Welcome! Use this forum to ask questions and learn about the inner workings of the music business from Marc-Alan Barnette. In this forum, you can expect straight talk!
This forum will be about the day to day involvement in launching an artist in the current climate of the Nashville music industry. I am doing this for two reasons. One, to have a record that people might refer to as a guide in their own songwriting journey.Secondly, to give insights into what the movers and shakers have to do on a somewhat dailly basis in order to show you the "other side of the desk." The majority of us here on the Ramp are writers that are trying to find avenues for our music and find ways to build our overall careers past when we write the song.
Hopefully this will enlighten and entertain. It may get long as in most thing in the music industry there are a variety of issues facing us all, ranging from fickle audiences, shifting climate of music delivery, ileagle downloading, shifting market share, etc. While I will concentrate mostly on the creative and songwriting side, which is what this forum is dedicated to. There will be elements of performance, studio, business and networking that it takes for everything in this. I will try to keep it to the point and will up date from time to time just for perspective and so that there won't be so much previous reading. Here we go.
For 12 years in Birmingham Alabama, I was a working, developing musician. In 1984 my band, 24 KARAT won a National band talent competition sponsored by Miller Beer and MCA records. The deal fell through as all contests generally do, so after meeting some pivotal people in Birmingham, I decided to make the move to Nashville in 1988. I scored a cut on Shelby Lynne's first record, Sunrise, with a song of mine called "THAT'S WHERE IT HURTS" my first night in town.
From there I experienced pretty much everything an artist goes through here, publishing deals that didn't pan out, single song contracts, full writing deals, cuts by artists that didn't surface, singles that never made it, artists that quit or lost record deals, record deals that didn't pan out, writing thousands of songs, with hundreds of people, opening major concerts, being "The Next Big Thing" to "what ever happened to what's his name?"
All in all it has been an amazing ride, I have some life long friends, two wonderful kids, and the bottom line, the knowledge of several lifetimes in this business. I've made most of the mistakes and weathered most of the highs and lows. I am not the marquee name but I feel I have the credibility it takes to write things like this and direct people in what I feel is a positive direction. I practice everything I preach and try to make sense in anything I talk about. And I try to prove myself every single day.
My 15 year relationship with NSAI or Nashville Songwriters Association International, have become one of the pivotal aspects of my overall career. First as a member, later as a working mentor and advisor, I have found it to be the most effective organization of it's kind anywhere. It, and I cover every concievable style of music and every level of ability. That is what led me to Frankie Ballard.
8 years ago, I turned away from the "Poor poor pitiful me" aspect of my life. "Why can't I get a record deal?" Why do all my friends have record deals?" Why do all my singles die a quick death?" "Who do I sleep with to get out of this business?" I turned to helping other people and at the same time, figuring out how to get paid to love what I do. I do workshops, seminars, private lessons in songwriting, performance, recording, networking, and have a songwriter "Tour" business, that shows people the inner workings of this business. It's a lot of fun and helps keep me looking at things fresh.
The majority of people I work with are very well meaning but very basically talented writers, singers and wanna be's. A few are a little better and some have that inner drive and attitude that will take them to higher and higher levels. I feel I do a very good thing and am very proud of everyone that makes the commitment to work with me. I take their dreams, time and money very seriously and do all I can to help them spend it all wisely.
But every once in a blue moon, you find something that seems to drop in your lap that makes all the frustration, failure and dashed dreams come together and you find that all of that stuff built the character you need to make it come together.
Kalamazoo Michigan
Of all the NSAI groups I have been involved with (over 75 nationally and in Canada) I have a special fondness for Kalamazoo Michigan and one figure in particular.Rene Meauve. Rene is a mid 40 year old Hispanic gentleman who lives in the "Zoo". He is a co-cordinator, and just a stellar individual. He has a Tejano band, Los Bandits, which are HUGE in the Midwest, as it has an enormous population of Migrant workers and immigrants from Spanish speaking countries. It is the melting pot of America. It is the future.
Rene is a worker unlike many I have ever met. Booking Los Bandits, and then several incarnations of the group, from solos, duos, to trios, He is involved in community service as an AIDS councilor for the Hispanic population, and mostly just a great natured person. A very accomplished singer, guitar player, drummer, etc. His biggest desire is to be an accomplished songwriter writing country songs. That is what brought me to him.
I have done several workshops in his hometown and he never fails to amaze me. He always works me into educational situations, and we have talked to many Jr. High and High school groups. He has a wonderful giving spirit and I wish we could all be a little like him.
During his continous performing and non-stop work he met Frankie Ballard, the subject of this novel. Frankie, 25 years old with Movie star looks, resembles a natural blonde chiseled features that reminds you of Johnny Depp or a young Robert Redford. Peircing blue eyes and that devilish grin, he is quite simply a BABE Magnet from Hell!
But he possess great skill with the guitar and a very natural sense of entertainment. He is there for audiences and never forgets his fans or why he is there. He was creating quite a stir in the local bar scene where he played in a variety of blues clubs as the next Kenny Wayne Shepard. The boy can play his butt off. And his voice, is that whisky soaked Southern Rock, with definate country leanings that make you take notice. To tell you the truth, he reminds me of me thirty years younger with looks and talent.
After spending some time with Frankie, Rene'started thinking about getting him interested in songwriting. He saw something in him that could transend the local blues legend. He was right. At first, as most artists, Frankie was not that keen on the writing idea. He "Just wanted to play". He made a couple of trips to Nashville, with one of Rene's other acts that he was trying to get attention. That is where I met him. He didn't say much and just kind of soaked up everything. Frankly (pun intended) at first I didn't really pay too much attention. I don't work with artists past getting them material when I can. I have had many experiences, most of them bad, so dedicating a lot of time, money and effort into someone was just not what I was interested in.
