December 24, 2014

The Voices In My Head

December 24, 2014/ Mark Cawley

I hear voices. Not that “little voice inside my head” thing but big voices. Used to think it was just me until I got to know lots of songwriters and heard the same story. When I start to write a song it’s not the voice that’s coming out of me that I’m hearing. It’s the sweet soul of Aretha, the attitude of Tina Turner, the phrasing of Rod Stewart or the edge of John Lennon, the smoothness of Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, Curtis Mayfield, James Taylor, Sam Cooke…the list goes on.

Truth is my voice sounds nothing like them, not even close believe me, but in my head …

One of those voices that’s been with me for years is silent this week with the passing of Joe Cocker. He was a songwriter’s dream. Number one he didn’t write (we love that one) he was an interpreter. Saying he covered songs doesn’t get it. He could take a song that was already a part of your life and turn it inside out and make it his own anthem. A Little Help From My Friends, You Can Leave Your Hat On, even Bye Bye Blackbird became pure Cocker. That kind of soul got inside my head as soon as I heard it. When I’ve met some of my favorite singers they have their own stories.

They may be the voice you hear in your head but they have their own inspirations. Some make perfect sense like Bono with Lennon, Jagger with Howling Wolf, Cocker and Ray Charles, Rod and Sam Cooke, you can hear it in their voice but you can pick up on it in their songwriting. The voices in their head are almost like co-writers.

The most amazing part of this for me has been when that voice inside my head ends up actually coming out of the person who put it there. I’ve been lucky enough to have some of the ones I named record songs of mine including Joe doing Wayward Soul. It’s surreal. All of the sudden there’s no degree of separation between you and them. It’s a little like sighting a movie star or a famous athlete, you’re breathing the same air and it’s just too bizarre.

Your voices may be totally different from mine but I’m betting you’ve channelled someone that came before when you’ve written one of your best songs.

It hurts to lose these voices but we know where to find ‘em. Rest in peace Joe and thanks.

P.S. I have to share a story to illustrate my point a bit. A few months back I picked up a Epiphone Casino guitar, same model John Lennon used. Pretty soon something came through, few chords that felt a bit like John and a melody that came from a familiar voice in my head. I gave the track to one of my favorite co-writers, Kye Fleming, who tapped right into it and wrote an amazing lyric. The song is being sung by another of my best friends and co-writers Brenda Russell and produced by yet another amazing friend Kevin Savigar. These are people I knew would share a vision and bring their own voices. The song is in development now for a project with the UN. It’s called “What Would Lennon Do?” Keep you posted!

Mark Cawley

Nashville, Tennessee

December 24th, 2014

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November 20, 2014

How To Be A Powerful Songwriter

November 20, 2014/ Mark Cawley

Power up

Knowledge is power, and we live in the information age. So why are so many songwriters still in the dark about some of the most important tools of the trade?

There are great resources out there just a search away. YouTube seminars, free guitar lessons, theory instructors, industry blogs, "behind-the-scenes" books by top artists; mentors, tutors, and coaches.

I’m hearing from songwriters every week, from all over the world. I’m one of those coaches you can work with one-on-one. I’m always excited to bring a lifetime of hard-won experience to someone who’s just jumping in, but at the same time I really urge them to start out by researching as much as possible about the road they’re starting down.

Not everything is free, but it is available. Writers can study Bob Dylan's lyrics, watch someone dissect a Beatles song, listen in to John Mayer talking to students at Berklee, send their lyric to be critiqued by a pro, even pay for one-on-one mentoring from someone who’s actually done what they aspire to. The list keeps growing.

I was powerless

When I started out I didn’t even know you could have a career as a writer. I didn’t know one, and no one I knew had ever met a songwriter. Even if I'd had the money, which I never did, there was no one to pay to learn. Different world. I couldn’t even ask the questions. Now, though, the answers are out there for anyone to find.

So here's my point. Knowledge is power, and it’s easier than ever to get. But for whatever reason, most artists (myself included in the early years) put all their energy into the creative process and view the business as a necessary evil or something that will take care of itself.

Here's a "Top Ten" list of quotes from emails I received this week:

I’m hoping to sell my songs.
Someone offered to demo my song for $2,500 and get it to some people in the business.
I’m looking for a 75-100K job as a staff writer. Will relocate to Nashville if I need to!
My songs are better than 99% of the crap on the radio.
I don’t believe in rewriting. Either the Muse brings an idea fully developed, or it’s not worth it.
You can’t teach writing…but I’m willing to give you a shot. (I love this one).
I don’t know why I haven’t received any royalties on the CD that I sell at my shows. What's a P.R.O.?
I’m only interested in co-writing if I can “write up”.
Networking is for nerds, the song should speak for itself.
Music, intellectual property, and expertise should be free.

Here are my Top Ten responses:

You don’t “sell” songs. You hope to get them published and keep the writers' share at the very least. Fight for your publishing rights!
Run. Fast
Me, too! Doesn’t exist these days. Deals are just different.
Really? You're still writing for a listener in the end, the person in the car, find out how to reach 'em.
How many songs have you written? How many have been cut? Rewriting is hard but one thing that can separate the wanna be's from the pro's.
I disagree, but I understand the point. You can give someone tools and expertise. What they do with it is the deal. Information into inspiration!
Google ASCAP, BMI, SESAC. How is money made from songwriting? Understand performance and mechanical royalties, self publishing, Harry Fox, and more.
Get really good at what you do! Network, play nice, and hope you get the shot to show what you can do. Pray that write up writer needs a boost from what you got!
Maybe once in awhile...but if a career is the goal see my response #8.
Do your research. If someone is offering mentoring, coaching, or demo services; decide if they’ve done what you want to do and are offering attainable goals. What kind of success have they had? How much is thier experiance worth to you? If they promise to get you cuts, a publishing deal, an artist deal, CD release, etc., see response #2.

Power To The People

Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking these statements or questions I get from writers , just don't want them to be uninformed when the information is out there. I learned so much of what I know about songwriting the hard way, they don't have to. Power to the people!

Mark Cawley

Nashville, Tennessee

11/20/14

image: Wikimedia Commons

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October 16, 2014

The Heart Of A Songwriter

October 16, 2014/ Mark Cawley

I’ve been coaching writers and artists from all over the world for over three years now. One-on-one, almost entirely by Skype. Before I agree to coach someone I ask a few basic questions, like “Why do you want to do this?" It’s all about expectations but it’s also to find out more about their heart. Some people say you can’t teach this stuff. I disagree, but I'm positive you can’t teach the heart part. It’s so hard that you have to want to do it more than anything else in the world. You have to be built to do this! Able to play like a kid and still be able to handle rejection. Able to think you still have your best work in front of you when it gets a bit dark. The highest highs and the lowest lows...sometimes in the same day.

Of course I get some writers whose goal is to make 100k at a staff job in Nashville or L.A. or London. If that's the main reason to write it’s gonna be a rough road. I won’t go into how the model has changed over the past 10 years, you’ve probably heard that before. Can you still crack this business? Sure. But it may look different. Maybe a single song deal instead of a bigger commitment. Maybe you have to be your own plugger, social media person, and artist development guy. More and more to it these days but it can be done.

It still has to start with the heart.

It might sound familiar but I think it’s true! If you can’t not write, you’re a writer. If you live to write that's a good enough reason to do this.

What I’ve been learning these past few years is that this thing we do has no boundaries. I coach a writer in Singapore with the same goals as a singer/songwriter in Dayton Ohio. I have young artists and 60-year-old doctors; teachers and students, 15 year old piano prodigies, and 45-year-old physical therapists. All looking for ways to write better, clearer. To be heard. Sure we discuss the current marketplace but we also spend time talking about the mindset of a songwriter.

Here's what I’ve grown to love:

The heart of a songwriter. Some of these folks I’m coaching may never get a song cut and may never make their living from this--and they know it. Hope springs eternal and that's enough. Hope is HUGE! I have to confess here that over the years when I’ve had major publishing deals and some success, the heart and the head could get confused. But talking with my clients every day I come away inspired and more convinced than ever that to be able to put your thoughts into words and set to music is a gift. You can teach the craft and the ways to make your gift recognizable, but in the end it’s all about heart. All the information you get as a writer is just that: information. Turn it into inspiration and you get to the heart of songwriting.

A big thanks to John Mayer and his series of talks at Berklee for the inspiration. Here’s a link to a past blog I wrote about his insight.

Mark Cawley

Nashville, Tennessee

10/16/14

photo: Wikimedia Commons

Nevit Dilman

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September 20, 2014

Songwriting: Making A Big Noise

September 20, 2014/ Mark Cawley

I miss being in a band.

