I Love And Respect The Craft Of Songwriting…
I love and respect the craft of songwriting…
From my earliest memories of listening to my sister’s records of the Beatles, Gordon Lightfoot, and Monique Leyrac, to the constants of my Parents favourites, Vera Lynn, Dean Martin & Nana Mouskouri… I was blessed to grow up in an environment that embraced new and different styles of music, while still showing reverence to their favourites.
For my own “classic” favourites…
James Taylor, Tonic, BNL, Gordon Lightfoot, John Denver, Simon & Garfunkel and, of course, The Beatles (either together, or in their various individual incarnations)
More recent favourites would have to include…
Lindsay Aline, Dan Mangan, Ken McCoy, Dave Mercer, Jessie Farrell, Carolyn Stewart, Misty Weaver, Carolina Rain, Jars of Clay, Switchfoot & Lady Antebellum.
My I-Pod runneth over…
I am blessed to have a supportive wife, and Family that always encouraged and supported any Artistic pursuit. Thus, my childhood lessons for piano with Mrs Gatz, and messing around with a guitar, were later combined with forays into creative writing and poetry, as encouraged by my Dad and “Doc” Ballard… into the songwriting I now love.
My Music Studio is a place of comfort, where I gather my thoughts, and assemble the lessons and influences of the past, and create songs that I hope folks will enjoy.
Here is a link to a few of my Songs…
I further expounded upon the Songwriters who were “instrumental” in my love of the crafted word, in my posting… “Under The Influences”
Thanks for stopping by !
Who influenced you ???
Protecting Yourself From Success on Twitter…
I am a songwriter, who aspires to be published.
I know a lot of folk in the same boat.
I work with an organization that tries to help local songwriters have an opportunity to perform, and we have a Twitter account.
I guess, because I tweet using the hashtags, #Songwriters, #Songwriting and #Showcase… we get a lot of followers from all over North America.
Because we are based VERY locally, in Langley, BC… I don’t follow everyone back. But I check every profile.
A lot of the Twitter feeds are filled with… “I have great songs, does anyone want to hear them ?” tweets.
Sadly, the Bio line is empty… there is often no location… no website link and sometimes the Tweets are protected.
If I have ANY hope to succeed as a songwriter, I know that I have to fling open the doors, and invite people in, to look at my “product.”
BobSongs
I have this Blog, (which is about music,) a Company Website, (BobSongs Creative Media) a General Blog (BobSongs Musings) a Twitter account, a Facebook profile, a MySpace page… as well as other links… (Broadjam, IMRadio, & YouTube, and more…)
All of them are open, free, unrestricted and accessible.
What benefit do I gain, as a person trying to sell my songs, by putting up barriers or obstacles to people finding out about me OR my songs ???
None.
I take the standard precautions with my product… as soon as I record it, I send myself a registered copy in a sealed envelope, and attach a copy of the contents to the outside.
If I was really concerned, I could take further steps… but I personally don’t feel that is necessary.
Here is the stupid part.
I’m writing this, in order to try to help my competition!!!
What I DO feel is necessary, is to encourage artists to unlock the doors, open up yourself to the world, and say “Here is my product… what do you think?!?”
The alternative is not a pretty picture, as it involves those three ugly words. Woulda, shoulda, coulda.
Open it up, folks. You might sell something !!!
Redemption Song…
I have a heavy heart today.
Words escape my grasp, and cascade upon the beach, just as so much sand.
I don’t know why, but the words of this song, came to me.
It is not appropriate, but nor is it inappropriate.
It just made me feel better…. so I share it:
Redemption Song ~ Bob Marley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFGgbT_VasI
Bob Marley
Old pirates, yes, they rob I;
Sold I to the merchant ships,
Minutes after they took I
From the bottomless pit.
But my hand was made strong
By the hand of the Almighty.
We forward in this generation
Triumphantly.
Won’t you help to sing
These songs of freedom?
‘Cause all I ever have:
Redemption songs,
Redemption songs.
Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
None but ourselves can free our minds.
Have no fear for atomic energy,
‘Cause none of them can stop the time.
How long shall they kill our prophets,
While we stand aside and look? Ooh!
Some say it’s just a part of it:
We’ve got to fulfill the Book.
Won’t you help to sing
These songs of freedom?
‘Cause all I ever have:
Redemption songs,
Redemption songs,
Redemption songs.
Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
None but ourselves can free our mind.
Wo! Have no fear for atomic energy,
‘Cause none of them-a can-a stop-a the time.
How long shall they kill our prophets,
While we stand aside and look?
Yes, some say it’s just a part of it:
We’ve got to fulfill the book.
Won’t you have to sing
These songs of freedom? –
‘Cause all I ever had:
Redemption songs –
All I ever had:
Redemption songs:
These songs of freedom,
Songs of freedom.
Following and Unfollowing on Twitter…
I love my Tweeps.
What I don’t love, are the Elementary School Yard games that some Twitter users play.
I do not automatically followback.
If I have no interest in your message or your “product,” I will not “sign up” and follow you, regardless of how many times you follow and unfollow me.
If you don’t fill in your Bio information, I’m unlikely to followback, but I’ve already written about that.
Some of my friends have between 15 and 50 followers, and they ask how can you “keep up” with 1200+ Tweeps ?
I find lists really helpful for that, and TweetDeck (my Twitter application of choice) accommodates different lists in columns. It also allows you to show multiple accounts in the same screen.