But Rene was persistant. He kept bringing him up. He also approached another well known and respected writer producer, Walt Aldridge. Walt, another Alabama boy, from the soul capital of Muscle Shoals, was a monster in Twang Town. The writer of things like,
Travis Tritt's Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde, Ronnie Milsap's There Ain't No Getting Over Me, and 15 top ten hits, produced and developed the band Heartland and their hit song "I Loved Her First" and is one of the "go to guys" in Nashville parlance on spotting promising new acts. We have known of each other, passed in the "Music Row Schmooze"scene that we all operate in this town.
Now this brings us to one of the dangers in working with artists. When someone has previous involvement, you always have to be aware that they could come back at any minute, and take the project away from you. Track record has seniority and you have to realize your own limitations. Having someone with that track record lends credibilty to every thing but it is walking in a minefield no matter how you look at it.
I was not really privy to what transpired. Walt did some initial meetings with Rene and Frankie, even to the point of getting him to record a few cover songs just to check out his basic understanding and chops. I did hear that project and was fairly underwhelemed. I have heard Charlie Daniels before and this wasn't it.
It was not until my third or forth meeting with Frankie that he actually said very much or played anything at all. So I had very little to base my opinions on. I just try to avoid artists like the plague and have my own ground rules about that. Having been burned financially, emotionally and mentally before, I am like a dog that has been beaten one too many times. They are frankly the Ebola virus to me. It would take a LOT to get me interested. And as I would find out, there was a LOT there to work with. I would eat more than a few words before this was over.
I am going to build to this. Right now I am giving you some back ground on what makes my opinions on things as well as how I met him. You are actually going to find out what you are wanting to learn much the way I did. By reverse engineering. It is coming. Right now we are in the middle of mixing his first CD project, so I am doing this as we are working. Mixing has a lot of very boring redundancy in it and I am only mildly involved so I do it as I have time. Be right back. I am answering all your questions in the next panel.
Now I want to be VERY up front here. As much as I am the principal proponant of "Go find every artist in your neighborhood and write songs with them" I want to make clear that writing, developing, working, cajoling, begging, and dealing with artists can be the most frustrating, mentally exhausting, financially devistating, and demanding health wise you can ever do. For any of you who have ever dealt with a mis directed 16 or 17 year old that has everything, multiply that by fifty and throw in artisitic temperment, imaturity, not ever knowing what they are doing but damanding they do everything, and expeciting
EVERYTHING NOW! and you have a moden day artist.
There was a time that artists came through the ranks of coming up in the clubs, playing dives, starving to death, being on the road and learning life the hard way. You learned by doing and made every kind of mistake known to man. But just like the advent of Pro tools, effects, auto tune, karaoke nights, and the world being a reality TV show contest, that way is hard to find. But still the most effective.
Most arists are superficial, have very little sense common or other wise, and only think you have to look good in a pair of jeans or a Victoria Secret nightie to suddenly be on top of the world posing with Paris Hilton and entering the Hollywood Jet Set, hosting their own reality show. They have no idea of the work and the absolute minefield that you cross every minute of every day. Most sign bad contracts, take bad advice, spend every dime they can beg borrow or steal and by the time they actually know what they are doing or are ready to make any money, are so deep in debt and too old to even do it any more. Yours truley included.
And the world of music is littered with the names of those that burned out too young and too soon leaving a million questions of "What if?" They read like a who's who of music. Motzart, Hendrix, Joplin, Morrison, Hank Williams Sr. every genre, every era, has those that just simply self destructed.
And today the danger of actually finding someone who "has it", working your ass off, spending your own money, only to find somebody better connected than you swooping in,
either taking what you've done outright, or discarding it like some really bad dream, dumping it and erasing every trace of you, in the process. The alley's and parks are littered with homeless people who "discovered so and so, but then got cut out of the deal." How do you think Sam Phillips or his decendents felt after that $35,000 buy out of Elvis put close to billions in the pockets of Col.Tom Parker, truley one of the slimiest of the slimes that ever got the better of an aritst? But you pays your money and takes your chances.
And for those of you Rampers reading this, and you are your own artist, with no interest of other genres, writing with anyone, or just reading this with the amusement that ol' Barnette will fall on his all too large face any minute, this is really not for you. While I think we all have to find as many ways of getting our music out there as we can, some are simply not interested and while I love to have you read and ask questions or make statements as you see fit, understand why I am doing this.
In today's world, once an artist is signed on to the machine that is the current music business, your chances of getting a cut on that artist, no matter how great the song is almost non-existant. The higher the stature and success of the artists, the more remote the chances. So just as wax cylinders gave way to 78's, and 45's, which gave way to 8 tracks, which gave way to cassettes which gave way to CD's, which is giving way to MP3's and who knows what next, the advent of writing with the up and coming and unknowns are one of the only ways to get our music out there. That is where we live now and there are those unknown's in every corner bar, every karaoke night, and in those huge lines for American Idol and Nashville Star. You might hook into them on My Space, Facebook or they might be in your own family. But we all better be looking.
Frankie is originally from Grand Rapids Michigan. In high school he showed great talent for baseball and actually has that ball player physique. He started playing guitar at age 14 and is very much accomplished in styles ranging from Brad Paisley to Stevie Ray Vaughn.
He is a sponge of musical stylings and has expanded his abilities to cover bass, drums, and some keyboards. Watching him sit in with a band and go from instrument to instrument on each song will really piss you off cause he can play it all as well as some of those grizzeled veterans. Singing is actually the newest addition to his roster.
He was one of those kids you see sitting in with bands at 15 who can outplay those old crumudgeons on stage with their thirty years of experience. We basically hate him. He gets all the women and has none of the frustration because he just wants to "Play!"
He has very supportive parents who look like they are in their mid twenties and from what I understand two amazingly beautiful sisters who I have not been allowed to meet. Do you think they know something? His father raised him on a steady diet of Merle Haggard and Johnny Cash and one of the most endearing things I have seen is his Dad singing Boy Named Sue, on one of his shows. A practicing Catholic, he has close ties to his faith and that comes through his music.
His sole focus is music and is one of those people that will always find work. Since he can encompass pretty much any style of music there is not much he won't do. His dislikes are the milquetoast sounding middle of the road, heartless, faceless stuff we all hate. He has no patience for the sensitive silly metaphor writers. If it ain't real, he ain't interested.
