Studio Snapshots

Seminar @ Belmont

Last week Gordon Kennedy and I spent an hour with Belmont students, singing songs and telling stories. Basically, we had a mini Songbird Camp experience!


 

 Check out more photos from the seminar 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!

Songbird Camp - Spring 2012

Just a reminder that we are currently accepting applications for our April 20-22 retreat, which we're hosting at Deer Run Retreat.

Popular singer-songwriter Matt Wertz and veteran songwriter Gordon Kennedy (Eric Clapton's "Change the World"), among other industry professionals, will be stopping by throughout the weekend to share their experiences and music. We'll also hear from an incredible recording engineer, an entrepreneur, publishers and an expert on collaboration -- more details on those to come!

If you're interested or you know someone who would be a great candidate for the retreat, be sure to apply soon, as we have fewer than 30 available spots, and we want you to get the early bird special. Gourmet food by a private chef, a comfy bed, inspiring people, time with industry pros, live music around the campfire, American Apparel T-shirts -- what more could a songwriter want?

Click the picture below to go to the Songbird Camp website and download the application to apply. 

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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!

Belmont @ the Bluebird

The wonderfully talented Ginny Owens, Gordon Kennedy, Dennis Matkosky and Rob Blackledge on 2/14.

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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!

Quote of the Day - da Vinci

“Art is never finished, only abandoned.”

- Leonardo da Vinci

 

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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!

For the Rest of Your Life...

As songwriters, we never know exactly which song will become known as the song that people expect you to play. I've been taking that into consideration during co-writes, being sure to only write songs I wouldn't be ashamed of or get tired of playing every Bluebird Cafe show I play for the rest of my life.

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!

Songbird Camp Group Photo

We had an incredible weekend, hearing from hit songwriters Luke Laird, Barry Dean and Gordon Kennedy. Here is a video of the lodge on Saturday afternoon:



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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!

Songbird Camp Today!

We are thrilled to have a full crew of almost 30 people staying at Deer Run Retreat's lodge this weekend. Industry guests include hit songwriters Luke Laird, Barry Dean and Gordon Kennedy, along with representatives from all three PROs.

Visit Facebook.com/SongbirdCamp for photos and updates over this weekend. If you're interested, keep on the lookout for the application for our next Songbird Camp retreat, which will be taking place April 20-22.

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!

Electric Bluegrass

From the show at 3rd & Lindsley last night:

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!

"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!

Talking with Gordon Kennedy

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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!

"Atmosphere" (Ben Cooper / Gordon Kennedy)

I've decided to start posting some videos...



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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!

The Brian Mason Show

It sounds like Ricky is going to join me and Gordon on the Brian Mason show tomorrow morning (listen online here) from 7-9 central time.

Bluebird Cafe

Here's a picture from last night's Bluebird Cafe performance:

(From left to right, Ricky Skaggs, Gordon Kennedy, Ben Cooper, Jess Cates)

53rd Grammy Awards!

This weekend my wife and I have the opportunity to attend the 53rd Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. It's going to be a great time to network and celebrate the creative efforts of 2010.

Specifically (aside from Skaggs' Mosaic), I'm rooting for "The House That Built Me" (written by Tom Douglas and Allen Shamblin) and Ray LaMontagne & The Pariah Dogs' album, God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise.

Below are a couple articles from this past week about the process of Mosaic coming together (click the pictures to read articles). Thanks to both Fort Wayne newspapers!

Keep writing,

Ben

Gordon Kennedy: American Songwriter's Writer of the Week

My friend and mentor Gordon Kennedy has been featured as American Songwriter's Writer of the Week. In it he talks about growing up in a musical home and why it's sometimes OK to put "shock absorbers" in a lyric.

This is a picture of Gordon, Ricky Skaggs and myself in Ricky's studio during the recording of Mosaic:

Digital Salvation

A bride is walking down the aisle during her wedding ceremony. Instead of taking in the once-in-a-lifetime moment, she pulls out her Blackberry and checks her email. Or maybe she's updating her status, as if noting her experience in cyberspace validates what is happening in reality.

This scene, along with many others (including a family of four sitting around the dinner table while mindlessly staring at their phones), are portrayed in a recent commercial by Microsoft. The ad humorously point out everyday situations where people get into trouble by paying too close attention to their devices. But as the saying goes, much truth is said in jest.

As songwriters, this matters. Big time. When distracted, we miss out on the richness of life - the very material with which art is created. We have to ask ourselves whether technology is helping or hindering our creative endeavors.

The devices are designed to take us into the digital world and, by default, out of the physical. But the former will always pale in comparison to the latter, because a computer can never fully replace human touch. The challenge heightens as technology becomes exponentially more integrated into our daily routines and increasingly more difficult to distinguish the real from the imitation.

We fail when we approach technology as an end rather than means to an end. However, like raccoons drawn to shiny objects, we still can't help but reach out for the latest technology, longing for digital salvation. And marketers know this about us humans. They also know that we as a culture have not yet come to understand how to appropriately embrace technology in daily life.

Even last night at dinner I found myself mindlessly checking my phone for anything new or updated, as if that were more important than asking my wife how her day was. If I'm honest, most of what I would come across online is just repetitive white noise. It's like some kind of drug my mind craves each day that never quite satisfies. Technology makes us feel as though time is short, yet encourages us to waste hoards of it staring in its face. At the end of life, all we will want is more time, yet my fear is that we are wasting a lot of it along the way.

A faster phone is not the answer, as Microsoft claims. Phones and computers are already "fast" enough to do what we need them to do, and it's probable that we will merely accomplish more menial tasks while wasting the same amount of time. Our understanding of "normal" life has already been altered to the point of uncertain return. (For you Dr. Seuss fans, Microsoft could be compared to Mr. McMonkey-McBean from The Sneeches, where he offers no true solution to the actual problem.)

My friend and co-writing mentor Gordon Kennedy says that it's not the technology that matters, but what you do with that technology. And often times I believe the best thing to do for our creativity is to put the technology away and see what's happening in the real world.

Keep writing (and watch the commercial below),

Ben

Words & Music - Channel 5

Just a quick reminder, Gordon Kennedy and I are featured on this month's episode of the show Words & Music on Nashville's CBS Channel 5.

Here are the times this show will air:

Jan. 16th@7:00pm
Jan. 18th@1:00pm
Jan. 30th@7:00pm
Feb. 1st@1:00pm

See clips from past Words & Music shows on Channel 5's website here.




feedshark

Words & Music - Channel 5

Yesterday Gordon Kennedy and I were honored to have the opportunity to be guests on Nashville's Channel 5 (CBS) program, "Words & Music," hosted by Harry Chapman. Here are the times this show will air:

Jan. 16th@7:00pm
Jan. 18th@1:00pm
Jan. 30th@7:00pm
Feb. 1st@1:00pm