Marc-Alan Barnette
#4325
Peggy, now in most areas, unless you are the artist, and unless you are playing in the area AND unless you have a sizable YOU TUBE, FACEBOOK, and Viral following, they don't even consider playing anything. But they DO love the wonderful packages and gifts they get. Brings me to a "MAB" story. This is one I may have told, but it is always a fun one.
                                                             THE FED EX GUY IS HERE!
Around the middle 90's I was writing with a friend of mine who was a hit writer over at EMI publishing. That was and still is one of the four or fifth biggest publishers in Nashville. EMI was the Beatles publisher. My friend and I were working on finding a song idea, and getting no where when we suddenly hear this voice on the Intercom. 
"THE FED EX GUY IS HERE!!!" 

I looked at him and he just smiled. About that same time a huge sound started coming down the hall. It sounded like a cattle herd on the trail, this kind of rumble. All of a sudden, passing the door of his office, was about 7 or 8 women, all walking (running) down the hall to the receptionist. My friend said "Wanna see something funny?" I said yeah, we joined the throng. Everyone was in a great mood and gathered around the receptionist desk, which was one of those huge round things you see in the middle of corporate offices.

On her desk was this fairly decent sized FED EX. box. The receptionist was using sissors to cut the tape open and all the girls were laughing and making jokes about what was inside. The receptionist pulls out this large Easter basket  looking thing, with the plastic grass, and all kinds of stuff sitting on top of it. There were miniature liquor bottles, gin, vodka, little Jack Daniels. There were also all kinds of candies, trinkets, a ton of little stuff. In the middle of the basket was this folder, very nicely embossed with the artist's name, his 8x10 and of course, his CD, in the middle of it all. 

All of a sudden there was a flurry of activity as all the girl's (who were various secretaries from all over the building, accounting, tape rooms, executive assistants, etc. started grabbing for the "stuff." Each took the bottles, candy, even the basket and the grass were gone in about 20 seconds. The receptionist, who also had a couple of things, in this huge methodical way, popped open the CD, threw it in a box by her desk. She popped out the edges of the CD case, threw the contents, his well done CD cover and all the inside notes, in the garbage, the pictures in the garbage, bio, etc, even through the nice black folder. It was over so fast, it was like "feeding time on the Saringetti.

All the crowd went back to their offices and my friend and I just kind of stood there. I asked "Don;t you guys ever listen to that?" "Nah."said my friend. "But you want to see why?" "Sure," I said. he walked over, asked for the CD, and grabbed the folder, handed it to me. Inside was this guy who was obviously trying the "Garth Brooks" cowboy, pressed jeans and shirts and hat," look. Several pictures with the intense look, the sad look, the looking over the shoulder look, the out in the yard, look, was pretty funny. The bio read like you would expect, "Iowa sensation, lived for country music, was the next big thing, and EVERYONE had to hear him, blah blah blah" 

We went back to my buddies office and sat down. He put the CD in his stereo and then did NOT TAKE HIS EYES OFF OF ME. I sat down and started reading the bio stuff, and all the press clippings, Guy had a pretty high opinion of himself. The first song started off like almost every country recording. Pretty much the 90's fiddle and steel approach. Then he STARTED TO SING. YEEEEEUCCHHHH!!!! The song was TERRIBLE, HIS VOCALS WERE TERRIBLE and it didn't get any better. After a verse and chorus my friend, never taking his eyes off me, pushes the "next" button. the next song was "worse. We only made it past about three lines in that one. He clicked the button again, same thing. 
Then he said "Want another?"

NOPE!!!!

The lesson was "The more elaborate the package, the worse the product. I've seen it repeated hundreds of times and it is always the same. If a person is any good, if the songs are credible, they will find people that will become allies. but the farther away from personal recommendation, the less a chance anyone has at anything. Too many people driving those endless miles, playing the dives, being away from their families, to just let SOMEONE else get in there.