Musically I would have to place him as a cross between Hank Jr., Lynyrd Skynrd, Stevie Ray, and somewhat to the left of Montgomery Gentry. As we get into the song writing process I will explain how that all comes into focus. His stage demeanor is very much a presence whatever he is doing, first because he is so good looking, Keith Urban, my good buddy, get ready to retire. Glad you married well. He is very much a livewire, firey onstage with the abilities and ideas to fly around the stage like Garth, but very much understated. In his offstage demeanor he is very much like Garth. Very understated and humble. But this guy knows exactly what he is doing.
His voice is very smokey, whyskey soaked. To tell you the truth, it sounds very much like me. But it is rawer. If he has weaknesses, it would be vocal range and experience. But he is catching that fast. From his first sessions three months ago to what I am listening to at this moment, the difference is night and day. I don't know that he will ever have my top range, but with everything else he has, he doesn't need it. I mean who needs notes that only dogs can hear and I have enough pissed off Shitz Zus to last a lifetime.
In our world the more someone talks, the less they have to talk about, the less they talk, the more they have going on. He is quiet, but not shy, and exudes class in everything he does. That is the primary reason I agreed to do anything here. There are a million guitar players, male and female model types that are shooting for that brass ring. There are almost none that have so much but know when to listen. This guy does.
He is most certainly a solo performer. The last time he was in a band as a back up bass player, he just blew the band off the stage by just being there. You have to be really incredible or VERY dumb to want to get up there with this guy. I do it only sparingly. He makes me feel like the old assed worn out nothing I think I am. But damn, he does my songs proud. He is a pure joy to be around. He is THE package. And I believe one that won't blow up in our faces. But you never know. They all start out this way.
THE RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD
By the time I had been beaten up by Frankie and Rene in Kalamazoo in November of last year, I had heard him play several times, Gotten to know him with some close conversations and a lot of beer. My last experience at producing an artist 10 years ago led to nothing but hard feelings and left me in a money crunch I never really recovered from. My problem was always offering ten times the advice, knowledge and know how, and always being left waving at the tour bus. Wasn't going to happen this time. I had some definate ground rules.
First off, I was not a manager, agent, or baby sitter. My role was very specific. I was to teach him intricacies of songwriting, help him find his musical "voice" show him elements of the game that very few people are ever allowed to see, introduce him to my contacts, and help him develop in the studio and the networking nessasary to give him a grounding in where he needed to go. I was to be paid up front for my efforts, share in most all songwriting, guide him in the studio, have him stay at my house, and basically keep him from being killed immediatly.
My overall approach was to find his deepest passions, help him vocalize them. As I gained his trust and faith, I would open up contacts of mine in the form of hit writers, publishers, pluggers, that had many interests in myself, and use him as a way to build my own relationships. It would be very methodical. And very deliberate. I have many people that have expressed interest in me over the years and the good will I have built up has been building for a reason. If I did my job the rising tide would lift all boats and we would all be better for it.
The first job was to see if I had existing tracks he could sing to. As I listened to his playing and familiarized myself with his music, I went into my mental file of existing tracks. The reason I have drummed into you all to do quality demos, is for this reason. I made a CD of 20 songs and sent him on his way. He picked about 10, started doing four live and worked hard.
Again, a big element in this was the process of keeping him working in his area. Record companies are interested in potential record sales. And you can't do that as another burning out nobody on Music Row or Lower Broad. He has several clubs he plays in regularly, and the potential to build following, work up new songs each week, tighten his band, shake hands and kiss babies, were all there. One of the biggest destructor of new artists is premature move syndrome. I was determined to keep that from happening.
Now while I am talking like this with a lot of "I's" and Me's", understand that working with an artist is very much funneling their energy. It is not about me. And I am only part of this equation. I am telling this from my perspective as the older mentor. It is my role to keep it rolling, without too many speedbumps, on time and on budget. And one of the bigger issues is any time you are dealing with money, you have to be very clear that while you have to make a living, you are very tied to this project. Frankie is IN NO WAY just another project for me. The money (and it is no where near what producers get paid to do this) but it is workable for both of us, and I do my best to give him every dollars worth.
Like Garth Brooks, (who I did know he and his manager a bit) Frankie is very much in control of his career. I don't think he will be easily swayed on things. And that plays in to the music we write. I can't just slide something to him that I want him to say. My job is to find that out, find the central elements lyrically and musically and drive it to the point where he can "inhabit the song."
Again, much of this comes from watching artist after artist, doing showcases that you forget the minute they finish. And you see some of those artists actually get out there and fall so fast that it makes your head swim. My favorite joke:
Q: Knock knock.
A: Who's there?
Q: Billy Gillman.
A: Billy Gillman who?
Q: Tough business ain't it?
They go much faster than they come. My intentions is to have a good run here. And putting too much faith into any one aspect leads to disaster. I don't like disaster.
The main thing with Frankie was that he had really never written anything. He had the normal, "hey let's party, let's drink a beer" kind of stuff we all write when we are buzzed, playing with our buddies. But we were entering the most dangerous arena of all to songwriters. Nashville. If these things didn't hit the bulleyes on every single word, every single note, we would never hear the end of it. At least I wouldn't. My reputation was in every line.
He had decided on two main songs to sing on my existing tracks. One of mine called "THIS OLD TREE" That I had written with two women from Canada and a friend of mine from Orange County Ca. And a song called "THAT LOOK" written by myself, Doak Turner, and Gary Dennis, from here on the Ramp. The reasoning behind both were that they were VERY country and I knew we were going to get plenty of that kick your butt rockers, so we needed a few softer edge ones to get the industry trusting us. And I also knew that once the writing bug hit me, it was going to be nearly impossible to get stuff on him that he didn't write.
