Posts Tagged ‘Songwriter’
I Miss My Mom…
A friend of mine, Earl Taylor wrote this song, about how he missed his Mom.
On Mother’s Day, it seems quite appropriate to Post it, as I miss my Mum, too.
To all the children, who still have their Parents, enjoy a wonderful Mother’s Day.
I Miss My Mom – Song By Earl Taylor
Joy Gray
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 !!!
Performer vs Musician vs Songwriter…
I have never cared for the spotlight.
I’m not one who seeks out opportunities to jump on stage and Perform, whenever I can. I have a few friends and family that are like that… and I admire them for it. One guy I know carries a guitar in the trunk of his car, “… because you never know when a jam is going to break out !” I am all for supporting spontaneous acts, but I won’t be the one in the centre of it.
My friends and family all say, “You’re just nervous.” No… Nerves have nothing to do with it. I see the thrill that my friends get from performing, and the rush of pleasure that an audience reaction gives them, and while I am delighted for them… I don’t understand it.
I’ve gone up on stage a number of times, after each time being convinced that THIS time would be different ! And each time I come off afterwards, knowing that nothing had changed for me, and hoping that the audience got more out of that, than I did !!!
Those same friends encourage me to play guitar… but again, there are many much more talented folks, and I have no desire to impose my mediocre playing skills on their fun.
The Musicians are easy to spot… In the midst of a song, they will be absolutely LOST in the music… eyes closed… playing as if their lives depended on it, and absolutely loving it. They could be playing for themselves, or they could be playing Madison Square Gardens… it would be the same for them, in that moment.
I don’t get that either.
The thing I love, is the crafting of a phrase. The moulding of words and music into a single being. Like driving a car fast around a corner, and straightening out from the curve at the perfect moment… that is the rush I get from making the words match seamlessly with the music. The shadings of light and dark, fast and slow, staccato and legato. Playing with words to express the maximum feeling and emotion, constrained only by the metre of the melody.
That is where I find my rush… my drug of choice is the written word.
We’ve established that I am not destined to rock a stadium full of crazed music fans. We’ve also confronted the reality that as a musician, I am passable, but pedestrian in skill.
So, we are left with the Songwriting… and daunted by the marketing.
If I cannot bring my product to the masses, how shall the masses have my product revealed to them ?
The purpose of today’s article is to frame the question.
The journey towards an answer shall be the subject of what I imagine will be an on-going series of posts, which I shall submit to this Blog as I get to noteworthy points along the path, either for their discovery, or for their revelation of a confounding dead end.
Stay tuned !!!