Peggy, if you have connections at radio, use them. But understand where they come from. In my opinion, every minute you spend away from going to see, support and meet artists, where THEY are performing, the farther away from getting anything anywhere. The era has just changed, and writers are going to have to adapt to the change.

MAB



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Justin Parker
#4326
That was a good one MAB!!!
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John Westwood
#4327
Reminds me  of   one of  my  late mothers lessons  for me when I was a teen..

The older I get the smarter I find she was 

" the fancier the package, the more "free" , the more its gonna cost someone, somewhere."

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Phillip (phil g.) Grigg
#4328

Peggy. It sounds like you, as a songwriter, want to get one of your songs on the radio. I just don't think that is going to happen. Especially since you are a lyricist and not an artist. I don't think radio folks even care who the songwriter is. They only care who the artist is. Have they ever heard of him/her? Do they know the artist on some personal or professional level. In other words, it is the artist, not the songwriter, that will get the song played on the radio.


Now, that does not mean you cannot help promote an artist. By all means, DO. BUT, promote the ARTIST; NOT you or your songs. [You] CANNOT promote "the song" or yourself as a songwriter to the radio. Promote yourself and your songs to the artist. If the artist likes your songs, and he/she will if he/she has some involvement in the creation of the song, then the artist will use that song to promote himself/herself to the radio.


You live in Texas. Justin lives in Texas. Talk to him! He goes to Dallas once in a while for NSAI meetings (A lot farther drive than you have to make). He has written with local (meaning Texas) artists, and those ARTISTS have gotten "THEIR" song (Just happened to be co-written with Justin) on the radio. And at the time, Justin was just a lyricist. Right there is your BIGGEST connection. Go meet Justin in person. Get to know him. Find out how he did it.


Just my observation from socializing with a lot of hit songwriters. Come down to Frank Brown this Nov. 3-13, and meet some of these guys/gals. You WILL get an invaluable education.


phil g.

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Marc-Alan Barnette
#4329
Hey Peggy,

I just had another thought on this. If these songs are "DEMOS" you have done with other singers, you would not be ABLE to present this to radio. You have to get a release from the singers to be able to use their voice on your songs for any kind of commercial gain. These are "DEMOS" of a song, which stands for "DEMONSTRATION" record. That is not for "commercial release" which is what a performance on a radio station is, even a small, local station. 

Demo singers are always singers who have their own careers, their own songs, often tied to publishers or often record deals. They do demos for quick money but it is not a career move. I hired Gretchen Wilson before her deal, and there are hundreds of recordings with Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Trisha Yearwood, etc. out there. People couldn't just start selling those as "Garth and Allen songs." 

And there are other considerations. Songs that we do (and I've been a demo singer for 30 years) are not always what we WOULD want to represent us. Years ago, I brought a client to Jay's place. He was a writer and a pretty terrible singer so he hired myself, and several other singers to record his songs. A couple of years later I found out he was SELLING those songs on his web site. With our voices. AND THE SONGS WERE TERRIBLE!!!! There was nothing any of us wanted to be associated. Very sophomoric, like a fifth grader on some of them, and the subject matter in many places were nothing we were interested in. Some very "racy subject matter" (and somewhat offensive songs) using a couple of the females really caused some problems. It was not a good situation.

These are all "work for hire" and not "career representations." 

If these songs are you singing or you are working with an artist (ANOTHER REASON TO WRITE WITH THE ARTISTS) and they are fine with it, or the singer has given you their permission, that is fine, but if you have not done that, you cannot present these to a radio station. Sorry, but that can land you in some trouble. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but these are really questions you should ask before attempting to get songs "out there."