I grew up playing in bands. That's what you do when you’re young; find the other misfits and and form your own band of brothers. Didn’t matter how good you were, none of us could play yet anyway. All about the hair, the clothes, and the girls. My first band was called (no lie) The Patagonianists. Flipped open an atlas, closed our eyes and picked. Lasted one gig but we rocked the Maine Endwell dance...and all the sudden I was pretty sure Mary Spring saw me as sure as she saw Paul McCartney! I had been invisible just the day before. From then on I walked around with my Cortez bass, no case, just to make sure girls in my neighborhood knew I was a guitar player.

It was Power. Making noise, plugging in and playing in my garage. The world got better and clearer; and Ed Sullivan, the most un-hip guy in the world, became my guide. The Stones, The Searchers, The Supremes, The Kinks, The Young Rascals, The Miracles, and of course The Beatles.

The long and winding road

I played in bands up and down New York State and beyond. The names changed but the dream was the same: make a big noise. The names got better, The Basket Of Flowers, Beggars Opera, The Faith Band ( that one actually had one hit, a a few albums on Mercury and played with acts like Fleetwood Mac, The Doobie Bros, Hall and Oates and more) Movieola, Little Big Men and Blinding Tears.

Beggars Opera, I'm the serious guy on the bottom right

I played in bands up until my early 30s. Then it started to get harder to visualize sharing my life with grown-ass men. I don’t know how the Stones and U2 do it! (Well, maybe I do. $$$.) But I bet there's still a part of them that feels the same blast I felt for so many years. If you haven’t done it, it’s a tough one to explain.

Gearin' up

Bear with me, I swear I have a point comin’. Just as I outgrew the bands, technology helped make them obsolete and I was good with that. The whining drummer got replaced by a Linn Drum Machine, my Rockman made me sound as big as the last guy's twin Marshalls. I could use my Tascam to make noise now. I was a band.

So as my career shifted from artist deals to publishing deals and my writing took off, I was a happy guy. I traveled the world with a keyboard loaded with drum loops, Pro-tools, and a laptop. Even got to write and work with my idols. I was never the acoustic guitar guy. Always needed noise to make the music feel alive. This led to living in Nashville and writing success let me build my dream studio in the country. This was a beautiful thing. Overlooked a creek with all the toys I could imagine. Free to make music on my own, anytime.

Rage against the machines

Around 2002, I felt like something was missing. It was less fun. I wasn’t writing better songs with all this stuff, I was a slave to the gear. Over the next few years I unplugged more and more. A little more acoustic guitar, Strat through a Vox amp, and writing with other writers who made noise and I started to feel that blast again. I always heard the adage that if a song was a real song it will sound just as good unplugged. I agree but I also think some sound best with, in the words of John Hiatt, “A Telecaster through a Vibro-Lux turned up to ten”.

I still love technology...but that might be as simple as Garageband or playing a new idea into my iPhone and e-mailing it. Apps have replaced my racks. Right now I think I’ve come full circle as you can see by this picture of a little corner of my small home studio. Mary Spring would still be proud.

P.S. Got to meet the Stones on the Nashville stop of the Bridges To Babylon a few years back. Impossible not to look at them and think of all those Ed Sullivan shows, trying to learn the licks and do my best Brian Jones. Keith asked who I had been working with or something like that...satisfaction.

Mark Cawley

Nashville, Tennessee

9/18/14

Rolling Stones photo: Google Images

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August 22, 2014

Part 2: Everybody's Talkin At Me

August 22, 2014/ Mark Cawley

Why A Part 2?

I’ve gotten so many comments on the last blog, "Everybody's Talkin At Me", about how to incorporate all the different critiques and opinions you get when you put yourself out there, that I thought I'd share some more thoughts. I’ve heard from current and past clients, but most have come via the Facebook songwriting groups I belong to. It's a bigger (or at least more far reaching) problem than I imagined. Rules are constantly changing. It makes sense; we're in a soundbite society where people take in music in a new way. It's bound to affect how music is made, songs are written, and what's expected of us now.

Everything Changes

Writers are getting critiques with terms like "post-chorus", "multiple choruses", getting asked to "lose the 2nd verse before a chorus", "lose the bridge", etc. Do you change the way you write to adapt? Depends.