I thought we were going to re-record "TOO MUCH BLOOD IN MY ALCOHOL LEVEL" but it wasn't to be for this project. Insider point #1. When writing with an artist, you are competing with yourself. You constantly are trying to give them just what they want to see and keep yourself in the game. This is why it is so nearly impossible to pitch existing songs to artists. As I mentioned in another post, there is just no way you are going to write a song like Jennifer Nettle's "Why Don't you Stay" like she can. You cannot embody the passion that she had from living it. And the biggest element is passion. It is the most prevalent thing missing out of "outside" songs. As writers we don't know these people. We haven't lived in their shoes, we can only approximate their emotions and experiences. Sometime we get lucky, but in today's elements of "inside cuts" where artists are being pressured by record companies to write on everything for additional income streams, even if you have a better song, sometimes luck just isn't enough. It's all about "Show me the money!"
So as they get more competent and comfortable in their writing skin, they are going to be open to less and less songs from outside sources. From a producer's standpoint, (and in this case I am co-producing this,) Frankie is very much in control. I just make sure everything is ready by the time it gets ready to be recorded, then stay out of the way until I
coach him through his vocals and the do my back ground vocals The idea is to write them so well in the first place, they pretty much dictate their own way. When you have the best players in the world, every step only builds to a tumultuous uproar. But there can be no weak links and no excuses. You only have so many bullets to shoot. Can't waste one.
But I also have to be very protective of my own time investment. I do that by making sure in the writing stages we are saying exactly what he wants to say, and that he is not going to be in a bad light by saying it. Another disconnect with writers who have no connection to artists or audiences and "write in a vacum" is the things they write sound fine in their living room and may even demo well, but an artist might just plain not want to say it.
Along those same lines I have purposely limited his exposure to even some of my best friends. As you will see in the future posts, I have to have track record, personal involvement or Frankie's blessing, and that is just not going to happen by accident or chance. There are 12 tracks on this project. I have ten of them.
An artist trying to put 17,000 people in seats raising their fists in unison, are simply not going to get there singing about rainbows, rain, moons, stars, yellow clovers, being hurt, crying in their beer, wimpy winky stuff that will put an artist in touch with his gay feminine side. Let's be real here people. We are competing with empowered women who will beat a car up with a baseball bat, 17 year olds with "just another picture to burn" macho guys who drive their "International Harvesters" down the middle of the road, and have no interest in that feminine side of things. And audiences that have even less patience for it. This is not to say that there is not a sensitive side. But it is very much a male sensitive side, even with females. This is not your father's country.
And is this new? Of course not. Ever hear of Elvis? Willie Nelson? Merle Haggard? Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams Sr. and Jr.? Are you kidding? They were all rebellious, lived it on the edge and didn't give a damn who liked it. It actually is the mainstay of country music. And while now we have to strive toward not offending and being somewhat politically correct, we still have to have something to say that is going to keep the ever fickle public from pushing that button on the radio or going for the remote on the television. And that my friends, is the name of the game.
Essential to writing with an artist or cueing into their development is to understand where they have been and where their influences are. You are trying to find a common thread. And you are trying to find an extension of your self. In the case of a Jefferey Steele, he has taken elements of his influences and used them to great success. His 70's southern rock backgrounds are self evident in the 38 Special/Lynyrd Skynyrd feels and subjects of Montgomery Gentry and Van Zant. If you were to take his Rascal Flatts songs, and back them up to the 80's they could just as easily have been Journey or Styxx.
The point is to find a crossing place that gets the best of what you feel and they want to say. With Frankie, I listened heavily to his grooves and speech patterns in the cover songs he liked. He is very much influenced by Hank Jr., and Big and Rich. I am very tuned into that so it was not much of a stretch to start in the vein. Again, if I couldn't proove to him by the first song that I was worth doing this, it would be a very short ride.
Barefeet
His first idea was about women in barefeet. He wanted a song about that. So he started a groove and I took it from there, tracing barefeet women from Eve to the present day. The groove was all swamp and we drove the hook home over and over again. I hope he doesn't get a concussion from the shoes that hit him in the head onstage. Instead of panties they throw size ten Brogans. Great. I killed my artist with the first song. Smart move MAB!
Rene was there on this and kept us moving along.He added details as he has a woman very into her feet so it kept a narration going. We had it finished in less than an hour.
Southern Belle
The Second song was about an ongoing romance with between a bank teller named Belle (Get it?) and a shy cable repair guy who gives her every cable package just to see her but can't bring himself to ask her out. Again, the southern rock influcences were running wild.
SO AT HOME
At this point with four songs already done I knew I was going to have to get the softer one out of the way before we just got off the reservation with testostorone. REne and Frankie had been working on a sort of ballad called "So In Love with You." The idea was decent but very average. I needed something extra. I put two relationships I had been involved in featuring some distance, juxtapositioned that over a musician on the road, but made sure not to mention any "band, stage, lonely on the road" images. I did put a "Just have to let this song come through" line in the chorus but more in the form of a song you would hear on the radio. It is more about the distances between two people and how good it is to be with them even if you don't see them that much. I kept the feel very much in the vein of "Sweet Melissa" from the Allman Brothers, a favorite of mine. So while it is a slower song, it is not really a ballad. But it shows off his softer side without going gay.
Now I had a framework to work from. While Rene and I worked on another song of his, Frankie left to go practice. We did a show that night and he started playing around with them in addition to my other songs. I knew we were in the ballpark and the audience reaction confirmed where we were headed was right. Four songs in six hours. recording work tapes and play three of them the same night. Not a bad days work.
The overall game plan from the middle of Dec. where we started was for Frankie to make a trip to Nashville once a month, write songs and then record the best of those. In January, he made the first trip. One of the biggest purposes was now to include some of my friends who were hit writers into the process.