MAB
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Marc-Alan Barnette
#4330
Peggy,

Let me give you a "real world"example of how this sort of thing can go wrong. In the 80's the first African American woman, Vanessa Williams, became Miss America. A few months later, some pictures of her end up in Penthouse Magazine. These were "art pictures" that she had done as a young model, for a photographer working  on his portfolio. His "DEMOS."
They were nude, and while most of them were in shadow, the one that really got attention, was her in very suggestive poses with another woman. While today, this mioght be a career BOOST to some actresses, back then it was MAJOR NO-NO!

The Miss America pagent went CRAZY and forced her to give up her crown. While she is now a very successful actress and singer, it took her YEARS to get her career back on track. All because a greedy photographer wanted to show off his "demo" photographs to a publisher. And the thing is that SHE DID NOT EVEN RECEIVE ANY MONEY FOR IT. He owned the photos and she was "work for hire."

So before you present ANYTHING to a radio station, you need to get permission.

But that takes us BACK to what RADIO is there for. It is there to SELL advertising, and PROMOTE ARTISTS, not SONGS. Songs are non-entities, until there is an artist attached to it. There is a BIG REASON I have tried to continue to insist on WRITING WITH ARTISTS. This is another one of those REASONS.

Now, you will probably ask, what about the Internet? Since almost no money is earned from the Internet, (Remember those MILLIONS of streams you need to make minimum wage, not the best income maker.) It is mostly considered a PROMOTIONAL endeavor. And since you would be putting them mostly on sites like this, which cater to other songwriters, there should be no problem. You are DEMONSTRATING your writing talents, your abilities. That is the PURPOSE of the "DEMOS" That is why we do them.

So basically it is pretty simple. If you are using the songs to DEMONSTRATE what you do, Internet web sites, workshops, educational purposes, or even to GIVE AWAY to friends, family, etc. That is fine. If you are going for "COMMERCIAL purposes", the sales of CD's, Commercial radio, television, motion pictures, etc. You have to get PERMISSION, on this.

This has actually created some more problems in that so many people are pitching for "film and television." If songs are used in "commercial productions" the money you pay the studio, singers, etc. goes up. A song on major productions, can bring in thousands of dollars, a major motion picture can be hundreds of thousands. To have done a demo for $200-$1500, the studio would have to be renumerated for that, in other words, you could owe MORE money to the studio after the recording. Which is ANOTHER problem on songs for "film and television." Writers pitch these songs, thinking they own it all but actually they DON'T own things outright. The studio still shares in the "sound recording" of that song. I have known many people that had songs up for television or motion pictures and couldn't get a release from the studio or the singers, and the song being dropped from the production.

The BUSINESS OF MUSIC can be VERY COMPLICATED. I don't know if you are hearing about the "Consent Decree" element that has just come down from the Department of Justice, but essentially that is going to prevent writers in one PRO from writing with someone in another PRO. From things like that, to "self inflicted wounds" like PRO's shutting down live music venues for licencing fees, thereby eliminating places for new people to play, the music industry is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Most of this stuff means no money anyway, so why do we have to be involved in endless regulations, written by people who have NO EXPERIENCE in what we do? 

Oh well, hope this has not depressed you too much Peggy. But as I read over what you had written, I started thinking "There is a LOT of things that could go wrong here. I need to point them out. The bottom line though, is that you are probably going to find out that radio is not going to play your songs anyway, so it might all be "much ado about nothing."

Good luck.
MAB



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Phillip (phil g.) Grigg
#4331

MAB, you said,


This has actually created some more problems in that so many people are pitching for "film and television." If songs are used in "commercial productions" the money you pay the studio, singers, etc. goes up. A song on major productions, can bring in thousands of dollars, a major motion picture can be hundreds of thousands. To have done a demo for $200-$1500, the studio would have to be renumerated for that, in other words, you could owe MORE money to the studio after the recording. Which is ANOTHER problem on songs for "film and television." Writers pitch these songs, thinking they own it all but actually they DON'T own things outright. The studio still shares in the "sound recording" of that song. I have known many people that had songs up for television or motion pictures and couldn't get a release from the studio or the singers, and the song being dropped from the production.