There are a couple of schools of thought. Write what you write and write it well and its time will come around. The other is that if you want to actually make a living now from songwriting, your best chance is to follow the newest trends.

This is something I've heard from lots of writers going to workshops and seminars or using critique services. "I'm being told to focus on what's on the radio--but at the same time told that by the time I've nailed it, radio will have changed". There's logic here. Nothing happens quickly in this process. Your song gets picked up and goes through the phases from production to release, which could be a year down the road. Not to mention the time you spent writing and pitching it! Things change. If you're writing Bro-Country, for instance, it may have run its course long before you’re ready.

So Should I ?

So what's your best chance of success? Unless you're locked in with a publisher, producers, management or THE ARTIST (your best case scenario), you need to be writing something no one’s thought of. Something so original and irresistible that all the usual suspects didn't see it first.

Where do you start? Finding something unique to "write about" is a start. Sure, most songs have to do with love. Lost love, found love, lookin’ for love...can you come up with a different angle? Can you come up with a topic, story, or emotion no one’s thought of before? Tough one, but that's part of your gig.

Titles are another great place to start. Some publishers call them "concepts " but we're essentially talkin’ about that idea or title that makes someone want to know more. To want to open the book, see the movie, hear the song.

I was on a panel awhile back when a publisher addressed the group and said something to the effect of, "if I have a hundred CDs on my desk and not much time to listen, do you think I'm gonna play the one called ‘I Still Love You’, or ‘My Tractor Thinks I'm Sexy‘?”.

Everybodys Talkin'

Most co-writing I've done in Nashville over the years involved talking first. A lot of talking. Sometimes a couple days of talking to find something unique to write about. I once spent two full days with Craig Wiseman at my house just telling each other about our lives. Trying to find the hook. At that point it's a given: you both know how to write, and that it has to be a cool idea to begin with to have any hope of standing out.

The Bottom Top LIne

I've also spent years writing in the UK and they have a unique term for the person who comes up with the title or the concept. A top-line person. I think the concept has spread to all forms of music as we get distracted by more and more choices; gotta make it stand out. Valuable talent. One of my coaching clients heard the term "Golden Ticket” recently to describe this particular talent. Just may be.

Share Your Stories, Please!

It would be great if you could share your own stories about getting critiques, workshops, seminars, coaching. What do you tend to hear? Is it helpful, sometimes hurtful? How have you dealt with criticism of your songs? Best advice you've had?

SmallBusiness.com just featured my coaching in an article this week. Check it out if you'd like to get an idea of what I do!

If you're looking for a differnt take or just more info on Songwriting I would highly reccomend my buddy Shelly Peikens site as well as some of the articles posted by Clay Mills and Marty Dodson at Songtown USA on Facebook. Good stuff!

Mark Cawley

August 22 , 2014

Nashville, Tennessee

Photo; Shutterstock

Quotes courtesy of Harry Nilsson

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Mark presenting a songwriting class at Ensworth in Nashville for Jam Camp, Summer 2014

August 01, 2014

Songwriting: Everybody's Talkin' At Me

August 01, 2014/ Mark Cawley

I always encourage the writers I coach to get their songs out there, any and every way they can; and to seek as much wisdom as they can handle. Yep, handle.

One of my best and brightest clients is a pretty good case in point. She's made some huge leaps in her writing, especially her lyrics. We've focused on this for months and the change has been fun to watch. All of the sudden the ideas are more solid, the mechanics are solid, rhyme schemes, meter, structure...better, better, better and better. She's begun playing songs for other people, coming to Nashville, attending NSAI functions, setting up co-writes and meetings. Here's where the handle part comes in.

The Road To Nashville...but it could be any music center

When I talked to her this week she had just come back from a Nashville trip and was feeling a bit beat up and confused. Some people loved one song but not another. One publisher loved a song but professed to not "know what to do with it". Others suggested lyric changes, music changes, style changes. Listen to what's on the radio, be ahead of the radio, don't pay attention to radio. Listen to every kind of music, focus on current Top 10 country, write more old-school, new-school, school's out.

You can't figure out the bag I'm in...mixing up my 60's songs!

