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How Ed Sheeran Created “Shape Of You”

How Ed Sheeran Created “Shape Of You”

Posted by on May 23, 2018 | Comments Off on How Ed Sheeran Created “Shape Of You”

How did Ed Sheeran create one of the most popular songs of 2017? A song he never even intended to sing himself! Get into the middle of Ed...

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Beats Per Minute: Online Tools

Beats Per Minute: Online Tools

Posted by on Jul 27, 2016 | 0 comments

Beats per minute (BPM) is a major component of your song. It’s basically the tempo of your song.  It helps set the overall tone of...

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Songwriters’ Notebooks: Nashville Pros

Songwriters’ Notebooks: Nashville Pros

Posted by on Apr 20, 2016 | 0 comments

Songwriters’ notebooks are the holy grail of ideas, titles, hooks and great phrases. Afterall, a songwriter’s notebook is a...

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Songwriter Craig Wiseman

Songwriter Craig Wiseman

Posted by on Mar 11, 2016 | 0 comments

Craig Wiseman is one of Nashville’s pre-eminent songwriters. He’s had more than a dozen songs reach number one on the country...

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Song Idea: Underwood’s “Wasted”

Song Idea: Underwood’s “Wasted”

Posted by on Nov 19, 2015 | 0 comments

How do songs get started? Where did the song idea come from? How do co-writers end up connecting on an idea and then writing it?...

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Organize Your Hook Book

Organize Your Hook Book

Posted by on Nov 1, 2015 | 0 comments

Organize your hook book! It’s one of the best things you can do to make sure you’ve got ideas and lines at your fingertips...

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Pro Tip: Having A Songwriting Life

Pro Tip: Having A Songwriting Life

Posted by on Jul 24, 2015 | 0 comments

I was recently in Nashville recording a demo at The 515 Studio, and got to know Chip Hardy, a long-time music industry producer and...

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SBTS: Blake Shelton’s “Sangria”

SBTS: Blake Shelton’s “Sangria”

Posted by on May 16, 2015 | 0 comments

Story Behind The Song   Blake Shelton’s “Sangria” has a great Fleetwood Mac kind of sound to it – but it...

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Songwriter Ashley Arrison

Songwriter Ashley Arrison

Posted by on May 14, 2015 | 0 comments

Below are excerpts from an interview with Ashley Arrison on Rob Brayl’s BeyondBeyonce.com back in January of 2011.   Q  So I know...

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6 Tips To Make Your Songs More Commercial

6 Tips To Make Your Songs More Commercial

Posted by on Mar 6, 2015 | 0 comments

6 SIMPLE WAYS TO MAKE YOUR SONGS MORE COMMERCIAL By Brent Baxter (@RazorBaxter)   If your goals are like mine- getting cuts, hits, etc.,...

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Original Demo: “Bette Davis Eyes”

Original Demo: “Bette Davis Eyes”

Posted by on Feb 15, 2015 | 2 comments

The third best-selling song of the 1980’s sung by Kim Carnes was a originally a pop ballad appearing on Jackie DeShannon’s...

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Story Behind Song: “Wild Child”

Story Behind Song: “Wild Child”

Posted by on Feb 12, 2015 | 0 comments

Kenny Chesney talks about the main character his newest song “Wild Child” co-written with Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne. The...

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Song Start: “My List”

Song Start: “My List”

Posted by on Dec 25, 2014 | 0 comments

You hear about list songs all the time. If you go to any NSAI meeting, eventually, a song type being taught will be “a list...

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Songwriter Lori McKenna

Songwriter Lori McKenna

Posted by on Dec 19, 2014 | 0 comments

Lori McKenna is one of my favorite songwriters on the planet – Janet (sorry – just a habit from the 80’s). You may know...

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Song Start: “She Don’t Love You”

Song Start: “She Don’t Love You”

Posted by on Dec 18, 2014 | 0 comments

Written by Eric Paslay and Jennifer Wayne, John Wayne’s granddaughter, the song was originally being written for George Strait....

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Song Start: “Jesus Take The Wheel”

Song Start: “Jesus Take The Wheel”

Posted by on Oct 26, 2014 | 0 comments

Written by Brett James, Hillary Lindsey and Gordie Sampson, “Jesus Take The Wheel” started out as a: What? Pass! moment in a...

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Original Songwriter Demos

Original Songwriter Demos

Posted by on Oct 26, 2014 | 0 comments

Hit songs come from the original songwriter demos being pitched to different publishers in Nashville. Ever wonder what your favorite...

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Songwriter Lance Carpenter

Songwriter Lance Carpenter

Posted by on Oct 19, 2014 | 0 comments

I met songwriter Lance Carpenter (@LanceCarpenter) because he had volunteered to kick off NSAI coordinator training. He ended up spending...

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CMA Songwriter Series Interviews

CMA Songwriter Series Interviews

Posted by on Aug 29, 2014 | 0 comments

On its 10th anniversary, interviews with founder Bob DiPiero on why he started the series as well as perspectives on participating from...

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Pistol Annies’ Angaleena Presley On Songwriting

Pistol Annies’ Angaleena Presley On Songwriting

Posted by on Aug 23, 2014 | 0 comments

Angaleena Presley talks about songwriting and the 12 tracks she wrote or co-wrote on her debut CD ‘American Middle Class.’...

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Song Start: Alabama’s “Forty Hour Week”

Song Start: Alabama’s “Forty Hour Week”

Posted by on Aug 17, 2014 | 0 comments

Written by Dave Loggins, Lisa Silver and Don Schlitz, this #1 song and the title track on Alabama’s ninth album was their 17th hit...

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Songwriter Brett James

Songwriter Brett James

Posted by on Aug 17, 2014 | 0 comments

In this songwriter profile we’ll take a look at one of Nashville’s biggest hit makers, Brett James.  He’s had over 300...

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Songwriter Interview: Bob McDill

Songwriter Interview: Bob McDill

Posted by on Sep 28, 2013 | 0 comments

Interview with Nashville songwriting legend Bob McDill in American Songwriter on the state of country music. [Excerpt from the interview]...

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Interview with Marshall Chapman

Interview with Marshall Chapman

Posted by on Jun 3, 2013 | 0 comments

American Songwriter Magazine spent some time with Marshall Chapman.  This is a great interview covering her songwriting process, some new...

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NPR Project Song Moby & Kelli Scarr

NPR Project Song Moby & Kelli Scarr

Posted by on Apr 20, 2013 | 0 comments

Despite being given only 48 hours to complete a song, Moby and his collaborator Kelli Scarr completed theirs in one day. And it’s...

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