Maybe you could gives us another personal experience story about your song that was used in, "Another Pair Of Aces"? How you recorded it. Who pitched it to the film. etc.

phil g.
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Peggy Burnham
#4332

These are professional demos and are radio quality production, but I see what you mean about radio being commercial. Therefore I probably can't/shouldn't try to get them played. Even though it is not for commercial gain, just played once or twice not played like you would want an artists cd played.


I won a free demo from Beaird Music there in Nashville. I was told that the demo could be used to promote the song. If, I were to use it to "make" money then I would need to own the master. Then I could do whatever I wanted with it. It would be available for tv, movies, etc  .because I would own the master. The cost was $175 or $150 (don't remember), it was advised to do it at the time of the recording because sometimes it is hard to locate all of the musicians and get them to sign off on it later.


I did not pay for this demo, but even if you are paying to have a demo done, the musicians are a work for hire from the studio. They do have to sign off for you to own the master. Owning the master you can do whatever you want with the demo.


I will just concentrate on making local  contacts at the songwriters workshop coming up in a week and a half here where I live. I think it will be a great opportunity to meet local talent that I don't know about yet.


Hey, at least we got another conversation going.....right?

Peggy

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Marc-Alan Barnette
#4333
Yes Peggy, you did get another conversation going. Good job!

The entire music industry is one big "gray area." There are some rules and then most people skirt around the rules. For many years, musicians did "off the clock" sessions, which meant they could do demos and not have to be paid full scale. As "Master Sessions" began to decrease in the 80's, smaller sessions and smaller studios came into being. 
You see, in the  "old days" (from the 50's, on up into the 70's) Nashville only had so many studios and so many songwriters. They actually COULD walk from door to door to play songs for publishers. They rarely did "demos" as the songs went from live guitar or piano listenings up to the big sessions. And sessions were VERY EXPENSIVE. Because you would HAVE to have 6-8 STUDIO MUSICIANS, an arranger, a session leader, and everyone playing at one time. There wasn't multi track recordings, so if one person messed up, they had to all do it over again.

The major studios would have "smaller studios"  (usually termed studio "B" or "C" and they would be geared around demo or smaller projects. To give you a perspective, on the Beatles "White Album", Magical Mystery Tour" and Let It Be" were recorded in all three studios at the same time. At ABBY ROAD and EMI studios. They would do major tracks in one big room, or "Studio "A", George might be in Studio "B", John at Studio "C" and Paul over at EMI. They were multi tracking and all working on their own projects and others. At the same time, they were producing acts like Cilla Black and James Taylor, for their APPLE RECORDS division.

In Motown, it was the SNAKE PIT, as the main studio, with smaller "B" rooms going at the same time. In LA, Gold Star and Capitol all had studios. In New York the same thing. At the "Brill Building" in the 50's and 60's, you would have all the songwriters, Carol King and Geofry Goffin, Neil Sedaka, Neil Diamond, Lieber and Stoller, etc. would all write all week then get to a main room on Friday and play the songs they had written. The ones that got the most votes got the demos, which were pretty close to the final project.

Then as those producers and engineers, branched off, started their own studios, musicians did the same thing. Larry and Kenny Beard were two of these studios. They came to Nashville and worked int he studio system, being engineers, producers, and musicians until they moved on to their own studios. 

In the 80's smaller and home studios exploded at one time having around 1000 studios around the town and the outskirts. Over time most of those are gone, and home recording has taken over. But there are still the big dogs, and people like Beard, Jay Verne, and others do a lot of DEMOS while the big dogs like THE CASTLE, THE PARLOR, and others take on the huge projects.

