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Read MoreTravis Meadows “Pontiac”
If you want to start with something that’s true, one of the best songwriting mentors you can look to is Travis Meadows. He has a way of writing about his experiences that brings others in and not only reveals a bit about himself, but also creates a perspective for how people’s lives can shift, change and become new. One of his best at pulling in memories and connecting images to a life lesson...
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Read MoreLucinda Williams “Car Wheels On A Gravel Road”
Lucinda Williams is a songwriting super-shero. Yes, most successful women who have to deal with a male-dominated industry often are. But, she was one of the first women, no – songwriters, to raise Folk and Americana music to a “maybe Nashville needs to grab a little piece of this” status. She writes songs that don’t conform to an industry. She’s also managed to forge a...
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Read MoreJason Isbell “Cumberland Gap”
Having worked in the Cumberland Gap area back in the day, I’d drive up 25E through Tazewell TN, past the Mustang Lounge, and wind my way through the gap toward Middlesboro Kentucky. Why do I remember these places so well? I was standing in the back room of a grocery store in Middlesboro the day my grandfather died. It’s funny how a place can become an integral part of life’s most...
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Read MoreGillian Welch & David Rawlings “The Way It Will Be”
If you’ve followed the folk and Americana genres, or read Pat Pattison’s books on songwriting, you know who Gillian Welch and David Rawlings are. Since Revival, their first album in 1996, Welch and playing partner David Rawlings have become Americana legends. One of the primary reasons for their success is their song craft. Gillian Welch is an object writer. She’s a chronicler of...
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Read MoreBrandi Carlile “The Eye”
I got a direct message through twitter asking about a Brandi Carlile song called “The Eye” (thanks Helen!). While I’ve listened to Brandi Carlile since her first album, I now realize I haven’t mentioned any of her songs on the site, so now’s the time! “The Eye” is a cautionary tale that doesn’t really come off as giving advice. The speaker focuses on how...
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Read MoreEric Church “Record Year”
We’ll deconstruct Eric Church’s “Record Year” to discover the songwriting devices that made this song a #1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay Chart and #44 on the Hot 100 Chart, and garnered three CMA nominations. Written with band mate Jeff Hyde, who also co-wrote “Cold One,” “Springsteen,” “Kill A Word” and “Smoke A Little Smoke”...
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Read MoreChris Stapleton “Parachute”
“Parachute,” written by Chris Stapleton and Jim Beavers, is one of my favorite songs on Traveller. It delivers a universal message in a very economical package. For example, you’ll find a single chord progression repeating itself, sparse imagery and a few missing rhymes! We’ll take a deep dive on Chris Stapleton’s “Parachute”, detailing what makes the song work,...
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Read MoreLori McKenna “The Bird & The Rifle”
Lori McKenna’s “The Bird & The Rifle” is a lesson in song craft. And, she’s a great example of how writing first for yourself, growing your skills and then being able to write for a genre outside your own can result in commercial success. She’s one of the top songwriters in Nashville not because she focused on being a songwriting for Nashville or country artists, but...
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Read MoreAdele “Hello”
Written by Adele and producer Greg Kurstin, “Hello” focuses on a telephone conversation/voicemail. The song brilliantly leverages the strength of direct address to create a highly personal moment, while the melody moves from ballad to power ballad utilizing eighth notes and scale shifts to create defining moments within simple, direct lyrics Even if you’re not a vocalist, you can...
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Read MoreAaron Watson “Bluebonnets”
How do you make a very personal moment a song that can connect with thousands and top the Texas Regional Radio Music Chart? Aaron Watson did just that with “Bluebonnets,” which also charted as high as #13 on the Music Row Country Breakout Chart. The song was inspired by a tragic personal loss: his fourth child, Julia Grace Watson, passed away just hours after she was born. While the song will evoke...
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Read MorePersonification In A Song: “I Am A Town”
Personification in a song is hard to do well. Mary Chapin Carpenter’s “I Am A Town” is not only the most ambitious, with the highest potential for a disastrous lyric, but the best example of how to do personification in a song exceptionally well! I love this song (OK I love quite a few, but I really love this one right behind Wichita Lineman). Not only is the repetition crafted into the...
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Read MoreTyler Farr “A Guy Walks Into A Bar”
Cliches are well – cliche. They’re predictable, boring, and not something your ears perk up for . . . except when done in a way that gives them a twist. “A Guy Walks Into A Bar,” written by Melissa Peirce, Jonathan Singleton and Brad Tursi (Old Dominion), is a great example of how a common, worn out line can turn into something unique. And, it does so despite being restricted to...
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Read MoreKenny Chesney “American Kids”
I once heard someone say there are three kinds of songs: Ballads, Dancers and Anthems. This one is definitely an anthem. “American Kids,” written by Rodney Clawson, Shane McAnally and Luke Laird, is a celebration of being a kid in a small town – and by the end – any town. The song does this by focusing on the items and imagery we all relate to in a rapid-fire barrage of...
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Read MoreJoni Mitchell “The Magdalene Laundries”
On her 1994 album Turbulent Indigo Joni Mitchell has one of the most descriptive, powerful songs you’ll ever hear. She crafts a first person story about a young girl incarcerated in one of Ireland’s Magdalene institutions – The Magdalene Laundries for being over twenty, unmarried and attractive. SONG STATS Genre: Folk/Americana Recorded: 1994 Time: 4:05 BPM: 120 Tuning: B – F#...
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Read MoreSuzanne Vega “Small Blue Thing”
Master of Becoming the Other! Suzanne Vega’s “Small Blue Thing” is one of my favorite songs. I first heard it in 1985 playing through the mid-quality speakers of a boom box in a small record store. It was her debut album. I stayed until the last song, bought the cassette tape, and didn’t remove it from my car stereo for at least 6 months (yes I made cassette copies for...
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Allusion: What Is It?
You probably see or hear an allusion in use a couple of times a day, but do...
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What’s A Simile In Songwriting?
A simile is a type of “figurative language” used in creating...
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15 Song First Lines Songwriters Should Know!
Song first lines are one of the hardest things to do well, but one of the most...
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Van Morrison “Before The World Was Made”
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Who's Writing This Anyway?!
While I do have a corporate life as a marketing professional, I've been involved in songwriting for a number of years. Back in the 90's I performed in the successful Americana duo Amelia Earhart Returns in Knoxville TN and surrounding states, with airplay on one of my favorite stations - WNCW in Spindale.I'm proud to be a published poet and honored to be a recipient of the Bain-Swiggett Poetry Prize.
I've had the privilege of sitting in a church basement with Gillian Welch & David Rawlings talking about songwriting, sharing the stage with . . .[MORE]
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