GET THE JOB DONE
Frankie got in on a Sunday afternoon and I had gone through a lot of phone calls, a lot of maybe's, no maybe's and let's do its. Tim Buppert is a good friend of mine and aside from being a first class writer with two top ten hits in Kevin Sharp's "She's Sure Taking It Well" and Yankee Grey's "Another Nine Minutes." he is also a one of Nashville's top demo singers and a first class drummer. This groove would be determined by the drums. Thankfully Tim had an idea he had been planning and we both supplied the groove. It was about a woman who's Jaguar breaks down outside an Austin Texas repair shop. And the guy working there "ain't gonna stop till he gets the job done." Lot's of double entendres wrapped up in a
fast Vince Gill "Chicken Pickin" groove. Turned out great again, and we seemed to be striking gold. The late night went on with Frankie making his usual late night trips to sit in and play guitar with some people who play at Tootsies. I skip these trips. Not really my scene.
LIVING UP TO THE LOW CLASS
The next day would be a morning writing session between he and I to see if the magic we
started in the "Zoo" was a fluke. It wasn't. The result was a song about Noodling called Low Class No Class Reunion. That idiot so called sport where rednecks go into water after catfish and catch them barehanded by sticking their hands down the fishes throat. If you don't nearly drown, come up bleeding from at least three orifices, and catch something the size of a Buick, I don't think it counts. It was on TV and we laughed our asses off at it. But the result is a really back woods swamp monster that really cooked. You can smell the fish guts from here. Never can have too many songs about rednecks and catfish. The story takes place with some high school guys who get together every year for their idiot reunion. Moon shine will make about anything look fun.
SHADOW OF THE MOUNTAIN OF THE MAN
It was time to get somewhat serious. Frankie's grandfather on his father's side was a very decorated World War Two veteran who had done things most of us cannot even imagine. He had done so many things in his life and obviously been a big part of who Frankie is. When he told me many of the stories I knew there was no way I could write it. Some songs have to be finessed in such ways and you have to know when to bring in the big guns. I went to my mentor, Jimbeau Hinson. Aside from being my favorite writer and partner, he has the best spirit I have ever seen in a human being aside from a writer. And I knew he would be exactly what we needed to get the job done.
With Jimbeau you kind of express your thoughts and then stay out of the way. We found a groove in between what Frankie was doing, and I was doing, I started singing a melody and the Beau man was off and running. With lines like "I'm Just a Chip, off the Chip off the Old Block" it is easy to recognize true genius. Every line was sheer poetry and the emotion came through like it was guided by God. I think it was.
Now that we had a group of songs it was time to get in and see how he did the studio gig. First up was tracking Barefeet, Low Class, and a Walt Aldrich monster called Home Grown.
We had also started and finished one called ELECTRIC HILLBILLY which summed up Frankie's approach to music. And set the tone for it all.
We nailed those four and got him in singing the two of mine. This would be the first of three sessions to make this thing happen. At first he was a little tentative and felt he didn't do as well as he would like but you never do. It came off like a rocket. Again, work with champions and you get champion stuff.
The bad part was that he had to leave before we could get it mixed. He gets impatient but has gigs to do. I had not been able to do the back grounds yet so that had to be done. But it came together before we knew it and everything would be in high gear.
ACT III
(Does this thing every end? Nope)
The March session would be another tieing up of loose ends. The result would be the first of the "Throw Away songs." Live to Ride, Ride to Live, was a basic Harley song but just didn't seem to hit either of us hard enough to replace anything. While I am trying very much to get volume of catalogue out of this, because once he breaks I think my involvement will be minimized somewhat, but also because that is what we are doing. He had a meeting with Walt at this time to bring him up to date. I was not involved in this and I am always aware of things even though I am not there.
FOREVER TO CUT THAT OUT
This trip was going to be a short one. And of course Frankie is about hanging out at night and I am not. Since it was getting close to Tin Pan I was going to have a minimum amount of time to do anything. One of the jewels (I feel) was when he told me he wanted a "Torch song." These are my favorite ones to write. Because they are all about pure soul and feel. Frankie and his friend and a guy that drives him down from the Zoo, Todd and I were talking about different things and decided that we hated songs about "fate." I kind of got something started and they headed out. I finished this one because I was in my element. I think I nailed one of my favorite songs. I would do it live over and over and it works every time. A real panty melter.
THE SCHEDULE CHANGES
April would shift everything into a direction I would have rather it not as fast. As Frankie played up North, he started picking up a big head of steam. His My Space site where he had many of the songs posted, started getting a ton of hits. The gigs were getting bigger and bigger. He opened for Chuck Wicks (Stealing Cinderella) and Shooter Jennings in some very high profile gigs.
I would go back up to Michigan to do things with Rene and saw him a little. We were not able to write but came up with the next step. He would come back to Nashville for one more marathon writing session and then one more recording session to wrap it all up. AT the same time, Kevin Brown, a local hero and studio owner fell off a ladder and died. Another member of the local community was hospitilized so my trip encountered a lot of stumbling blocks. It is really sad that we don't even have time to mourn those we care about but we do have to do what we can. Working is a way of getting through our stress.
At this point I was fearing more and more that this project would get out of my hands. There was the specter of several elements coming in and I knew I would have to face that as I could. but I would hang on as long as I could.
DEADLINES LOOM
As I got back, Frankie was involved in a contest to open for Kenny Chesney. This was a contest Chesney was doing nationally and while it was great for Frankie, it caused me to have to move two big time writing appointments, Gary Hannan (Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off) and Kim Tribble (Guys Do It All the Time) The thing about hit writers and new acts is that we are all "I'll believe it when I see it." There are always new artists coming out and most of them are in the Nashville machine before they get to this point. We are flying under the radar screen.
He came in and I was sweating. Locking down two guys who don't like to be locked down is a feat in itself. But I am a pretty good salesman and got Kim locked down for the next round. But on the morning of the date, he had a last minute appointment in the studio on another song of his being recorded. That left the kid and I to come up with something. And we did. I love it when people give me a specific type of song. He wanted a country Anthem that could sum up a lot of his feelings about music and life. The result MY KIND OF COUNTRY" talked about the land, from Arizona to the Smokies in one verse, the people from Cops to Nurses in the next verse, and the mixtures of bluegrass, blue eyed soul, southern rock and blues that make up Frankie Ballard. I think we hit it pretty hard.