So with a huge supply, people often look the other way on rules. Again, with almost everything now, even some of the movie and television productions, there are not a lot of payouts. I recently saw a friend of mine who scored a cut in a Leo DeCaprio movie, and got around $4.00 for it. There are a lot of in's and outs now and there is not a "one size fits all" approach to music. Some of the smaller cable channels, Hallmark for example, or some of the reality shows, don't pay ANYTHING for music. They make our old favorite saying "YOU WILL GET EXPOSURE." You can DIE from exposure. But there are a lot of twists and turns to this and getting paid has always been something that has been difficult to do. Why they call us "Starving Artists."

MAB

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Marc-Alan Barnette
#4334
Hey folks,

Getting ready for the onslaught of the "Three Stooges" tomorrow. Should be a lot of fun. The big Birthday bash is Wed. and we will be all over the place. Shelly Monihan will be coming in and working with me on Thus and then Friday and Saturday will be Justin with some oversight from OD and Phil, Looking forward to all of it.

Phil (I know you are driving and playing right now) I did a pretty involved post the other day about the "THAT'S WHERE IT HURTS" story, but it dissapeared before I could post it. Was in West Virginia over the weekend. 

Tomorrow I will do the post about the story of the song. 

See you all this week.

MAB
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Justin Parker
#4335
Which stooge is the kid???
Anyways... I pulled out of my driveway at 1:05am I'm going to arrive a bit ahead of schedule to possibly stop and say hi to my friend Connie Mims Pinkerton former NSAI Houston coordinator who once lovingly referred to MAB as "the Tasmanian devil of songwriting" I'm driving straight into town and catching the end of a recording session for a friend of mine, and meeting up with two other friends and Houston natives who just moved out to Nashville last year, Ren and Andi Renfree. I'd be remiced if I didn't say high and talk for a while and see their new studio. They are playing Douglas Corner this evening at 6:30 unfortunately I'll miss it as the stooges will be tripping over each other, looking for trouble.

I've already had one fuzz bust a U turn on me but he turned off, this late I'm watching out for the drunks of the world, just got two Whataburger breakfast taquitos, gonna post this, load em with picante and I'm on the road.

No more posts from the kid till I get in town, unless I breakdown...

Godspeed, the Calvary is coming, Texas is headed to twang town again...
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Marc-Alan Barnette
#4336
   SONGWRITING, BEYOND THE INTERNET



In all things I discuss on any songwriter or music related site, I try to get people to look “beyond the Internet”, just things they read, videos, or most often, “third party” contributions, “So and so placed hundreds of songs in film and television and got millions of dollars…” “This service promises to ‘pitch my songs…’ ‘ this contest REALLY has a lot of things on it’s website…”



I prefer to get actual comments and thoughts from the people REALLY DOING IT. These are some current issues going on in the music industry. Some pop writers that talk about the business, keeping current, artists writing their own songs, short attention spans from the public, and changing trends. A good read to educate yourself.



http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/magazine-feature/7438969/billboard-hitmakers-roundtable-interview-mike-posner-julia-michaels-wendy-goldstein-chris-anokute-ron-perry-mike-caren-kid-kely





This is the much talked about “Film and television industry.” For a lot of things, it is like tracking Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster. A lot of people have “heard about someone getting all these placements, but don’t really have any REAL examples of it.

There are, more television, film, internet based productions and more opportunities for music out there. Like everything, it is about knowing the players, and the rules and suggestions.

In many things, it is what NOT to do, that is the most important. Here are a few of those:



https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2016/07/15/never-say-11-phrases-pitching-music-film-tv/



Good luck to you all,



MAB 
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Norman Bradley
#4337
Good Morning Y'all:  Some great topics and questions on here.

 i had a blast hangin out at MAB's Birthday Extravaganza last night.
 Enjoyed some Kick AXE music and World class,entertainment From MAB And his Co. was Awesome to see the Rampers that were in town.
Enjoyed seeing and chatting a little bit,with"The Kid" Justin;
The reason i singled his name out, is because he is a great guy, and a good writer, and apart from that.....i get the feeling he is somewhat like me,,./.. we like being around and hanging with old People  LOL 

Love You MAB, Always in your corner, cuz the proof is in the pudding.
Thanks for being every bit of who you are, and everything you do for us and for filling our world with your Music, Knowledge, Wit, Laughter,  and some cool tunes to boot,, not aboot eh :)..

the other kid :)

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Marc-Alan Barnette
#4338
Thank you Norm.  Was great to have you there. You got quite the amazing song in, I think. TRYING MY BEST TO LIVE, is one of those we are lucky to come across once in a while. Should be really proud of that one. I am.

