine Dion record!  Just released on November 5th.   We actually share a couple pretty cool connections.  1) We both studied under the same vocal coach, the incredible, Paul Adkins.  2) We both had our first song recorded by the same person...my father, Mr. Bud Walton. :)  I'm not kidding...check out the article HERE

Pretty cool.  Anyway, I sent Dana an email congratulating her and her husband for all the recent success.  I also let her know that if they we're planning on coming to Nashville...please let me know!

DAY - 71

Happy Friday!   I'm going to keep this short and sweet.  My mother-in-law is in town and we're are taking her out to dinner!

Today I reached out to NSAI.  (Nashville Songwriter's Association International) I've known about the company for a long time and I've heard so many amazing personal stories about how NSAI has helped songwriters and artists reach their goals.  Now that I'm officially in town, it's time to join.  However, before I do, I'd like to meet with them face-to-face, shake hands, get a tour of the building, etc.  In other words, attempt to make my presence known and get on the radar.  As opposed to merely joining via the internet, I'd like to make a personal connection first.

Too many things to mention. Check it out...

 www.nashvillesongwriters.com

Cheers!

DAY - 70

Today I reached out to renowned Nashville producer and hit maker, Scott Hendricks.  Scott has had 50... that's 5-0.... #1 singles in his incredible career!  I know you're thinking..."That's a long shot!  Why would someone with 50 #1 hits give you the time of day?" And yes, you're exactly right.  It is a long shot.  But, that's what this blog is about.  Taking risks, throwing hail Mary's, and knocking on every door, no matter how big or small it may be.  Today I knocked on a very BIG door.

The way I see it, you never know who you might catch on a good day.  There's a chance that email might find itself opened and read by someone feeling extra generous or willing to extend a hand.  Point is, you can't depend solely on cold call type emails, the success rate is low.  But you never know if you don't hit "send" every once and a while.   In fact, emails like that have landed me in the offices of 3 awesome Nashville publishers so far.  

Have a great night!

DAY - 69

Are you watching the CMA's??  Fantastic this year... IMHO.  Love the two little girls Lennon & Maisy from the show Nashville.  They are going to be super-stars.  Not to mention, they have the sister connection so their harmonies are incredibly tight.  And Dave Grohl with Zac Brown Band!!? Amazing!

What a day!  Where to begin?  At lunch I got in touch with co-writer and Nashville hit songwriter J Fred Knobloch regarding pitching Kenny Chesney and Alan Jackson our newest song.  The demo is pretty much finished and sounding great! (I will post for your listening pleasure asap)  Fred got back to me letting me know he'll be making the pitches.  Fred, basically a house hold name in Nashville, has a much better shot of getting our song the attention it deserves. Fingers crossed, prayers being said.

 I've been making pitches lately and it's been cool so far, but yesterday I got an email back from Big Machine letting me know that my unsolicited material will not be considered or even given a listen.  Well, thank you very much.  No, I'm kidding...I figured that would happen eventually.   It's pretty common for labels to not accept unsolicited music.  They usually want it to be delivered by a publisher, A&R rep or someone they know.  Ok so...I just need a back door.

I got home from student teaching around 5pm and I hit the studio right away.  I was just asked to do another jingle for Stream Companies in PA!  The jingle is for a big regional car dealership with locations all over NJ and PA.  Tonight I was able to knock out one version.  Hoping they dig it!

Cheers!

DAY - 68

Super busy evening so I'm going to keep this real short...

Today during lunch I found time to pitch Rodney Adkins' producer Ted Hewitt a song for Rodney's new project.   I also pitched Rascal Flatts' A&R at Big Machine the same song.

The song is called, "All We Have is Right Now" and you can give it a listen here. 

I wrote this one with long time friend and co-writer, Eric Schwank and Eric demoed it in Nashville earlier in the year.

Couple more things on the back burner for tomorrow so stay tuned!

DAY - 67

Yeah the extra hour of sleep was great, but getting dark at 5:30pm sucks.  It's only 6:51pm cst and I swear it feels like 10pm.  Anyway, hope you had a great weekend!  Mine flew by.  The writer's round on Saturday night was awesome!  Since I was the newbie, I went first.  Not the best time slot of the night but there was a good crowd by the time my round started.  Not to toot my own horn...but... the set went over GREAT!  A bunch of audience members and other songwriters came up to me afterwards wanting to exchange info and find out where they can see me play again.  I have to admit, it felt good.  It's been a while since I've played a writer's round so this was a nice boost of confidence.  The hosts, Terry and Wanda invited me to play anytime I'm available.  Woo hoo!   Not only did the set go over well but I met some very talented writers as well.  I'm looking forward to connecting!

Today I pitched Tim McGraw "20/20".   I was able to get the info for both his A&R and his management. (Big Machine & Red Light Management) and decided to make the pitch.  Tim McGraw ISN'T someone I was initially thinking about pitching 20/20, however, his latest hits have been leaning heavy on the country/pop side. (Highway Don't Care, Felt Good On My Lips, Southern Girls)
We shall see.  As always, fingers crossed and prayers being said.  Maybe we can sneak one through :)

Cheers to new week!

DAY - 66

Apologies for the late post.  It's a beautiful Saturday and I'm sitting in my guest room/studio (refer to Day 62) working on some songs for the writer's night tonight in Franklin, TN.  Getting pumped to play...it's been a little while since I've been able to share new music in a writer's round format.

Yesterday I sent an email to Rich Karg.  Rich is a Nashville artist/songwriter signed with Green Hills Music Publishing.  He also happens to be a really nice guy.  Sue and I actually met Rich while we were  at Virago for my b-day on Monday.  Rich and I got to talking about songwriting and he told me to contact him to write sometime.  So I did last night.

That's all for now, hopefully I'll have more to report on Monday after tonight's event.  Have a great weekend.

Cheers!

