A Songwriters Guide To Fishing " Catch And Release "

iDoCoach Blog

A fish story

I’m a songwriter living in Nashville Tennessee and it’s pretty common to hear songwriters say they’re fishing for ideas. This fishing is one fun step for me and always has been. There is no better part of the songwriting process than that initial bite, no matter how you got there but if you don’t capture the idea it’s just more  “one that got away” story. 

I’ve heard some songwriters say they don’t write ideas down or worry about recording them in the early stages because “if it’s great I’ll remember it and if I don’t …well it must not have been that great”. Ok, I don’t know any professional songwriters who subscribe to this*. That first step is the inspiration but the next one is the one I want to focus on. You need to catch that spark and with the least amount of production worry as possible. It’s all about the song and the song starts with the big idea and that big idea can get away from you as fast as it poked its head out of the water if you don’t catch it and quick.

This step is not about the most sophisticated, expensive piece of gear, it’s all about the one that does the job and the job is to document the idea. If your idea is good you’ll no doubt be moving on to the big stuff because in the end, you want it to sound the best it can be but for now, it’s all about catching it.

Whatever it takes

I love technology and have had every device I could lay my hands on ( or could afford) over the years starting with the least expensive microphones, Tascam Portastudios, 8 track reel to reel, 16 track, ADATs, DAT’s, a full-blown ProTools production studio built onto my home and these days a more portable system based around UA’s Apollo Twin with a UAD-2 Satellite running LUNA on a MacBook Pro. I can go as far back as co-writing a #1 hit “Day and Night “ in 2000 for the UK artist Billie Piper and having to capture my melody on something less than great… my home phone answering machine. Thankfully there are a lot’s better options out there these days! Most songwriters I know start by recording those hooks on their iPhone, myself included.

Catch… then release

More than ever it’s about getting that idea down and perfecting it later. Usually, much later and sometimes with the best players and gear, you can buy before you release it into the world. But again… this step is further down the road. You need to catch the idea before you get near the release of your song.

Here’s hoping you hook a big one!

* On April 16 I ran across the following quote from Vince Gill. Had to include it because He IS a professional songwriter I know and he’s awesome so there you go😊

“When inspiration strikes in the middle of the night—be it a lyric, a riff, or an entire melody—Vince Gill has a foolproof method for capturing the moment. “I go back to bed!” he laughs. “I don’t get up in the middle of the night to write songs. If you think about it at 2am and you can’t remember it at 9am, it probably wasn’t that good.”

Mark Cawley

Nashville, Tennessee

Image: Shutterstock

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Mark Cawley

Mark Cawley is a hit songwriter, best-selling author, in-demand speaker, songwriting coach, and popular blogger. As a songwriter, his songs have been on more than 16 million records to date with cuts ranging from Tina Turner, Joe Cocker, Chaka Khan, and Diana Ross to Wynonna Judd, Taylor Dayne, Paul Carrack, The Spice Girls, and many more. Through his coaching service iDoCoach.com, he has coached thousands of songwriters worldwide.

His book, Song Journey, was released in April 2019 and went to #1 in six categories on Amazon. Mark has been a judge for the UK songwriting contest, Nashville Rising Star, Belmont University’s Commercial Music program, and West Coast Songwriter events. He’s also a contributing author to USA Songwriting, InTune Magazine, Songwriter Magazine, a sponsor for the Australian Songwriting Association, and a past mentor for The Songwriting Academy UK. Born in Syracuse, New York, Mark has lived in Boston, Los Angeles, Indianapolis, and London. Mark now resides in Nashville, Tennessee. The Daily Song Journal is his second book.

Here is a link to “ The Daily Song Journal” on Amazon

You can also find Song Journey on Amazon.