It’s Wifey-Time Again!
This year (after some resistance) Suzan and I used a bit of ChatGPT to plan our journey. It proved to be a helpful tool but no surprise, it didn’t take the place of good old fashioned human guidance or instinct. He’s merely compiling and consolidating all the opinions of everyone on the whole wide web. So, maybe no Christmas bonus but we weren’t going to fire him either. ☀️🌊 🏰
Healthcare For Songwriters
SONA worked tirelessly to make healthcare a reality. I was on the board of this amazing grassroots organization for a number of years. I stepped down recently to make room for new blood so I can’t take any credit for the heavy lifting but I’m still proud to have been a founding member and very proud of SONA for this GET! 💪🏽🥁🎶
Jones Beach
It was a Quadruple Threat: Lucinda Williams, Bob Dylan, Wilco and Willie Nelson. That’s rich. Catching performances from senior artists is time sensitive. Let’s just be real. I’m getting older. They are too. Go when you can. Take it all in. Cherish them even when they don’t sing your favorite song. And hugs to Jones Beach — my home-away-from-home — for the nostalgia and for still being there too. ❤️
The Bluebird Re-Re Visited
The Bluebird is an intimate forum. It’s all about The Songs…played acoustically. No tracks or recorded loops. Much of the audience has never been there before and they travel from all over the country and from across the pond to experience the legendary venue. They were excited, engaged and ALL EARS. It’s the best place to play.
Pet Peeves
You can’t copyright a title but you KNOW you wouldn’t have named your product What A Curl Wants if not for my song. So pay me.😡
Elton and Brandi
One HAS to get into bed with other ppl because you never know how they’ll tap into places within you that never got explored. I get it. But I’ll just say this at the risk of being boo’d: It feels like artists are asking themselves with whom they should pair-up in order to stay on the charts, make history, win an award. Does Great + Great = Great? 😳😳😳😳
Freeze
I will always love music and make music and listen to music and crave music and believe music changes minds and hearts. I will always be a songwriter but being a songwriter doesn’t completely define me. And so I’ve wondered if I have earned the space to write about other stuff. 🤷🏻♀️
Cruising
I’m grateful beyond to have these opportunities to pull back a curtain and share what it is to be a songwriter. Whether on land or in this case at sea. To try to explain that our most favorite state is in that zone when everything but whatever it is you’re writing … simply disappears. It’s magical. 🛳 🐠 🌊 🎶
An Unusual Gift
Smash Mouth’s Steve Harwell (“Walking On The Sun,” “Fast Ball”) passed away in 2023. He was a blast to write with. Never a dull moment. Uncontrollably flirty, yes. Yet Tender. And tasty with words and melody. One does not want to write with ‘boring.’ You write with boring you get a boring song. Plus, he left me with a gift I’ll never forget. 🎄❤️💚
Allee
In the spirit of “The World According To Allee Willis,” the new documentary about the insanely creative, unconditionally loving, outrageous, hilarious, and eternally optimistic Allee Willis, I thought I’d share a personal Allee story with you. If you knew her you have one. I take this from my 2016 GRAMMY nominated memoir “Confessions Of A Serial Songwriter.” Allee had a profound effect on peoples’ lives. She will never be forgotten.
To Teach or Not To Teach
It’s my last week of teaching my college Pop Songwriting Workshop. I want to get back to writing more songs of my own. Songwriting is like cardio is for the physical body. We release endorphins when we’re in the process of creating. It puts us in a trance. Makes us so damn high. Yet I DO love TALKING about why a song works … or doesn’t. Perhaps a Master Class? 🤓
Hello From My Bubble 🫧🫧
If I wasn’t gonna watch the news for a while imagine how more productive I could be. It would give me two more hours every day to get things done here in my Laurel Canyon Bubble. I was effectively putting my money where my last 2 blogs were: get busy. Surround yourself with that which brings you pleasure and meaning.
Looking Forward
We set up the living room with music stands and monitors. Mics and peddles. By the fourth rehearsal my voice was limbering up. I was reaching notes I couldn’t reach the week before. My hands and fingers started going to the right place without forethought. Before I knew it I was in that zone. Deliriously happy. We sounded pretty good. A drummer-away from touring. 😎😎
Joni Under The Stars
My favorite part of the show was when Joni laughed after finishing a song and hearing the uproarious response from the crowd. She sounded like a young child who just caught a dragonfly inside a jar. ♥️
Christina & Sabrina sing “What a Girl Wants” 😀
In a beautiful staged, elegantly filmed celebration of nostalgia and appreciation for the past Christina goes down memory lane. She sings “Come On Over Baby,” “Genie in a Bottle,” and then my jaw drops as Sabrina Carpenter emerges and joins her on “What A Girl Wants.” It’s a song that keeps giving and I’m eternally grateful for its life. ❤️😀🎶
“You'd have to stop the world just to stop the feeling”
In writing sessions we pray for lines like these to drop from the sky. Lightening in a bottle. Sometimes, it’s obvious. Sometimes elusive. The sum up is as important as the title. It supports the whole ‘thesis’ of the song and brings the concept full circle. 💙🎶
Green Light Moments 💚🚥
Green Light Moments are when the Universe tells us we’re on the right path. Not for a minute since we began creating the Musical SNIPPED! have I had a second thought about the endeavor. And on the morning of our first staged performance I got a sign from the Universe … a Green Light Moment if there ever was one ... that life was saying "yes." 💚🚦
I’m Not In Love
10 cc’s Graham (I’m Not In Love”) Gouldman (on the left) and I were guests on The Naked Lunch Podcast hosted David Wild and Phil Rosenthal. I’m in awe of this man … his history, creativity, his ongoing writing process. I was honored to be part of the conversation. I think you might enjoy it. ❤️⭐️🎸