So now it's not so much a problem with confidence as it is with direction. She got all she could handle and it didn't always line up. Different strokes for different folks? A publisher I really respect told me, "if you play a song for 4 people and they all point out the same type of problems with your song, by all means listen and make some changes. Listening is so subjective you’re bound to get some different opinions if you ask enough people. Consider getting opinions of a few people you really respect and who have done the kind of writing you're going for. Research their backgrounds".

I've read some critiques from NSAI, for example, that have been done by some wonderful writers. Even when they differ they all make some excellent points. Do you make every change they suggest? I urge writers just to try them on. It takes some time to incorporate these new ideas to see if you love 'em. At the very least, the exercise will give you more tools for that toolbox.

If possible, stay away from spending money on a full blown demo when getting critiques is your aim. Making these suggested changes after you've blown your budget gets expensive. Gather all the suggestions and then head to the studio.

My own beliefs are in my song

In the end, try not to let the other voices discourage you. If you find others' opinions hard to deal with just limit the listening experience to a few trusted ears. I've had songs cut over the years that were turned down for projects, where someone loved it but the time wasn't right. Other times I was playing the right song for the wrong person. Seek out all the wisdom you can handle by all means, but don't lose yourself. It takes a sensitive person to write a song...and one with a thick skin to pitch it.

For some reason while I'm writing this, I'm remembering being a kid in Catholic school in Baldwinsville, New York. You went to confession every Friday in those days, and me and my buddies used to make up a game of confessing the exact same sins and then comparing the penance we got from different priests. Always different. Kinda shook our faith in the wisdom of the whole exercise. But we assumed they were experts in their field! Guess we'll know eventually if it took.

Me at St Marys, Baldwinsville, NY pondering my sins

Mark Cawley

August 1st , 2014

Nashville, Tennessee

Photo; Shutterstock

Quotes courtesy of Harry Nilsson & Sly and The Family Stone

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July 14, 2014

The Future Face Of Songwriting

July 14, 2014/ Mark Cawley

Jam Camp

Until last week, I almost forgot how much I like talking with kids. (I never know when to make the leap from calling them kids to young adults but they were ages 13 to 19. To me they’re kids).

This was at a school named Ensworth in Williamson County, Tennessee for a function called “Jam Camp”. It's put on in part by Laura Hill (wife of one of the best songwriters I know, Ed Hill) and is a 2 week long camp for gifted musicians. I was invited to be a speaker at the end of week one.

So…walking in the door I’m greeted by young musicians with guitars, keyboards, and basses. One bass player even asked me if I knew Pino Pallidino, which I do. Can’t believe he knew who he was! I love it! Berklee School of Music presented after I did. It was kind of ironic since I was quoting from John Mayer's Berklee series on Youtube and was (briefly) enrolled there myself in 1970.

I was introduced and found myself in front of something like 125 young adults. Handheld mic, big stage, auditorium...just me. Here's where you have to be careful. Being funny in my mind and being funny in theirs could be two very different things. Showed 'em a picture of me at 17 just to prove I really was thier age once. Think I scared them. What does connect, though, are stories. Their response was great. How did you do this? How did you feel about this? What do you when this happened? Lot's of great questions.

The Future

Every time I do this kind of thing it reinforces my faith in the future of music. These folks were there to get better. To connect and network. They represent the future and respect the past. Let's be honest...they are the future. Listen to country music now; it's basically a mashup of classic county, rock, hip-hop, and everything a 20 something grew up on. Makes perfect sense! As a side note, I really love the term "Hick-Hop" to describe the mix of urban and country going on now.

What did I tell them?

Don’t write in a vacuum. Music is for the listener. If you don’t do something well, find someone who does and connect. Co-write but still keep your vision. Don't have a plan B or you'll proabably end up in plan B, might be hearing from a few parents this week:-) Learn the language. Even if you don’t love a particular style of music you can respect it. You never know when it will make it into a project you’re working on. Go have some adventures, live to be able to have something to write about.

I spent a few years working with Steelworks, sort of a modern day Motown in Sheffield, England. Artists like the Spice Girls, 5ive, and Ronan Keating would come in and pick your brain. Have you ever heard of the Temptations? Dave Clark Five? Otis Redding? Sam Cooke? Yes, Yes, Yes and Yes. Pass it on.

Even though music is in a weird phase right now for writers, I have faith in the kids to take the past into the future and make it better. Now if we could just find a young John, George, Paul and Ringo...

