The Room Where it Happens
I love these young faces. College campuses. Skateboards. Limitless possibility in the air. I want to be part of the movement that helps make those possibilities possible. Perhaps it’s a different road than I traveled but even a detour should eventually lead to the same bliss, sense of accomplishment and livelihood.
Dear Kesha...
I hope you continue to journey through life, along with its joys and “incidents,” with dignity and perseverance.
Imagine
Every party involved in the process of getting a song to your ears should be compensated. We’re nothing without each other. The songwriter, the record label, the delivery platform, the technology. The imbalance of royalty distribution is the result of archaic music licensing laws that are no longer relevant. Imagine how workable things would be if we had some new laws.
Born This Way
We never feel so high as when we wake up in the morning and listen to the song we wrote the day before and realize it’s as good as we thought it was. And we’re never so bummed as when we wake up and realize it isn’t. But we write another. We know who we are. We are each other.
For Your Consideration: Confessions of a Serial Songwriter
BEST SPOKEN WORD ALBUM GRAMMYs 2018
For Your Consideration: Confessions of a Serial Songwriter
It’s important that the professional songwriter, and our story, be represented in the small group of audio books nominated for a GRAMMY. After all, the GRAMMYs is an award platform that revolves around the music industry. And songwriters are at the heart of it. Without songs there'd be no music business.
Life After Songwriting
Franne Golde confesses, “I never say I used to be a songwriter, I'll always be a songwriter and I'm so grateful I was lucky enough to come up in a time when I could make a great living at something I truly loved."
Song Splits
It’s hard to weigh a contribution. Who’s to say a hook is worth more than the verse that allows the hook to make sense?
Here's To Kelly
Kelly Clarkson refuses to take writing credit when she didn’t participate in writing a song. Imagine that. Sometimes she even refuses when she did participate if she feels her contribution was minimal. How we wish there were more of you.
Shelly on Sirius XM Fab Fourum
If you follow me at all then you know what a huge Beatles Fan I am. They are my favorite subject in the Universe so lets have at it.
Her Name is Diane
In any profession there’s always a force that must be reckoned with. That someone makes us better simply by the virtue of us always having to catch up with them. For me, that someone was, still is, Diane Warren.
Pitching & Playlists
There just has to be an easy way to share material (released and unreleased together) on one link, professionally, streamlined, EASY. What am I missing?
Speed Songwriting, Writer's Block and Short Cuts
I started this blog and then couldn’t finish cuz I was glued to the news. I THINK it was real news. Some of us aren’t sure of what’s real and what’s fake anymore. Facebook friends have urged me to keep doing what I’m doing. No matter what. So…with that…Sometimes I’m asked how long it takes to write a great song.
Long Walk Home
I'm stepping off the Long Island Railroad and the first thing I see is the roof of what used to be Freeport Bowl, where girls made out with boys in cars—“Midnight Oasis” on the radio. “Put your camel to bed.” How about THAT for a lyric?
Writing Up
One of the participants at SongStudio asked what it would take for her to get in a room with me. I explained that we all have to work with writers of our own level and one day, something will happen out of the blue…an A&R might give her a favorable recommendation or a hit writer might love a song she wrote and voila, she’ll get her session with a more experienced songsmith. And she'll be Writing Up!
Confessions of a Serial Songwriter is now Available on Audible!
As I get older I need new endeavors. I’m not good at getting up every day and doing the same thing over and over. I want to learn how to do what I have no clue about. I want to get stuck. I want to get unstuck. I want to feel like I’m moving, progressing and growing.
A Day Without Likes
Words are precious. Every "LIKE" is a substitute for what we really mean. Don’t tell me THAT she was like…tell me WHAT she was like. I want to know. Was she blue? Was she beige? Did you hurt her feelings? Did he say nothing at all? Write me a song. Paint me a picture.
Light at the End of the Streaming Tunnel
If you didn’t sell your catalogue during the gold rush, fear not. We may have to think of it as “holding on to real estate during a down market in a neighborhood that could get really hot.”
So Far Away
As it turns out, sending a kid off to college results in growing pains for Moms and Dads too. Nice to know we can still have some.