DAY - 65

Happy Halloween! And indeed it is.  I have off of student teaching tomorrow for parent/teacher conferences and get to spend the whole day writing and recording.  Woo hoo!  I have a session booked in the morning with Nashville's own, J Fred Knobloch and a Friday evening planned with the wifey downtown.  Looking forward to an early weekend.

Today I reached out to Nashville super producer and publishing company owner, Frank Liddell.   Frank owns Carnival Music publishing and producers hit artists such as Miranda Lambert and the Eli Young Band...to name a few.    I read an interview with Frank a while back regarding his interest in emerging songwriters and I've been meaning to connect ever since.  We shall see.  Here's the site if you want to check it out: http://www.carnivalmusic.net

I also sent a follow-up to the creative director of Liz Rose Music, Natalie Harker.  Just touching base, letting her know I'm back in town, and would love to collaborate.  I forwarded over a few new things I've been working on as well.

That's all for today.  Have a happy Halloween and stay safe!  Cheers!

DAY - 64

At the moment,  I'm going over potential songs to perform this Saturday at the writer's round for All About Z Music.  Getting pumped about it!  A lot of new material to try out and some very cool people I'm looking forward to meeting.  That's this Saturday Nov. 2nd.   If you're around, let me know and I'll send you details.

Today was a laundry list follow-up kinda day...

1) Emailed Abbe Nameche (refer to yesterday)  and thanked her for the meeting.

2) Emailed one of my ASCAP reps, Ryan Beuschel to let him know I was back in town and looking to be kept in the loop with anything and everything ASCAP.

3) Emailed the super talented song-plugger/publisher, Shane Barrett to keep in touch.

4) Booked a writing session with Fred Knobloch for this Friday.


It's such a beautiful afternoon.  Time to take my dog to the dog park...who knows who we'll meet this time!

DAY - 63

Fantastic meeting today with Abbe Nameche, GM of Anchor Down Entertainment. (refer to yesterday)  She spent some real quality time getting to know me, listening to my music, and even had me play something live in her office.  First off, Abbe is super cool.  She's an industry vet and she totally knows her stuff.  She gave me great feedback and very solid advice moving forward.  She was partial to my pop stuff and even thought "Heart On A String" (song I wrote with Fred Knobloch)  was "a hit".  She stressed that I spend some time trying to get my pop catalog placed in TV & Film.  Not to mention, she even offered to make a few phone calls on my behalf.   Totally buzzing.

As you may have guessed, I'll be following up and cultivating this relationship.  Cheers to meeting awesome people in Music City!

Also, in case you're wondering... last night's surprise birthday dinner was at Virago. (Killer sushi joint downtown)  It was the first time we ate there and it totally lived up to the hype.  Expensive but REALLY good.  Afterwards we went to the Flying Saucer, a beer hall with over 280 beers on the menu, then closed out the night at Jeni's Ice Cream.  Sweet potato and marshmallow ice cream...sounds weird, tastes like frozen thanksgiving goodness in a bowl.  

Sushi, Beer, and Ice Cream = One happy b-day boy.

DAY - 62

Hope you had a great weekend!  Mine was perfect.  For the first time, in a long time, I got to kick back and relax.  On Saturday, Sue and I took our dog, Indy to the dog park.  Guess who was there?  Country star, Chuck Wicks!  That's right.  At 8:30am Me, Sue and Indy hung out with Chuck and his two King Charles Cavaliers.  Only in Nashville.  After the dog park we came back to the apartment and I set up my recording studio!  Actually, I think recording studio is a strong word.  It's more like a guest room that I sort of turned into a studio.  It'll do for now...

This is what I call compromise.  Studio/Guest Room.
Thanks are in order to my supportive wife :)   

Today is my birthday.  And... as luck would have it,  it's been a great day!  I heard back from the GM of Anchor Down Entertainment, Abbe Nameche. (refer to Day - 60)  Not only did she get back to me but she invited me in tomorrow afternoon for a meeting!   She said I was doing a great job and would like to meet.  Abbe is a music industry veteran with an incredible amount of experience and expertise.  She a is super talented pro who has worked with the who's who of the country world.  I'm totally pumped to meet her.  I wrote back and gladly accepted the invite.  Stay tuned!

To round off a great day, Sue is taking me to dinner somewhere special in Nashville for a bday celebration.  It's a surprise.

Until tomorrow.  Cheers!

DAY - 61

Just pitched a song to country star, Lee Brice!  Turns out Lee is looking for songs in the new country / hip hop style and I happened to have something spot on.   The song is one I've been working on with the very talented Canadian/Nashville songwriter, Kirk Penney.  Kirk and I have been getting RAVE reviews from just a rough work tape version of our song.  Side note: A work tape is a recording of the song, pre-demo. A lot of the times it's just acoustic/vocal or piano/vocal.  However, Kirk went all out and put together a GREAT sounding work tape and we were advised by a few publishers/hit writers to go ahead and pitch it.  So we did. (I'll post the work tape next week so you can check it out)

I pitched Lee Brice's management and A&R team at Curb Records this afternoon.  Fingers crossed, prayers being said...as always.

Hope you have a fantastic weekend!

DAY 59+60

I'm back in TN!  Walked in the door late last night just in time for a delicious dinner prepared by my amazing wife!  It's great to be back and know that I don't have to leave.  It was an intense 8 weeks and I feel like a tremendous weight has been lifted off my shoulders.  Yesterday was a 15hr travel day so honestly not much got accomplished networking-wise.  I did however, chat with co-writers on the ride down to discuss new song demos and to schedule some writing sessions. 3 new demos in the works at the moment!  Looking forward to posting when they're finished.  The drive was long, but not bad.  I actually took a recommendation and bought an audio book from iTunes.  It made the time fly. Great book by the way.  I've been getting into Malcolm Gladwell. I listened to "Outliers" on the way down and I'm currently reading his latest, "David and Goliath".  

Today I slept in.  After a late night pack job on Tuesday, a 3:30am wake up on Wednesday, and a 15hr drive, I was out like a light.  I finally managed to pull my lazy butt out of bed around 10am.  I'm starting my student teaching requirement tomorrow so I wanted to get as much work done/things updated as possible before it begins.  I'll be working with the vocal department of Hunter's Lane High School over the next 7 weeks.  The school day starts early, but is over by 2:15pm.  Perfect for afternoon writing sessions!

