Questions - How?

How do you write songs?

Each of us naturally writes songs in a way that is unlike anyone else in the world. However, it's important to be aware of the many external pressures that can affect the way we create. It's easy to get off the right path for the wrong reasons.

When I graduated from and began pursuing a publishing deal, I began trying to write more traditional country songs. Why? Well, because I'm in Nashville, of course. Wrong answer, Ben. You see, when I (a kid from Indiana who grew up listening to The Beatles) write a song about Texas farm life from the perspective of a father, it ends up being a mediocre song. However, if I write a song about what it's like moving to Nashville with a dream, and leave the Texas song to be written by the guy who actually farms in Texas, I believe I'm on the right path. Your creative voice is the style of your message. It takes time to develop, but is essential to writing unique songs that can stand the test of time.

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!

Finding Her Voice

A few days ago I flipped on NPR while driving home from writing. As I pulled into my driveway, I just sat in my car as I listened to a woman named Jan Christian struggle to get words over the airwaves. Christian was in a bad car accident as a teenager that left her voice box so damaged that it no longer produced any tones. Her husband, whom she met after the accident, had only ever heard her whisper.

As she talked about her longing to express emotions, I realized how often I take for granted the fact that I am able to do something as basic as talk or sing. Even our basic abilities are gifts, and that is humbling.

Thanks to some medical advancements, Christian is now retraining her vocal chords to produce tones. Listen to the NPR story here. I've also attached a local Kentucky news interview below.



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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!

Developing a Voice

This is a large boot.

The fun thing about writing songs for other people is that you can skip genres from day to day. But the dangerous thing is that we can sometimes leave what we do best at the door. Write what you know, not what you think you know.

There was a point in my pursuit of a songwriting deal where, on my own, I began writing mostly country songs. I figured a Nashville publisher would expect nothing else. The problem was not so much the quality of the songs (they were awful) as the fact that I wasn’t being true to my own voice. As a piano player who grew up soaking in The Beatles' White Album, I was trying to operate in a genre where I had no real authority. I didn’t grow up wearing a cowboy hat on a ranch in Texas, but some other writer did. And they will naturally write a song about farm life way better than I ever will.

I would define a voice as "the style of one's message."

There is something that each of us brings to a song that we do better than anyone else in the world. It would boring if we all tried to have the same voice and write the same song (and thankfully, some publishers understand this reality). The last thing creativity should be described as is safe. If we are true to our own voice, we will create something fresh rather than safe.

Keep writing,

Ben