Friday, September 30, 2011

Bach - "Sleepers Awake"

At a recent wedding, the bridesmaids entered to this beautiful Bach song. Pay attention to the counter melodies throughout the song. One of my favorites!



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Thursday, September 29, 2011

Roots, Shoots and Fruits


One of the best metaphors for life and creativity is the plant. Specifically, I like to focus on three elements: the roots, the shoots and the fruits.

The roots anchor the plant and provide the life-giving nutrients required to sustain growth. In creativity, this involves understanding who we are (our identity) and why we create (our mission).

The shoots are the channels through which the nutrients travel. In creativity, this involves understanding how our identity and mission plays out in everyday life (our vision).

The fruits are the outcomes and end result of the growth caused by nutrients from the roots traveling through the shoots. In creativity, this is the song or painting or short film at the end of the day, directly influenced by our identity, mission and vision.

Are you at a place where you're enjoying the fruit?

Keep writing,

Ben

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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

The Perfect Nanny

I just watched a documentary about the Sherman brothers, who, among many other famous Disney titles, wrote the music for Mary Poppins. What's not to love about the rhyming of this song?



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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Leather Craftsman


I had the chance a couple weeks ago to drop by a leather shop where Gordon was picking up a personalized guitar strap for a friend. The moment you walk through the door, there's a party in your nose. To me, few things smell as good as the aroma of rich leather.

We commented on how great it must be to take in the smell all day, and to our surprise, the craftsman said:

"I don't really notice it anymore. Sometimes I get a shipment of new leather in and a get a whiff of it, but not every day." 

I wish for his sake that he could have the same experience every morning walking into his job as I did that day.

May we never stop enjoying the normal aspects of creating music. 

Keep writing,

Ben

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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Monday, September 26, 2011

Friday, September 23, 2011

Songbird Camp Preview

We stopped by Deer Run Retreat today, and thought you'd like to see this.

"Lost" Coldplay Cover by Alyssa Bonagura



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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Co-writer Characteristic #5 of 10: Discipline

Discipline sounds scary. Maybe it reminds you of getting being sent to the principal's office. Or maybe it sounds restricting. Who wants to do something they don't feel like doing?

Once you get into the habit of writing, whether alone or with another person, you will inevitably encounter days where you wake up feeling like you don't want to create.

In that moment, you have an opportunity to either follow your feeling (and cancel your co-write) or to show up. In almost every situation, the right choice is to show up. You may feel uninspired until you sit down at the piano; until you talk to your co-writer; until you play around with two dead-end ideas.

Dictionary.com defines discipline as an "activity, exercise, or a regimen that develops or improves a skill; training."

It reminds me of high school basketball off-season, where we were encouraged to attend optional weight-training sessions at 8:00am on Summer mornings. Who wakes up wanting to go subject themselves to something they don't feel like doing? The dedicated. Be dedicated, and don't be afraid to show up even when you don't feel like showing up.

Keep writing (and showing up),

Ben

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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Mosaic @ 3rd & Lindsley

If you happen to be in Nashville, please come out to 3rd & Lindsley this evening at 9:30 to hear full-band performances of songs from Ricky Skaggs' album Mosaic.

There may be a special guest...

Fragile [fraj-uhl]



Let's face it: Songwriters are fragile.

There's a fine balance of pouring your creative soul into a song, but not taking it personally when criticism is given. Songs are fruit from the songwriter tree: some grow, offering shade and beauty to the world around them, while others amount to only a snack to the occasional passer-by.

Keep writing,

Ben

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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Monday, September 19, 2011

I've created a new Facebook page for my music:

Dalton Ghetti - Dedication to Art

I was perusing the world of Facebook this morning and came across an image of a pencil that was posted by Raw Vision. What's so exciting about a pencil? Ask Dalton Ghetti, who sees them as a medium for art.

All it takes to do something artistically innovative is the ability to see the common world around us in a new light. For example, here's the alphabet:

Alphabet, 2005. Dalton Ghetti (b. 1961). Pencil and graphite. Collection of the Artist.

