Down to biz...
Today I reached out to Abbe Nameche from Anchor Down Entertainment.  Abbe is the GM for the publishing company as well as one of the founding members of the song-plugging group, Chicks With Hits.  I decided I'd reach out, introduce myself, and let her know I'm interested in meeting.

I've got a lot of new contacts so stay tuned!

DAY - 58

This is going to be short and I am really sorry.  No time!!  Have to finish school work, get home, and pack alllll night, hit the road... Nashville bound tomorrow early in the AM!   Shout out to everybody in my grad program.  We made it through the intensive 8 weeks!!  Shout out to my wife, I'm coming home! :)

Today I reached out again to Ciara Gardner at Disney Music Publishing, in hopes of trying to place "Heart On A String" (a song I wrote with Nashville hit songwriter, J Fred Knobloch)   I'm keeping up the polite persistence with this and hoping to get a response.  Preferably a good response.

A couple brand new song demos in the works, one of which is already getting some good attention!  More to come on that.  Stay tuned!

DAY - 57

The show on Friday was awesome!  (refer to Day 57)  Although I didn't get to meet Uncle Kracker, I did shake hands with Joe Nichols briefly.  He is HUGE in person.  A statue of a man with chiseled features and long, dark, flowing hair.  I don't know what they put in the water down south but I'll have what he's drinking.

I also met the other opening act, Natalie Stovall. Natalie and her band were just signed to Hit Shop Records in Nashville and they're on tour at the moment drumming up exposure for the upcoming record they're recording.  They totally kick ass!  Natalie has an awesome voice and the band is rocking!

Today I followed up with Natalie letting her know I enjoyed their set and I'm interested in keeping in touch.  You can check out Natalie and the band HERE.

That's all for today.  It's homework time.  AND that my friends, will be the last time you hear those words from me!  Tomorrow is the last day of classes.  Wooo hoooo!!

DAY - 55 + 56

Apologies for the delay on yesterday's post.

I have to keep it short and sweet.  It's 6am and I have to be on the road to northwestern PA in 5 minutes, then right from there to the Liv Devine Band show with Uncle Kracker and Joe Nichols!

Yesterday I reached out to super successful producer, Frank Liddell.  I emailed Frank to introduce myself and to let him know I've got a really cool hook/concept for the Eli Young Band (who is know starting to look for songs)  Fingers crossed he digs the idea.

Today, as I said earlier, I'm playing guitar and singing with the Liv Devine Band.  I'll keep you updated  on how it goes.

Have a great weekend!

DAY - 54

1 week left!   By this time next week I will be well into my 14 hour drive back to Nashville, TN.  This time, to stay.

Check out this post from hit songwriter Brent Baxter's blog.  The concept he talks about in this post is the same reason I started my blog. http://manvsrow.com/2013/10/16/boats-and-rivers/#respond. 

If you're an aspiring or even successful songwriter/artist/lyricist and you haven't checked out his blog, do it!   It's insightful, inspirational and chock-full of those little nuggets of wisdom you can only learn by walking the path.

I decided to try something a little different today.  I reached out to Natalie Moore, head of artist development and creative services at Showdog Universal.  I wrote to Natalie letting her know that I'm interested in writing with any artist on her team.  I told her about my strengths as a writer and let her know I'm willing to work with anyone she thinks may be a good fit.

DAY - 53

Beautiful morning!  These are the fall mornings I live for!  65 degrees, sun is shining, the dew still hanging heavy on the grass and the smell of burning firewood in the air.   Puts me in a great mood!  I took the train in early enough to make a pit stop at Starbucks on Board Street.

Today I heard back from songplugger and publishing consultant, Steve Bloch.  Steve reached out personally to give me an inside look at his "Lucky 13 Speed Pitch" workshop.  You can check into it more on his website but here's the skinny.  "The Lucky 13" Speed Pitch is based on the concept of speed dating, but in this case, it's 13 minutes with each of six very viable music industry Pros.  The beauty is that in 90 minutes you will have begun to create relationships with people who might give you a leg up down the road.  Cost is $185 and it includes food and conversation with the industry folks during a 30 minute break.  

Now, I can't vouch for the workshop personally, because I haven't done it.  However, I've heard great things about it from some very viable sources.  In my opinion, if you're really confident in your material and looking to meet the decision makers face-to-face, and you have the extra bread to spare, this is your event.   I'm sure getting a deal on the spot is rare, but the networking possibilities are abundant.  Especially if you're new to town and want to get on the radar ;)  

I wrote Steve back and thanked him for his email.  Cheers!

PS.  Please feel free to comment or email me (mynameisaugust@yahoo.com) if you've ever been to one...or...if you have another event you'd like to share!!

DAY - 52

Hope you had a great weekend.  Mine was pretty productive.  I did some writing, had band rehearsal with the Liv Devine Band, and I bought a new car!  That's right.  My jeep has been acting pretty funky as of late.  Instead of worrying about dumping a bunch of money into things like, transmission, spark plugs, 4 new tires, etc., I decided to trade it in and get something new before making the trek from NJ to TN.  My wife, Sue has had tremendous success with her Kia Sportage (runs fantastic and believe it or not, it actually has gone up in value!)  so I decided to hop on the Korean band wagon and join the Kia family.

Speaking of band rehearsal.  I'm playing with the Liv Devine Band this Saturday at Rowan University. We're opening for Uncle Kracker and Joe Nichols!   Should be an awesome show.  If you live in or around NJ come check it out!  We'll be playing many of the tunes I co-wrote with Liv including "Boots", "Cupcakes & Wine", "Rock Your World" and I'll be singing "20/20".  You can check out most of those tunes at  www.mynameisaugust.bandcamp.com and you can watch the brand new video for "Boots" HERE.

Today I emailed hit songwriter and owner of Savannah Music Group, Dave Gibson.  As a hit songwriter, Dave has written for Tanya Tucker, Montgomery Gentry, and Alabama, among many others.  Dave founded the company in 2008 with Silicon Valley entrepreneur, Jeff Cohen. Today I decided to reach out to Dave and try to connect.  Dave says that he believes in the hard working talent of the young generation.  He believes in finding authentic talent and writing/producing great music.  Sounds like something I'd like to be involved in!

DAY - 51

I've got two very cool new writing sessions booked for when I get back to Nashville!  Looking forward to writing with hit songwriter, Jane Bach as well as AWMG Entertainment's, Tammy Jacobs. Thanks to the amazing Shane Barrett for the introductions/referrals!  

Today I reached out to Jeff Carlton at THiS Music.  I sent an email to creative director, Kendall Lettow on Day 43 but haven't heard back.  Jeff is a publishing veteran who just signed on as the creative consultant for THiS Music.  He also happens to have a hand in Parallel Entertainment.  If you've been reading along, you already know I've been trying to connect with both companies. I figured reaching out to Jeff would be a good idea.

The weekend has arrived!  Hope you enjoy.  Cheers!

DAY - 50

Friday eve and I am in weekend mode a day too early.  Bottle of red, bottle of white, in the mood for both tonight.  It's been a long week...and it ain't over.  In fact, I have to be up at 5am tomorrow to be in northwestern PA by 8am to observe my conducting professor direct his insanely talented high school band.  Sound exhilarating?  Maybe if you like blaring trumpets, thumping bass drums and piercing crash cymbals first thing in the morning.

Today was productive.  I heard back from Donald Jenkins (refer to yesterday) and we're planning to meet for coffee when I get back to town.  Donald is an inspirational guy and an innovative force.  I'm really excited to connect.  More to come on that.

This afternoon I reached out to Audiosocket music licensing. (www.audiosocket.com) I have a handful of songs licensed for pitching with Audiosocket. They're actually responsible for placing a couple My Name is August songs with Hyatt Hotels!  I reached out to Audiosocket inquiring about submitting new material.  I wanted to know if they had a need for pop/country stuff.  They got back to me today letting me know they're interested in checking out some of my country stuff as well as some Sweet Angeline songs AND some of my pop material.  There's always been a need for pop music in TV/Film but as of late there's a growing need for Country music as well.  I emailed Sarah Hunt (music A&R dept.) some links and files. Hoping she digs it!

DAY - 49

Just was turned on to this song mashup.  I'm usually not a fan of mashups because a lot of the time they're not done very well but this one is actually pretty cool.  It's Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball" and Mumford and Sons, "Little Lion Man".  Together titled, "Little Wrecking Ball".  Definitely worth a listen not only because it's sonically and visually cool, but it also demonstrates the vast potential of melodic choices we have over simplistic chord progressions. The interplay between the melody and chord structure makes for some interesting harmonic elements.  Give it a listen here!
http://www.buzzfeed.com/kierawrr/this-miley-cyrus-and-mumford-sons-mashup-wil-4gx1

This morning I heard back from Terry Seay at All About Z Music regarding performing at a living room concert. (refer to Day 47)  We emailed back and forth today and I'm am officially booked for Saturday, November 2nd!  Should be a really cool night.  I'm playing and sharing songs with Nashville Star finalist, Ashlee Hewitt, Lorrie Morgan's son Jesse Keith Whitely and Marty Morgan.  If you're in Nashville and wanna check it out, let me know and I'll give you the details.

Today I reached out to business man and entrepreneur, Donald Jenkins.  Donald is an all around smart business man, engaging speaker, leader, and inspirational human being.  From selling books door-to-door to heading up a successful team in the healthcare industry, to being a leader in the YoungLife organization, to the creation of his website, "Making It Happen" www.donaljenkinsnow.com, Donald's life is an "ongoing adventure" as he says.  I randomly stumbled across his website and found that we have a lot in common regarding reaching goals, teaching and learning.   Follow the link and you'll see what I mean.  If you're in the entertainment industry you'll want to check out his site, read the interviews and watch the insider footage.  Great stuff!

DAY - 48

Check out this article on Dr. Luke in the New Yorker.  http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/10/14/131014fa_fact_seabrook  Pretty cool.

Today I reached out to C.T. Wyatt from Parallel Universe.  C.T. heads up the Nashville office of Parallel Universe.  Earlier in the blog, I reached out to the company (refer to Day 36) but haven't heard back so today I tried another contact.  In this email, I let C.T. know that I am going to be in town full-time as of October 23rd.  In the email, I included that I've been writing with some very talented folks and producing strong songs and that I was looking to increase my business connections. (paraphrased of course) I sent an upfront, no bs, email that got straight to the point.  Basically, stating that I'm interested in networking and opening doors.  We shall see.

DAY - 47

Rainy day Monday...literally.  Tornado warning, in fact, here in Philadelphia!

I had a great weekend getaway to Nashville.  Spent some quality time with the wife, the dog and with my favorite city.  Sue and I also happened to meet some great new people on Friday and got together with them on Sunday for a bday celebration.  You never know who you're gonna meet at the dog park!  Yes, the weekend was a blast in deed, however, I'm paying it for it now.  I have hours upon hours of schoolwork staring me in the face.  Just hook me up to a caffeine IV because I'm going to be up all night.  Alright, alright, enough complaining.  After all, "The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails."  William Arthur Ward.

Today I reached out to Terry Seay.  Terry and his wife, Wanda own an indie publishing company based in Franklin, TN called, 'All About Z Music'.  I met Terry and Wanda about a year ago when I attended one of their ever-growing house concerts.  It was a Canadian songwriters night and I was invited by none other than the great Kirk Penney (co-writer).  Terry and Wanda have been throwing these house concerts for a while now and they've become very popular around the area.  In fact, they have some big names in the songwriting industry make appearances at every concert.  I spoke with Terry and Wanda when we met and they told me to contact them when I move to Nashville full-time to perform at a house concert.  I know you can see where this is going.  Long story short, I just emailed Terry today to connect.