He wanted a salute to his Christian faith. He wanted a Chicago groove big gospel spiritual, kind of like James Brown in the Blues Brothers Movie, or Leap of Faith. I was all over it coming from that back ground in the Baptist church so in an hour we had 'JESUS TAKE ME TO THE OTHER SIDE" A monster that would feature all the bells and whistles of Hammond B 3 and the big choir.
GREEN HANDS
By the time Kim showed up at 3:00, we were already warmed up. And he jumped in with both feet,. After hearing some examples of what we had done, he went the exact opposite
direction I suggested. While I was shooting for a more middle of the road Rascal Flatts tune, Kim went totally opposite. saying we needed something far to the left. The result, GREEN HANDS, about a counterfitter in Mexico started with the line "There's a dude down in Mexico that looks like Jesus rolling a joint." And that was the first line. The song took a lot of twists and turns and became our "Copperhead Road" except with pot farmers, we had expatriate American dope dealers and counterfitters. The strangest song I have ever been a part of but Lord does it work! Or as the song says, "IT SPENDS, LORD IT SPENDS!"
Cancellations and speed bumps
The last day of writing was dependent on Gary Hannan, a long time friend of mine and one who I had been talking about writing with for years. Gary ended up not being able to due to an eye infection. And I really sweated. Remember, my job is to bring in the writers. So I had to rise to the occasion. We had one more song to write to finish this thing. And we found it.
He wanted a salute to his Christian faith. He wanted a Chicago groove big gospel spiritual, kind of like James Brown in the Blues Brothers Movie, or Leap of Faith. I was all over it coming from that back ground in the Baptist church so in an hour we had 'JESUS TAKE ME TO THE OTHER SIDE" A monster that would feature all the bells and whistles of Hammond B 3 and the big choir.
WE FINISHED
Making use of the down time, we visited a photographer friend of mine about a shoot, lined up the recording dates and lined it all up. Put him on a plane and waited the checkered flag.
FINISH LINE
That brings us to the past three days. On Monday May 12th, we got the band in for one more run at the last five songs. Starting with GREEN HANDS, moving through GET THE JOB DONE, MY KIND OF COUNTRY, a Walt Aldrige song "THE WRONG SIDE " and the barn burner JESUS TAKE ME TO THE OTHER SIDE, tracks in two hours, overdubs two hours, Frankie sang two that night.
A Little Breathing room
During all this we met with Walt Aldridge, who essentially assured me he was on the team and not taking it over. He had taken Frankie over to Sony Music for a little live three song set and of course he killed everybody there. So every one being reassured we were on the same side and in the right directions. Walt basically let me know I was doing the right thing. Always a good thing to hear.
FINAL MIX
Since 10:00 this morning the Wed. 14th, we have been going at the final mixes. The most tedious of processes, everything has to sound like it is from the same session. Certain things were not loud enough on previous sessions which were very evident on some radio interviews Frankie had done. But we are now on the last song and it looks like we might live after all.
End of the book
From here we see what happens. Frankie has a date with Kenny Chesney in a couple of weeks, and a show with Lee Anne Rhymes and Montgomery Gentry, after that. The radio station is playing the Hell out of several songs and he is catching fire. They plan a huge CD release party at the end of June. After that we figure out our next step.
In the past two days I have interest from writers like:
Walt Aldridge
Rory Lee (Chain of Love),
Will Rambeaux (Wild One)
Steve Williams (Redneck Yaught Club),
Tom Shepard (Private Malone)
Dave Gibson, (Ships that Don't Come in/In the Corner of My Mind)
and of course the long suffering Gary Hannan of the eye patch.
And the guys who have already written and ready for round four.
After a lot of road work for the summer season, we will probably hit it again in the fall regularly here and hopefully get into some shows. Record company interest will probably be happening by then.
Thanks for tuning in. Sorry for the length, but that is what you have to do. Six months. 15 songs, 12 masters, three hit writers. Zero to 60 in 3.5 seconds. This is the music business.
Lots of great info here Marc! Here are a few questions that come to mind...
1) What kind of feedback did the Sony folks give when Frankie and Walt went over? I know you said he, "Killed everybody there," but did they offer any suggestions?
2) You've said that at some point the suits will take over, and you'll probably be out of the loop when/if Frankie gets bigger. However, if songs you've written or co-written end up as Frankie Ballard releases, isn't that one of your main goals as well? To get your songs out there? (not that there is anything wrong with that!)
3) I saw Garth when he was a nobody playin' Myrtle Beach. I never thought he'd become a superstar. How do we identify the 'up and coming' singers in our areas? I know what I like, and the basics of what is marketable in an artist, but how do you know when you've found that "one' or that "look?" Pun intended LOL I really don't want to spend time writing for a guy that has no real shot at the big time, or has already been sent home by Nashville.
Thanks for posting this thread man! As you know, I can't move to Nashville just yet, and your sharing here on SR kind of helps me live there vicariously through you until I come up! It's like one of those credit card commercials....priceless!
Good questions.
#1. First of all, the president of Sony, made him play the songs three different times as he brought other executives in to the office. A 15 minute meeting turned into almost two hours. They were very excited but lived up to what the music industry is. They don't give advice or make suggestions. They take meetings. Those lead to other meetings. Those lead to other meetings. When you see an act coming out there, they have gone through hundreds of these things. Music is done by committee. There is no one person that makes decisions. Which is why we don't have Frankie move to Nashville. For what? To sit around while three dozen people try to make up their minds on things they don't even know about? No way. We keep him performing and writing. Build a following. That way if nothing happens with Sony, Warner, Broken Bow, Midas, or any of the other publishers and labels who are sticking their heads in don't do anything, you are still developing and selling product. This was simply a first meeting and that wasn't even supposed to happen. If Walt had not heard the songs we had recorded, he would have not taken him over. The idea is to tease, let them talk, build a buzz and keep moving forward.