And here is one single pencil held together by the lead, carved into a continuous chain:

Dalton Ghetti
 Chain, 1997. Dalton Ghetti (b. 1961). Graphite and wood. Courtesy of the Artist. Photo courtesy of Sloan Howard.

There is also more about his work on the New York Times website here.

Keep writing (and carving pencils),

Ben

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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Friday, September 16, 2011

Disappearing Chinese Artist

The artist offers some interesting words on how his cultural art struggles to fit into a commercial society (for more images of his art, click here):




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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Brian Wilson in American Songwriter

Do you agree?



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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Some Wisdom From Bill Withers, Part 2

(This is a guest post by my friend Matt Slaughter, which will began yesterday.)

How can a songwriter create as freely as Withers, have artistic integrity, and make a living doing it? Granted, that's a multi-billion dollar question, but I believe it goes much, much deeper than that for songwriters. It’s the feeling in your bones when you see someone picked on. It’s the rush you feel when a dear friend speaks your name. It’s the gut-wrenching loss of appetite when a loved-one passes away. After acknowledging the Thoreau quote about men leading lives of quiet desperation, Withers said, "I would like to know how it feels for my desperation to get louder." True art must be created from the soul!

• Forget about the potential fruits of your labor- just create! Even if you can’t afford the sheets you sleep on with your music, it’s OK. Remember, it is an enormous privilege to even have the time and space to write. “It’s ok to head out for wonderful, but on your way to wonderful you’re going to have to pass through alright. And when you get to alright, take a good look around and get used to it because that may be as far as you’re going to go.” This is hardly a charge for mediocrity; rather, this is a charge for humility while pursuing a dream.

Maybe the declining profitability of the music industry is a good thing. In the same way fasting is healthy for the body, may this decline present an opportunity to ruthlessly weed out those looking for validation, fame, or riches at the expense of great art. Now, be your authentic self, find some real inspiration, and get to work!

For the love of music,

Matt



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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Some Wisdom From Bill Withers, Part 1

(This is a guest post by my friend Matt Slaughter, which will be completed tomorrow.)

I'm a little late to the party on this one (as it came out over a year ago), but the documentary "Still Bill" about Bill Withers has truly rekindled my love affair with songwriting.

There is this certain wisdom about Withers. Here are a few takeaways…

• Investigate your vulnerabilities, strengths, and weaknesses. Instead of singing about romantic love all the time, write a love song about your grandma, or a friendship song (i.e. “Lean on Me”).

• Resist the validation of the mainstream. When interviewed, Withers spoke of how he ran into trouble because he didn’t fit into the loud R&B style of his day; to which he replied, “I’ve got a good job making these toilets, I don’t need your cash.”

Stay tuned for part 2 tomorrow...





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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Monday, September 12, 2011

Everything is a Miracle

"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."

- Albert Einstein 




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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Friday, September 9, 2011

Up

This may be my favorite scene in any movie I've ever watched. The people behind this movie somehow managed to portray the realities of life through animated pixels.



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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Seminar @ Belmont

Gordon Kennedy and I had a great time playing songs and talking with Belmont songwriters this past Friday.

(Read an article on Belmont's website here.)

Looking forward to having some Bruins at Songbird Camp!

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Learn

One of the biggest mistakes we can ever make is believing that we already know enough.



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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Quote of the Day - Charles C. Noble


"You must have long term goals to keep you from being frustrated by short term failures." 

- Charles C. Noble



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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Monday, September 5, 2011

The Music Lesson, Page 252



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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Sunday, September 4, 2011

What Construction?

Here's a great example of the power of music. In a situation where a lot of commuters may be frustrated, it's hard to not enjoy this:



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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Friday, September 2, 2011

Writing Tools - Springpad

One of my favorite and most used tools over the past few months has been a program called Springpad. I could try to explain how it works, but this video says it all:

Thursday, September 1, 2011

"A Work of Love" (Ben Cooper / Gordon Kennedy)

Here's a song I wrote with Gordon Kennedy that was recorded by Ricky Skaggs on his Grammy-nominated Mosaic album. You can find it on iTunes here.



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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!