Alright it's homework time.  Until tomorrow...Cheers!

DAY - 46

"Just rolled into Nashville, Tennessee..." B. Harper

Technically, I flew in.  But either way, it's great to be home!  I was greeted at the door by a very excited pooch who immediately wanted to play a rousing game of throw-the-slipper followed by a belly rub.  Dogs are awesome.  You don't have to earn their love like you do with cats. (sorry cat people)  I haven't seen Indy in over a month and he's not mad. In fact, he's happier than ever!

Sun is shining, the pool is still open.  Looking forward to a relaxing weekend before heading back to Philly for the final 2 weeks of my course work.  However, before the weekend festivities begin, it's "Business Time". Flight of the Concords 

This morning I sent another email to Josh Hoge regarding performing at an upcoming Whiskey Jam. (refer to day 32) Just wanted to follow up with that and stay on the radar.  Speaking of staying on the radar, today I reached out to another rep at Disney Music Nashville, Ciara Gardner.  I sent Ciara roughly the same email I sent Patrick Clifford (Day 33) pitching "Heart On A String" as a potential song for Disney Films.  And we wait...

Hope you have a great weekend!

DAY - 45

Great session with Philly singer-songwriter, Matt Santry last night.  If you haven't heard Matt check him out at www.mattsantry.com.  He's in the process of making a new record and he's planning to include our song on it.

Nashville this weekend!!  I'm so pumped.  I miss my wife, miss my dog and I miss my new city.  It's been over a month, but I'm taking an extended weekend to visit, relax and re-energize before returning full-time October 23rd.

Today I reached out to Cornman Music songwriter, Erik Dylan.  Erik is a super talented writer/artist and I really dig his music.  I sent him a message on ReverbNation looking to connect.  I also reached out to independent song-plugger and consultant for Black River Entertainment, Steve Bloch.  Steve is a very respected industry vet and offers an array of services on his website.  I noticed he's guest appearing at Jason Blume's next BMI workshop so I decided to reach out and introduce myself as someone new to town!

DAY - 44

Intelligence + Creativity = Greatest Potential.   One of my professors proposed this idea 2 weeks ago.   Until recently,  intelligence and creativity were on opposite sides of the spectrum.  You have the smart people and you have the creative people.  Left brain people and the right brain people.  But what this simple philosophy proposes is that to achieve our greatest potential we must strive to enhance BOTH  our intelligence and our creativity.  Look at the greats, Einstein, Franklin, Edison, Shakespeare, etc, etc, all super intelligent and vastly creative.  To quote Einstien, "Creativity is Intelligence having fun."

That all sounds great but what does it have to do with music, songwriting, performing!?  Well, when I first heard this concept it hit me like this.  The more I increase my knowledge of the craft the more creative I will become.  In other words, the more hard work, practice and study I do, the easier it will be to let my "intelligence have fun."  The reading, analyzing, evaluating will feed the higher processes of the brain and ultimately fuel creativity.  Feed the left side, fuel the right side.

I don't know if this makes sense to anyone else, but I thought it was a pretty awesome concept and thought I'd share.

Anyway, I got my ReverbNation site up and sort of running this weekend.  Need to take the time to upload more content but if you're on RN hit me up!  www.reverbnation.com/michaelaugustmusic

Tonight I have a session with Philadelphia singer-songwriter, Matt Santry.  Matt just got back from a great trip to Nashville.  I'm pumped to continue working on our song.  The idea/hook is so strong and the rest of it is shaping up nicely.

Today I reached out to Cliff Audretch III, senior A&R director at Showdog Records.  I sent Cliff a song I've been working on with co-writer, Eric Schwank.  I fired off a quick email letting him know that it was something I thought he should hear.  (I have Toby Keith in the back of my head)  Fingers crossed he takes a listen and digs it.  

DAY - 43

Is "The Voice" really on again... already??  I feel like it JUST ended!  Anyway, apologies in advance for how short this post is going to be.  I have a ton of school work piling up and it's already 10pm.  Another 2am bedtime?  Probably.

Today I heard back from Matt Cottingham, entertainment lawyer at Petree Law. (refer to yesterday)
Matt let me know that he'd definitely be checking out my stuff.  Fingers crossed, he digs and passes along.  I'd love to perform a YEP event.

Tonight I reached out to Kendall Lettow, Creative Director at THiS Music.  THiS Music is home to songwriters, Ben Hayslip, Jimmy Yeary Tim Nichols, Connie Harrington, Leah Turner, Marv Green and Molly Reed.  The company is also responsible for two of the most recent #1's, "Anywhere With You" - Jake Owen, and "I Drive Your Truck" - Lee Brice.  Kendall was just recently named creative director.  I sent an email introducing myself and letting her know I was interested in meeting.

DAY - 42

Hope you had a great weekend!  I had an awesome writing session on Sunday afternoon with singer-songwriter, Eric Schwank.  Every time we get together I'm reminded of how gifted Eric is as a songwriter and lyricist.  I'm truly lucky to have him as not only a co-writer, but as a great friend (and groomsman) for all these years.  Yesterday, we finished up a song-in-progress and started something brand new.  I'm really pumped about the new stuff we've been writing!  Hoping to start demoing soon.    
Speaking of Eric, he has a debut solo album in the works that is going to be incredible!  I'll keep you posted.  

Today I reached out to entertainment lawyer, Matt Cottingham.  I came across Matt's name on the YEP list.  YEP stands for Young Entertainment Professionals.  They're a group of music biz folks in Nashville that have teamed up for the purpose of networking.  They're a group of pros that believe that team work is essential in this business.  You can check 'em out of Facebook or just google it.  "It's all about who you know...", was the tagline on one of YEP's most recent events.  What do you know...that's the very premise on which I started this blog!  (I would amend that statement to include, incredible talent and unyielding persistence as an integral part of the equation) Needless to say, I decided to reach out to see if I can get involved.