Mark Cawley

7/14/14

Nashville, Tennessee

Mark's songwriting presentation  at Ensworth, Franklin Tennessee — Mark's songwriting presentation at Ensworth, Franklin Tennessee

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June 13, 2014

When Your Co-Write Goes Wrong

June 13, 2014/ Mark Cawley

The Day

If you write long enough it's gonna happen. Happened to me more times than I can remember. Happened to every writer I know. Happens to writers I'm coaching. Happening right now on Music Row.

Your publisher or a friend sets you up on a “blind date” to co-write. Everybody has high hopes. You're prepared, maybe you've even been able to hear some other songs this new friend has written, and you're excited, (nervous even) but this is what you do.

9:00 AM

So you get your stories out of the way, what one of my buddies always called having your "pissing contest", where you each let the other know what you've written in the past.

Down to it. One of you throws out an idea and...nothing. The other tries a riff/groove/potential title and...still nothing. Lunch is starting to look like a good idea. This is when you hope your partner has a great sense of humor and that you haven't lost yours. After all, in the words of John Hiatt, "what's the worst that can happen, they put me in songwriter jail?"

11:30 AM

Hopefully your new co-writer is a good hang!

1:00 PM

You're more comfortable with each other, back to work and...nothing. It dawns on both of you that this isn't going anywhere.

4:00 PM

You give it your best, wrap it up, maybe blame it on an off day, and agree to try again. (But chances are you won't--because you'd rather set yourself on fire than go through that again).

2:00 AM Questions

How can you avoid this next time? It helps to spend time with your co-writer before your session if possible. Coffee, drink, meal; anything to get a sense of chemistry. It also helps to work with someone who doesn't do what you do. I've had a few sessions over the years where a publisher thought I'd love working with a particular writer--only to find out we basically do the same thing. The co-writes that have been magic for me have always been with someone with a different approach and we end up complimenting each other. We come up with some magic that neither one of us could have done on our own. It will happen. You may just have to suffer though speed date hell to find the love of your life.

In the end I think you need the mentality that Mariano Rivera had. You’re gonna lose one once in awhile, but you have to put it out of your mind and pitch tomorrow. Don't let it shake your confidence.

The Next Time

One question that comes up often with my clients is can I write that idea with someone else? You've been saving a great title and it just didn't happen with your co-writer. It's a tough one, but no. You just have to chalk it up to experience, find more great ideas, book more co-writes, and one of these sessions will be pure magic. It really does even out. If you stay open and give your best every time, you'll have more great days than bad ones. Promise.

Mark Cawley

Nashville, Tennessee

6/14/14

Photo: Shutter stock

Good quote in Rolling Stone this week from Craig Wiseman on co-writing in Nashville.

Heres a video blog from the iDoCoach archives on co-writing.

Hope you'll sign up to follow future blogs at

http://idocoach.com/blog/

P.S. My old friend Shelly Peiken has a book coming out soon called "Serial Songwriter" Check out her website and especially her blogs, great stuff!

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May 30, 2014

Songwriters: Don't Keep It To Your Self-ish

May 30, 2014/ Mark Cawley

A Sharin Thing

I’ve worked in a number of different musical environments over the years. Growing up in upstate New York was pretty fertile ground for musicians , Boston for awhile, The Midwest, Los Angeles for years and the UK. I’ve been in Nashville now for over 16 years and there is definitely something different about the vibe. I think its the sharing thing.

Sounds corny but I swear it’s true. As much as the scene here has changed from pure country to whatever you call country now ( my UK friends sometimes call it Country and Western, love that!) there has always been an openness to the place. If you have something great people are pretty quick to point you to where you need to be, who you need to meet, co-write with or just hang with. Can’t say I ever experienced this much in the other music centers as great as they are. Not knocking them, just a culture thing. Maybe thats it. Maybe it’s a Southern thing, hospitality and all that.

The Retreat

My first real experience with it was years ago when I was in Indiana actually taking a breather from LA and the business after losing a record deal and a publishing deal in the same few months. I was feeling jaded on a good day.

The Reprieve

My phone rings and it’s Tony Brown. He is producing Wynonna's first solo album and she’s in his office. Somehow, someone shared a demo of mine with someone else who shared it with Wynonna who liked it enough to share it with Tony Brown who picked up the phone and called me. Asked if I could come down and share some more songs if I had ‘em. I shared this with my wife and pretty soon I’m driving south.