#2 The reason I have written 13 songs with Frankie and will probably write at least two dozen more, is to get my name on as many as I can, thereby increasing the catalogue of both myself and he. As songs get weeded out, they don't nessasarily go away. They may come out on later projects, might be pitched to other artists. This was Sony publishing, not Sony Records. We are trying to build his writing chops and catalogue first. That is the quickest way to a record deal, to have cuts first. IT is cheaper to promote songs on existing artists than to break an artist. But it is really about building a foundation first.
Also, by writing songs with hit writers, it brings their name recognition and their own contacts into play. When you are Kim Tribble and have 160 cuts in 7 years, 5 number ones and have delivered enormous money to a bottom line of a company, you command attention. Much the way Jeffery Steele does. Everyone wants in on what he is doing. By bringing my friends, the hit writers in on the ground floor of a new artist, (By the way, these guys are the ones reinforcing my gut feeling that he has the goods. Every one that signs on is another acknowledgement of that. Everyone is too busy and frankly, too greedy to waste time.) I am endearing myself to them, thereby opening up my own doors and catalogues. And I have a long list to go. This is really just the first meetings he has had.
#3. You never really know who is going to hit and who isn't. There are two qualities anyone who has been here any time share. WE have all had songs, artists, producers, managers, labels, lawyers, deals, promotions, etc. that we SWORE COULD NOT MISS, and missed by a mile. And we have all had songs, artists, producers, managers, labels, lawyers, deals, promotions, etc. that we SWORE would never turn into anything and they blew up off the charts! You don't know.
I was at the window of the Bluebird the night Garth got his deal. There was a light about him I have never seen before in a performer. Yet, when I performed with him a few months before, I didn't even remember him.
When industry people started hearing there was an English Rock producer working with a well known female singer in town, every record label laughed their asses off. The singer's first two singles stiffed and she was about to be dumped by her record label. I shared a bass player with her at the time who was playing his last five gigs with her. He said, "The only thing missing with this girl is talent." The girl was Shania Twain. The rock producer was Mutt Lang.
Yet there are also hundreds and thousands of people that "Could not miss" and did.
You don't know. You go with your gut. As writers trying to get our songs out there, we can't be too choosy. I get my songs out on everyone I possibly can. I don't view anyone as a "waste of time." I have to rise to the occassion on every song I write. If I am being paid or not. That is my job.
With Frankie, I did a lot of soul searching before I got involved. Then I took an approach that I had to be paid. I laid out my ground rules and if they did not follow them, I was not in. Then I approached it the same way I do every thing I do. Cautiously. As you see in this thread, nothing has happened yet. We have written some really strong songs that are getting a ton of attention both inside Nashville and outside. Two of the 12 were part of what won him the Kenny Chesney thing, which led to the Montgomery Gentry and Lee Anne Rhimes things.
I have great sounding demos that can be pitched, backing tracks with no vocals so if I run across other singers I could concievably get other vocals on them if they weren't to work with Frankie. That is how I got him recording in the first place. On existing tracks I already had. You always look at what is your fallback position. If nothing happens in Nashville, he continues to perform and sell his product throughout the country. If interest comes through Nashville, I am on some great songs and have a great friend and little brother. I can help him in many ways and vice versa.
If he explodes with some of my songs, my price and viabiity skyrocket. I have written with some friends of mine I have talked about doing it with for years. It actually has brought me back into a world I had kind of turned my back on. I don't really care about getting cuts. I care about teaching. If Frankied doesn't explode, I have taught him a lot and am very proud of what I have done. Very proud of what I am accomplishing with a great team.
I am building up trust and meeting people I didn't know but respected tremendously. Walt Aldrige is one of the best, both as a person and a writer. That will lead to a long association with him as well.
So in my mind, there is no downside. I am playing the game and wasting neither time nor money. I am influencing someone for the better and making the world a little better in the process. Not much you can say past that.
Another thing to remember. What if you wrote a song with a singer that was basically mediocre? But the song turns out well. If this singer is serious, he or she is going to be trying to work the song and themselves. Now what if the mediocrity finds it's way to a publisher/producer, song plugger, etc. who don't like the singer, but love the song. You have just increased your viability. It is all a means to an end.
WOW!! This was an amazing thing to read...it really puts things into perspective..I'm gonna read this thing a few more times...
..Marc I love what you said about always writing and always putting everything you got into it...That's what it's all about, isn't it??
This forum was REALITY smacking me in the face a few times....Writing with as many people as I can, building relationships, working my butt off and most of all being an honest, humble person...
Another part of your approach in working with people that fascinates me is that it's so METHODICAL...You have a deliberate purpose to what you do...People either hang with you, or try and do things their own way..I find it more benificial to keep my mouth shut, listen, learn, and work work work.....
After reading this forum about Frankie, you took that same approach..everything for a reason...COnstant baby steps in the right direction....I can't believe how many songs you pumped out in sessions, and how much work you did on a daily basis...Sounds right up my alley!!!
Thanks for sharin all this because this is just another way to learn from you..
People approach all this in a variety of ways. I have seen it done a million times. And different things work for different people. Some get initial success and just go on to great things, seemingly just out of nothing. Some people struggle forever and nothing seems to happen. I am in Fla. right now where I am around a pocket of writers that would probably hit you every bit as hard as T. Graham did. And all of them share the experience of either moving to Nashville, having contacts in Nashville and finally giving up. It is an interesting little area here, in between Mobile Ala, and Pensecola Fla. There are little enclaves of clubs, roadhouses, beach bars, that feature people playing a lot of their own music. And much of it really is good.
But they lost the ability to keep moving forward and picked this life. The reason is that Nashville is comprised of every body doing the same thing, just trying to find a different way to do it. Then you see the people that have simply very little redeeming value. They write pure crap. They are really jerks. They don't like anybody and people really can't stand them. And you watch them attend hit song party after hit song party. They get cuts. Some do well. you don't get it but who are you, you think to yourself. It happens.
For most of my career I was a guy who was out for that big cut. Hung around all the big people. But for some reason never could play on the ball field. I was always hanging at the tour bus as they pulled off. Former musicians that used their time in my bands as a way to propel them to greater hights. Back up singers that took off like rockets and became stars. Publishers and pluggers who used contacts I had built over years to suddenly prople themselves into better and better situations. I stayed angry and bitter all the time. And it did no good.