Matt Cottingham is with Petree Law.  I sent an email to Matt to introduce myself and display my interest in the events held by YEP.  I let him know that I'd love to get involved in any way possible, attending or performing.

DAY - 41

Today I checked out ReverbNation.  I know everybody and their mother has been using it for awhile now but I never really got into it.  I never thought the "opportunities" feature was that cool.  However, this afternoon,  I decided to take a closer look.  Besides the obvious...post-your-music, pictures, life-story, etc., the greatest thing about it is the networking potential.  Not through the "opportunities" feature, but person to person.  So many of the top writers/artists in Nashville, LA and NYC, are on ReverbNation.  Long story short, I'm going to make a profile this weekend.  If you're like me and don't have one yet...check it out and see what you think.  If you do have one, let me know what you think!

Speaking of top songwriters, today I reached out to Justin Weaver from Cornman Music.  Justin has had tons of cuts as well as top 20 hits like "Get Off On The Pain" by Gary Allen.  I really like Justin's style of writing so I sent him an email with an idea.  We'll see if he digs it.

It's about time to wrap this up because I have to go teach.  Hope you have a great weekend!  Cheers!
 

DAY - 40

It's Friday eve.  You know it's been a long week when you refer to Thursday night as Friday eve.  It HAS been a long week.  Long days, long nights and little sleep.  Good news is there's only 3 weeks left of the intensive portion of my grad program.  Then, back to my wife, back to my dog, and back to Music City!

I've had little time for writing sessions lately.  I have a handful of songs and two new demos in the works.  Looking forward to posting for your listening pleasure.  The only writing I've been able to do is on the train in the mornings and late-late night after school work but this weekend I have a session with long-time friend and co-writer, Eric Schwank.  Looking forward to getting back into the writing room!

Today I reached out to the new creative director at Big Yellow Dog Publishing, Laura Wright. Laura is a very talented song rep and a huge advocate of her writers.  Big Yellow Dog is a super successful publishing company with a roster of folks like Josh Kear, Al Anderson, and Kate York!!  I'd love to get a foot in door.

Speaking of a foot in the door.  I've decided, the best way to get through the front door is through the back door.

Cheers!

DAY - 39

An incredible artist/songwriter and friend since birth, Anj Granieri sent me a link to a blog written by Levi Weaver.  Anj said, regarding Levi's post (actually 3 separate posts) "This is the best thing I've read in a long time."  She wasn't kidding.  If you're reading this, you'll want to read this...
"On Chasing Your Dreams" by Levi Weaver.  I'm not kidding, read it.  

Last night and this morning I started putting together a list.  A wish list, if you may, of artists and songwriters I would like to work with. Some with pub deals, some without, some with hits, some without.  All of whom, I believe are very talented.  Today I began reaching out to some of those folks.  I'll be back in Nashville, full-time, in less than a month and I'm going to come to town with a schedule filled with writing appointments.  I want to immerse myself in the scene and make an impression.  A good impression.  No, good is not good enough.  An exceptional impression.

I'll keep you posted about how the schedule is coming over the next month.

DAY - 38

Practice, Practice, Practice.  Growing up in a family of professional musicians, that word has been ingrained in me since I was a child.  Whether I was learning the violin, saxophone, piano, or guitar I was taught that practice is the key.  My grandpop would always tell me (with a big grin on his face) "You don't have to practice everyday, only on days that you eat." Only On Days That You Eat has even become my ASCAP publishing company name!

Practice and you'll get better.  Of course!  It's a simple concept.  Well, for some reason, that essential piece of truth hadn't truly hit me until this year.  If that applies to my advancement in guitar, piano, voice, etc. why would it not apply to my songwriting!?  Maybe because songwriting has always come so naturally.  I haven't had to WORK at it.  But that's not good enough.  Natural ability isn't good enough.  No one has achieved their greatest potential from natural ability alone.  It takes work. It takes HARD work.  It takes practice.  My instrumental conducting professor said something today that really resonated with me. "If you're passionate about what you do, you'll have an unquenchable thirst to grow and learn more.  If you don't have that thirst anymore, you might as well get your license to sell insurance."  Essentially... part of loving what we do is striving to become better!  Practice.  

Apologies for the self pep talk.  Sometimes I just need to get things out of my head!

Down to business.  Speaking of people who are great at what they do, this morning I reached out to hit songwriter, Jane Bach.  Jane has written hits and #1 songs for people such as Tammy Wynette, Reba McEntire, Collin Raye, and JoDee Messina.  I was referred to Jane by super-talented, Nashville publisher/songplugger, Shane Barrett.  Long story short,  Jane got back to me this afternoon and we are setting up a session for November!  

More to come.  Cheers!

DAY - 37

Hope you had a great weekend!  I got a chance to soak in the incredible fall weather at the Valenzano Wine Fest yesterday. My best friend, (and best man at my wedding) Bill had two free tickets from his law firm.  It was a power-packed day of tastings, great food, and music.  We actually got to hang with Mr. Valenzano himself. (the owner of the winery)

I know your saying, "They have wineries in NJ!?" The answer is yes, there's actually a lot!  Far more than I knew about.   Although they can't compete with California wines, some varietals are actually pretty good.

Back to the Monday morning grind.  

This morning I pitched Doug Johnson at Black River Entertainment two songs in consideration for Kellie Pickler.  Doug is a 30-year industry veteran and currently the VP of A&R at Black River.
I sent Doug, Cupcakes & Wine as well as Hear My Prayer.  Cupcakes is a light-hearted, fun and flirty country/pop tune and Hear My Prayer, is a pull-at-your-heartstrings, tear-jerker, ballad.  In my opinion, I think both would be great for Kellie.  I guess we'll see if Doug Johnson agrees.

DAY - 36

Happy Friday!  In deed, it is.  What a beautiful day in NJ.  It was 78 degrees and not a cloud in the sky all day.  Looking into a busy weekend ahead.  Teaching, homework, two birthday parties, and a wine festival.  At least it's not all work no play.