So, for instance, I have a column for YVR (Vancouver) Tweeps… Vancouver Island Tweeps… Fraser Valley Tweeps. I have a column for Musicians and Music Industry folks. I have a column for the Hockey Fans, and the Scotch Lovers. Each of the columns is (usually) a separate set of conversations, which makes the process easier.
Recently, I wondered why my following number was starting to far exceed my follower number.
My guess is that some folks were probably turned off by the large volume of #Canucks and #TeamCanada chatter, and quietly unfollowed me. (Which I hope to have solved by starting a Hockey Account: @BobSongs_Hockey)
And this is where I would love to hear some feedback…
If I follow someone, and they follow me back… I feel like I’ve entered into a relationship. And I am committed to that relationship, until one of two things happens:
1) You offend me. If you start spouting homophobic, blatantly rude, hateful or insensitive tweets ? Done… Blocked.
2) You turn out to be a spammer, with looping spam links in your Tweets.
Other than these reasons… I rarely unfollow anyone who I’ve committed to follow.
Do you feel the same way about “unfollowing” someone ?
I’ve had a number of people suggest Friend or Follow as a Twitter Application, to assess the Follower/Following/Mutual numbers… but I found some of the information displayed was out of date and sometimes didn’t seem to load properly.
Twitter Karma Screen capture
I went searching again on the weekend, and found Twitter Karma. It is Brilliant !!!
Very easy to use, very easy to understand, and seemed to me, to be able to accurately discern between active and inactive Tweeps.
The one “issue” was that it says right at the opening screen, that it will not work correctly in an Internet Explorer browser… but it seemed to load and work fine in Google Chrome.
I wish I had taken a screen cap of the initial findings… (hindsight) …and a day later, I have unfollowed MOST of those not following me back… (Media, serious Bloggers and Celebrities excepted) and updated my lists to reflect the Tweeps I had missed.
Currently, of 1430 total users, I follow 212, 1004 are mutual friends, and 214 only follow me.
I can select any one of those criteria, or list all. I can also sort them by last update, alphabetically or by follower count.
For each user, I can click and open their Twitter Profile.
It is, in my estimation, the best tool for managing and understanding your Tweeps.
How do you manage your followers?
What, if anything, makes you “unfollow” someone?
You can comment here, or Tweet me @BobSongs
Thanks, I look forward to your feedback!
You Are Not Alone…
Earlier this week, Raul Pacheco, a friend from Twitter, wrote a brilliant post about depression on his Blog, prompted by the children of Marie Osmond and Walter Koenig committing suicide… relating it to his own fight with depression, and the need to remove stigma from the issues of Mental Health.
Reading his post, gave me motivation to write this post, about my song, You Are Not Alone, and the reasons I had for writing it.
In the time since I wrote this song, I realized that the issues of Disordered Eating, stigma and silence, also apply to those suffering from mental illnesses… “You are not alone, I stand by your side, with so many others, who hide, as you hide.”
I also decided that any money this song makes would go to supporting Eating Disorder charities.
Regardless, I hoped it would serve as an inspiration and reminder that many issues that seem so large and insurmountable, are more easily faced with a friend… if a discussion can just begin.
I will also, in an upcoming post, talk about my own battle with depression.
I was inspired to write the song, when I met the man who founded the group Parents Awareness of Eating Disorders. (Which, sadly, has since dissolved.)
When I met him, he had his daughter with him… and she was back to a pattern of eating normally, after suffering from an Eating Disorder. He spoke passionately and openly, about how helpless he had felt, and how lucky he was that his daughter had been strong enough to come to him, and tell him what was happening. Together they had found a path back for her… but he knew that many others were not as strong, and as a result, not all had happy endings to their stories.
I tried to take those feelings, and write a song of support and encouragement.
It is a song about the view many people with Eating Disorders have… that they are alone, and isolated. That no one knows what they are going through, or what they are feeling. I wrote this song to remind them that others also have the same feelings and issues, and to create an awareness of the support and community that are available to help them, if they can just reach out.
The lyrics for this song were kindly posted by Isabella Mori, on her Blog, for Eating Disorders Awareness Week, in early February.
You Are Not Alone
Music & Lyrics By Bob Gray © October 22, 2003
There is a light, beyond the darkness
There is pain, inside us all.
Sometimes we trip, on the roads we travel
As we reach up, sometimes we fall
And though sometimes, I know you’re lonely
With all my heart, I need you to know…
Chorus:
You are not alone… I stand by your side.
With so many others, who hide, as you hide.
With all my heart, I hope you will hear me
You are not alone… You are not alone…
There is a peace, that you can get to
It will be hard, but you’ll be fine.
I’ll walk with you, in case you stumble
Reach out your hand, I’ll give you mine
And though sometimes, you may be frightened
With all my heart, I want you to know…
Repeat Chorus:
Bridge:
But, beyond the hurt… Beyond frustration…
Beyond the mountains, we all must climb
There is the dawn, of a new tomorrow
The dawn of hope… I hope we find…
Repeat Chorus:
We Are The World 2.0…
I came across this article in the Los Angeles Times, through Twitter, and thought it would be something we should all look out for…
It’s an article, detailing how, after the Grammy Awards, a group of Stars had planned to do a 25 Years’ later version of the song, but with recent events in Haiti, and aid relief there being so necessary, the money raised was now going to aid Haiti.
The article link has, sadly, been removed… it was concerning Musicians wanting to make another recording, with an eye to helping those struggling in Africa.
The article was written by geoff.boucher@latimes.com
Hopefully, the more folks that are aware of this, the greater the number of folks downloading the song, and the folks in Haiti will benefit… You can also support the Canadian Red Cross Haiti Relief at: