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Read MoreFREE 5 Step Songwriting System e-Book
When I say “songwriting success” I mean the ability to sit down, write a song and love that you’re doing it. We all get frustrated with how overwhelming it can all seem, but SongChops.com can make it easy. This free e-Book will give you the strategies you need to start writing songs today! And what’s better, it’s a way to build a songwriting system so you’re not...
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Read MoreColter Wall Sings Ian Tyson’s “Bob Fudge”
Ian Tyson is one of the best cowboy song writers around. Maybe songwriters. His song “Bob Fudge” is an exceptional example of how to write from someone else’s perspective, cover 71 years, and make it interesting in less than 5 minutes. Writing someone’s life story into a song, while keeping it compelling, visually rich and moving along – is difficult. Many times you can get...
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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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Social Media For Musicians
This FREE quick training from Taylor Swift’s former manger Rick Barker gives you a run down of social media strategies that include Facebook, twitter and Instagram. You’ll also get tips on how to grow your...
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Texas musicians, performers and singer-songwriters have some home state...
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Most songwriters want to write more songs, more often, but run into blockers...
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Mary Gauthier “Between The Daylight And The Dark”
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Who's Writing This Anyway?!
I'm part of the Texas-based Americana duo Amelia Earhart Returns and a songwriting instructor, running workshops in university and private settings. I've had success placing songs and playing to audiences in Texas as well as Tennessee 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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