It's 9pm and my night is open. Besides updating my iPad to the new iOS7,  I think I'll dig into some writing.  I've got a couple cool new tunes in the works and a couple ideas to start developing.  Free night, pizza, a variety of pumpkin beer in the fridge = one happy camper and hopefully one creative songwriter.

Today, I reached out to Hannah Showmaker at Parallel Entertainment.  Parallel is both a music publishing company and management team, handling not only songwriters and artists but comedians such as, Larry The Cable Guy and Jeff Foxworthy.  They signed their first songwriter back in 2011 and have been doing great business ever since.

Update:  Cool news! The music video for my song "Boots" (co-written w/ Liv Devine and Gene Micofsky and released by Liv Devine)  is going to be broadcast on TNN (The Nashville Network) starting rotation on September 28.  Cool beans!   http://www.watchtnn.com/

Hope you have great weekend!

DAY - 35

Just got in from watching my long time friend and co-writer, Eric Schwank play a set over at Coffee Works in NJ.  Eric debuted a bunch of new tunes he's writing for an upcoming solo album.  Really amazing stuff!  Great songs...honest, heartfelt, and powerful.  Totally pumped for his new project.  Also excited to get back in the writing room with Eric next week.

Today I reached out to Nashville singer-songwriter, Adam Hambrick.  I've been surfing the web, researching so much lately, that I can't even tell you how I stumbled across him.  What I can tell you is, you need to check this guy out.  Fantastic writer, great voice and country/pop that's ahead of the curve.  Adam is signed to Sony/ATV as a writer and he's already getting cuts.  Latest is with Justin Moore. Our style and musical outlook is very similar.  I get the vibe that we'd get along famously (spoken w/ a British accent) in a collaboration so I dropped a line to connect.    

Anyway, it's 11:40pm and I have to be up crazy early tomorrow to observe a high school band director somewhere in PA.  Time to hit the sack.  Goodnight Neverland!

DAY - 34

Cropped out at the usual morning spot (Starbucks on Broad Street) getting in a little morning networking and a strong dose of caffeine.  I was up until about 2am doing school work last night.  Not fun.  It was clearly time to do some research this morning because I was out of "new connections to make."  Yes, I keep a list of names and companies I hear about for future networking opportunities and title it, "new connections to make".

After doing some initial research I came across a couple interesting people and companies...just have to dig a bit deeper before reaching out.

This morning I followed up with Carrie Gallo from Cal 4 Publishing.  Carrie came out to see the Sweet Angeline showcase at Bluebird back in March.  I've been reaching out to her every now and then to keep in touch.  This morning I sent her an email regarding collaborating with a writer at Cal 4.  The team over there is really strong and I have a handful of ideas I think would be a great fit for some of their writers.  Let's make it happen captain!

DAY - 33

I'm sitting in one of lounges at school with my co-hort of grad students plugging away at the massive amount of homework that's due this week.  If it weren't for these little breaks I wouldn't be able to accomplish anything!  Between studying conducting techniques, and lesson planning for tomorrow, I was able to squeeze in a bit of 'persistent' networking.

As I said last month,  If I didn't hear anything back from Disney Music Nashville I was going to politely keep up a bit of persistence.  The trick with being persistent is to not be annoying.  There is definitely a fine line between the two.  Emailing someone EVERYDAY is annoying... not to mention, it looks desperate.  But, giving at least a couple weeks between emails or phone calls is more acceptable and, in my opinion, shows passion and confidence in your ability. So today I reached out, again, to the new VP Disney Music Nashville, Patrick Clifford.  I pitched him "Heart On A String" with Disney Animated films in mind.  I know through MusicXRay.com that Disney also happens to be looking for new writers.  Kill two birds with one stone??  Lol...yeah, when you wish upon a star!

DAY - 32

This morning I reached out to Josh Hoge for Whiskey Jam at Winners bar in Nashville.  I actually met Josh a while back (I'm sure he doesn't remember) when he was touring with David Nail.  Co-writer, Liv Devine and her band opened for David and Josh at Prospectors in New Jersey.  Me, Sue, Tyler (from Sweet Angeline) and Liv ended up talking to Josh for a while after the show.  We exchanged info and talked about connecting, but nothing ever materialized.

The other night, co-writer, Matt Santry told me that Josh hosts this cool writer's night in Nashville called Whiskey Jam.  I decided to check it out further and yeah...it looks really cool! A lot of fantastic writers play the Whiskey Jam and country stars are also known to randomly sit in!  Needless to say, I sent an email to Josh today for consideration on the roster.  I'm sure there's a lot of songwriters/artists emailing Josh to be included so I'll probably have to be persistent with this one.

Btw, Here's a cool "wish I was there" story from this weekend...

This past Friday night my wife, Sue and my mother-in-law, Bonnie were at the dog park taking the little Yorkies for a stroll when Bonnie started talking to a "handsome young man" who was playing with his dog.  Before I go further, you have to understand, Bonnie is hilarious!  She has no filter and will strike up random conversation with anyone. (I'll never take for granted having amazing in-laws)  Anyway, after an hour and a half of speaking with the man they come to find it was country star, Chuck Wicks! (Stealing Cinderella, All I Ever Wanted)  Just so happens that Chuck was set to play the Grand Ole Opry the next night.  He was so cool that he actually went as far as to call his manager to get Sue and Bonnie backstage passes! They ended up going on Saturday night and had a blast!  Wish I was there.

DAY - 31

TGIF!...and it happens to be the 13th.  I remember when I was a kid, it was a tradition for my friends and I to get together for a sleepover every Friday the 13th.  We'd have our parents drive us to the movie store, race to horror section and rent a ton of scary movies.  We'd fill up a basket with popcorn, candy, soda and other assorted snacks, head home, order a pizza and stay up ALL night watching Freddie, Jason, Chucky and all the usual suspects go on a mass murdering spree.  Man, those were the days. Lol!