The next meeting was with Roger Sovine at BMI who likes what he hears and introduces me to a young Clay Bradley who starts picking up the phone while I’m in the office and sharing me with all sorts of amazing folks I’d heard of but hadn’t met. I mean we’re talking days. Nobody was keeping my little bit of light for themselves, locking me up in a bad deal, they were simply doing something I came to find everywhere in Nashville. They were turning someone who had turned them on to someone to someone else.

One more to share. One of the first co-writes for me in town was Mary Ann Kennedy, a terrific singer and songwriter who brought her friend Kye Fleming along and we all ended up writing…a bunch. Some of my favorite songs and two of my favorite people. Kye and I went on to write for a lots of artists, country and pop. No western.

The Release

I guess it can be easy to want to keep something you discover to yourself, if you give it away it won’t be special right? Believe me I’m not talking about me now, but maybe it’s a connection, a co-writer, a writing trick you learned in your last session that you’re tempted to keep. I know I’ve done it. After all, it will make me look smart won’t it?

Looking back I can’t think of any of those tricks that helped me. Now I’m at the stage ( and age) in my career where it feels good to share something with a young writer and see a light go on. It feels better than good.

In the wise words of the Chili Peppers “ Give it away, give it away, give it away now”

Feel free to share this.

Mark Cawley

Nashville, Tennessee

5/30/14

Photo: Goggle Images

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May 08, 2014

The Songwriting Gospel According To John

May 08, 2014/ Mark Cawley

On A Dig

I'm getting ready to do a couple of workshops in the coming months which is something I haven't done in a while so I started thinking about what I could share. I've been coaching songwriters and artist for over 3 years and this week was a typical schedule with clients in the US, UK, Australia, Spain and even Singapore. It's been a fantastic learning experience for me and keeps me digging for new things to spark creativity for my clients as well as myself.

The Book Of John

I thought I'd take a look at some other writer’s workshops and came across a series of John Mayer’s Berklee talks. The series I watched on YouTube has eight episodes with a few of those being performance based. Over the years I read and heard most everything I could get my hands on that has to do with songwriting but these have been a revelation. John is a fantastic hands-on, great teacher. You can tell the students are in awe and he works 'em like an audience sometimes. He can come across as one part cocky guitar hero and one part awkward nerd but, his insights and instincts are always from somewhere way down deep.

He talks about attending two semesters at Berklee in Boston (a little longer than I went, back in the day) and how it shaped his writing. He mentions his first semester was spent trying to be the best guitarist in the world and feeling he failed miserably. The second semester he went back with an aim to write songs. To please people - not other musicians. It was a transformation.

My Own Transformation

I had much the same experience with learning. Set out to be a hot-shot-bass-player who could make other musicians’ jaws drop and cause them to heap all sorts of praise on my ability to play everything I learned, as fast as possible. Technique over taste. Somewhere along the line I realized that writing songs was what really connected me to people.

I'm paraphrasing but John talks about losing the need to tell someone you're great and learning to trust people to let you know if you are. I loved this. His advice was to trust the people who are going to listen to your music, they'll let you know if they love it or not and when they do it's worth more than every compliment you ever got about your fleet fingers and theory re-call .

The Payoff

When someone comes up and tells you what a song of yours meant to them, maybe they were going through something traumatic, maybe they made love to it, cried to it, danced to it or we're comforted by it, It's a high like nothing else. I've had those moments and I wouldn't trade them for a million "dude, you absolutely shredded"!

More Books Or Real World?

One last note, I'm not knocking going to a place like Berklee, in fact I wish I had stayed longer. John puts it in great perspective by saying the things he learned there he looks at as information. What's made him an excellent songwriter is his ability to turn information into inspiration. He feels you should get as much information as possible and then... go out in the world to gain inspiration and then you'll have something to write about. Amen.

He inspired this 'ol boy today check it out!

Mark Cawley

Nashville, Tennessee

5/8/14

Heres a link to the workshop I'm doing in June with Sweetwater. Amazing event, check out the other workshops and speakers! http://www.sweetwater.com/feature/gearfest/speakers.php

Mark conducting a songwriting workshop at Sweetwater Sound

Also excited to be a part of this workshop for young adults in my town of Franklin Tennessee.

http://www.thejamcamp.com

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image; Wikimedia Commons

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