Many times I feel now I have taken that back road. And while things like Frankie get be reconnected with people I know, people who ultimately put me back into a real frame of reference, the people I really care about are people such as yourself and people on this forum, as well as the people that come to me from around the country or have me come to them. I am just a guy who has some natural abilities. I would love to be that marquee guy, writing all the hits and getting the money and press. And it might happen. But it would be a lot more fun to take some little old lady from Vermont, and get her some press as well as a story of what can be done, than a guy who has had multiple successes and this is just one more of them, ho hum.
I feel I do something valuable. And with Frankie, a lot of it is coming to the forefront. I don't know if anyone "deserves" anything. But I will say that if Frankie takes off and I am a part of it. I am due.
Posted Sat, May 17, 2008 3:26 pm, Edited Sat, May 17, 2008 3:27 pm
MAB,
Man, sometimes I can be as dumb as a rock. This is a good example of why you have to repeat yourself and cover the same topics again and again…guys like me! I’m finally getting, that for every up and comer that sings your song(s), you’re reaching everyone he/she knows, and will try to pitch themselves to. Not a waste of time at all- the song is getting out there! Now I’ve really got it. And just as important, I’m gonna’ start doing it right away. Thanks Marc!!! I’m also gonna’ be following your example of having my demos and backing tracks ready for the artist. This of course goes back to something else you’ve stressed…Be Prepared. I heard Naomi say that a couple of episodes ago as well….must be something in the water! LOL
If I was Frankie Ballard, and became big, I wouldn’t leave ya’ hangin’. If he was brought up right, he’ll dance with the one(s) what brung him. If not, nobody will ever be able to change that- it’s something that’s engrained in you (or not) from an early age. I’m hoping everything will turn out really good on this career/project though, and it looks like everything is being done that can be...and all you can do is enough.
†Dothan
P.S. If ya' want me to tell Garth you're still a little pissed, I will! LOL
Thanks. Why don't you repeat this on the main thread, for the people like Tony who are tired of hearing me say the same things over and over again. Thanks for posting this.
I am only to the "FIRST THINGS FIRST" entry and I am already hooked. A great story so far. Can't wait to read it all. Here's to hoping that it all works out well for everyone involved. I'll have to go over to Frankie's MySpace site and check out a few of the tunes.
2) be crazy talented and assemble your own group of financial backers
3) find or write amazing hit songs that speak to a niche in the market
sometimes it's better to let go of a big song you cowrote
instead of holding it for yourself and waiting for a deal that may never come
IE Karen Taylor Good allowed Patty Loveless to record
"How Can I Help You Say Goodbye"
4) Win or do well a big contest like idol or Nashville Star or Can You Duet
would bucky covington have gotten a deal if he hadn't been on idol?
5) Succeed as an indie artist in your area and eventually labels may come to you
Be a Star where you are
rather than coming to Nashville with nothing
Constantly gig and build a big following of loyal fans
6) be a hit songwriter
Phil Vassar, Carolyn Dawn Johnson, ...
7) be the child, spouse, or love interest of a hit artist, producer or label honcho
8) Be beautiful or handsome
9) persistence
pray for all the more talented people to give up and go home way before you will
10) network, network, network
11) cowrite cowrite cowrite
12) always be ON when you perform whether there's 2, 4, 15, 50, 100 or 1,000 people in the room, you never know who's there
13) sing on as many demos as you can, especially those by pro writers, keep copies of songs you sing demos on that blow you away, keep the info about the writers
Number one, for every artist on a label roster, there are probably 50 in some form of "development'" That can range from just passing interest, to actually funding a CD.
Getting a "deal" and getting "released" are two very different things. Most artists never see the light of day, even after years with a label. A friend of mine, Joanna Cotten, was just dumped after 7 years in development with Warner Brothers.
A major record deal is an investment of about 2 million dollars per year, so very few justify that expense. A label is not going to fund much more than 12 acts at a time. When some of those get dumped, they look to the "farm team" which are the acts in development.
I don't know so much if there is a way to "leap frog" over the line. But I think you have to do as much as you can. That included outside investors. Usually record labels are expecting prospective artsts to have some form of funding on their own. It is called "Matching funds" and that has been standard for many years. Frankie has some sources for just that if needed. We have to provide a starting off point. That is the purpose for the CD.
Record labels are interested in sales. So the bigger an artists fan base is, My Space, Face Book, I Tunes, as well as how many dates they are working and what it the potential for initial sales are. That again is the reason for having him stay in Michigan and working the road.
I have a bit of a problem with American Idol and Nashvile Star because the contracts last forever, and because I think many of them are glorified Karaoke people. And frankly, anybody can look and sound good with millions of dollars of televsion money, effects.make up, coaching, etc. But it is a viable market so you have to live with it.
I don't know what would have a career without some of these shows. Certainly people like Carrie, and Bucky Covinton have done well, at least initially. Dancing with the stars, I guess anything you can do. THere is a new one coming out for Jingle writing. I have about 4 people entering me in that stuff. I don't like it but we will see. I still don't like it and wish things weren't like that so that we had to actually work for things. But again, that is what you have to do.
You better learn to do as much as you can. In the early days of the movies you had to do it all, sing, dance, act. etc. Now as an artist, you need to write a bunch, sing as much as you can. be in shape, get what ever kind of lessons you need. It helps to play an instrument and you need to understand as much about the industry as you can. Then be very lucky.
labels are looking for indies that are consistently hot on myspace
getting tons of hits and listens
Taylor Swift is brilliant at this, she's on her site and active
there's not someone from her label running the site she and her mom are
Labels are following itunes and looking for what's selling
Some producers are looking to remix cool songs like
Timbaland and One Republic's I Apologize
They're following youtube
This helped Terra Naomi and Esmee get deals
They're trying to figure out what works in this new world and who still buys CDs
I read an article about disney and how they're great at marketing to tween
who will buy what they want or throw a fit until a parent does