Remember when you could eat all that candy and pizza and not gain a pound?  Remember the movie store!?  I miss that place.  It was a date all by itself.  Going to Blockbuster, spending an hour picking out a movie that you weren't really even going to watch. ;)   Can you tell I'm feeling a bit nostalgic?  My apologies for the tangent.

Down to business.  Today I reached out to the general manager of RareSpark Media Group, Scot Sherrod.  RareSpark is a relatively new publishing company.  They also handle development and management.  Scot Sherrod and Suzanne Strickland launched the company in 2012 and have been building and growing ever since.  I decided to contact Scot, introduce myself and let him know I'm interested in meeting/co-writing with any member on the RareSpark team.  We shall see.

Have a great weekend!

DAY - 30

Had a great session with Philadelphia singer-songwriter, Matt Santry last night.  Matt brought an awesome idea/hook to the table and we started whittling away at it until late last night.  Matt is a talented songwriter and a fantastic vocalist. You can check out his stuff here. Looking forward to seeing where this tune goes.

I have a very short break before teaching so please accuse the brevity of this post.  Today I sent an email to Alex Heddle, at Big Machine Music.  You might have heard of Big Machine Records the label... Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw, Rascal Flatts, etc.  Big Machine Music is on the publishing side of things and Alex is the newly appointed director of publishing.  He's a very talented industry pro and has held various positions at different publishers in Nashville.  He's known for being a very strong song-plugger and a passionate advocate of songwriters.  Hoping to make an introduction.

Until tomorrow...

DAY - 29

Although the combo of teaching, school and school work has been kicking my butt already, I've been able to find little pockets of time to stay creative.  Wether it's on the train ride, or during a break in a coffee shop or keeping semi weird hours at night, I've been able to stay focused on my writing and development of new ideas.  This past Sunday I had a great skype session with Canadian songwriter, Kirk Penney.  Kirk and I finished the song we started in August and made some headway on another one.  Tonight, I'm writing with Philadelphia singer/songwriter, Matt Santry.  Looking forward to the session!  Looking forward to new material!

This morning I contacted Creative Partner for Tom-Leis Music and Love Monkey Music, Leslie T. DiPiero.  If your asking, "wait, didn't you contact Tom-Leis Music yesterday?" You would be correct.  After I sent the email yesterday, I regretted not sending it to Leslie...

The more I gather, Leslie is a creative force and a powerhouse in the publishing industry.  Being that she is a songwriter and performer herself, she is known for both finding and nurturing talent while creating a great environment in the company.  She's negotiated deals with writers and even facilitated mergers between publishing entities.   Not to mention, she happens to be married to mega hit writer Bob DiPiero.  Long story short, I know I mentioned yesterday that I got a great vibe from TLM and I wasn't kidding.  The company and it's staff seem to have songwriting in their blood. I normally would never contact the same place 2 days in a row but in this case, I think it's really worth showing my interest.

Stay tuned!

DAY - 28

I have a sweet little break today for a couple hours so I'm currently cropped out at the local Cosi for some Steak and Cranberry Chili and free wifi.  Got an email from co-writer, Jason Blume.  We haven't heard anything back from the Rascal Flatts pitch yet (refer to Day 20) but this week we'll be pitching Gloriana.  As usual, sending up the prayers.

Besides catching up on school work, today I reached out to the new Creative Director at Tom-Leis Music, Travis Carter.   After doing some research this past weekend, I got a great vibe from this company.  It's a boutique operation with some serious players and impressive credits.  Something really draws me in about some of the Nashville boutique publishers.  I like the intimate vibe of the smaller operation.  There seems to be a great sense of community and collaboration.  They're not so big that the writer gets lost.  The staff seems very hands on and in tune with their writers and the material they're pitching.  I can only assume that it'd be easy to get lost, or have a song get lost, in a big company.  I can't remember where I read it, but it was an article regarding boutique publishers being the wave of the future for music publishing.  I can totally see that happening, especially in Nashville.  Many of the small publishers are having immense success in the hit radio market.  Look at Big Loud Shirt, Combustion Music, Cal 4, etc.  It's interesting, but not surprising if you think about it.  A small but great staff that knows their writers well and knows how to fit their music into the market.  Sounds great...now sign me up!

Ps:  Finally fixed my Time Stamp feature.  No my posting times are actually correct!  I realize no one cares but me.  Still, I always hated referring to the time within my post and then when I post the entry the time stamp says something completely different...making a liar out of me.  No more!

DAY - 27

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! 

DAY - 26

Friday, Friday, Friday!  First week of school down.  Exhausted already and the assignments just started pouring in.  Head down, keep focused and plow through.  At the moment, I'm sitting in my car pre-writing this post because I don't have internet and I have to teach another lesson in 20min.  Gotta make the most of every free minute!  

Good news, today I heard back from Jeff Skaggs from Kobalt Music Publishing (refer to Day-19).  In the email I sent Jeff, I left a link for the "Making It 365" mini-documentary that Olive Branch Studios did on my 365 blog project.  Turns out Jeff checked out the vid and really dug it.  He sent me a nice return email and said to stay in touch, send updates and new material.  Will do!   Kobalt has some great artists/writers, both pop and country, and they seem to be on a hot streak at the moment. I'm definitely  looking to keep this door open.  I sent a follow up thanking Jeff for taking the time to check out my stuff and let him know I'll be keeping in touch.  

Later today I emailed Philly singer-songwriter, Matt Santry about getting together to write.  If you've never heard Matt, check him out.  Great voice, really cool stuff!  We've been talking about collaborating for a while and I'm totally looking forward to writing while I'm in town.  Also, I spoke with Fred Knobloch about our demo.  He's in the process of mixing and said it's sounding really good. All in all, a pretty sweet Friday.  

Oh btw!  I just found out my song "Boots" (written with Sweet Angeline co-writer, Liv Devine and Gene Micofsky, performed by Liv Devine)  is in rotation every hour on Thunder 106 in New Jersey and getting great response!!   You can tune in from anywhere online and if you're feeling up to it, even call in a request ;)  Or just check out the video here.   

Have a great weekend!