Thanks so much and always great to see you. Hey,  you could always do a review of the show. LOL!

MAB
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Larry Killam
#4339
Happy belated Birthday Marc I forhgot it's on the same daqy as My wifes and my Anniversay 44 years.
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Marc-Alan Barnette
#4340
Thanks Yrall. Tell your wife we said HI.

And thanks for so many birthday wishes from all of you and the phone call from Fast Eddie. I really appreciate it.

Hey, Phil, I'm going to put that story of THAT'S WHERE IT HURTS soon. Just taking me a while to put it together with everything going on. Thanks for being there. Would be cool if you, OD and Justin might be able to post a little commentary on the show last night and your trip so far.

MAB
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Phillip (phil g.) Grigg
#4341

Good morning from Nashville! It's been a very busy, fun trip. First, Tuesday when I was about an hour south of my hotel on I65, I got a call from Justin that his truck had broken down about 45 miles west of Nashville on I40. Got to my hotel, and OD was already there. Checked in real quick, put my luggage and guitar in the room, a quick, "hi", to OD, then headed out to get Justin. I got to him just as the tow company was finishing loading up his truck. We followed him to the garage which is still about 30 miles west of Nashville. Then I took Justin over to MAB's place and rushed back to the hotel to get OD. The 4 of us went to Carol Ann's Home cooking for dinner and some really great music. It was actually a R&B jam session night so the musicians and singers were taking turns in the spotlight. MAB actually got up and entertained us with an old Otis Redding tune and brought the house down!! Was a great evening, and great food!


Wednesday, we all met at Bobby's Idol Hour for Sam's Jams, which is actually an open mic. Justin, OD, and myself had a 1pm slot. Was such a treat to have those two guys on stage with me. One of the highlights of my journey! THANKS SO MUCH guys for doing this!!  Went over to Loosers for lunch, but came back and spent the rest of the afternoon there listening to some pretty good music. MAB got up and did a set, which was the best entertainment of the afternoon. MAB had to leave for his birthday bash at the commodore, but OD and I stuck around to hear one song from a guy we met there. We got to Commodore right at 7pm and caught the last song or two of an early set. There was one more set of 4 writers, then MAB and Jimbeau took over. They REALLY brought the house down!! MAB is a great entertainer by himself, but when you add Jimbeau into the mix, WOW!! What a duo!! The rest of the evening was just some really great writers and artist that MAB has worked with. So glad I decided to make this trip!!


Thursday morning I took Justin over to get his truck out of hock. He wanted to take back roads back tot the hotel, and I wanted to take the interstate. The race was on!! I pulled into a parking space at the hotel and before I could even get out of the car, Justin was pulling into a parking space. He "claims" he would have beat me if he hadn't missed a turn and had to turn around and come back. Sure! I GOT THERE FIRST!!! But, the REAL FUN started around 2pm when we all went down town to settle the 3 year old argument about where were OD and Justin. Was it Tootsies? NO IT AS NOT, says the old dog. YES IT WAS, says the kid. Well, Thursday afternoon the argument was solved, but NOT the mystery. We parked and went straight to Tootsies. We couldn't even get in the door it was so crowded, but Justin looked in and the argument was settled. He just hung his head, and we went over to Legends, and the kid bought OD his beer. They shook hands and are still friends. BUT, the old dog has won the argument. HOWEVER, the mystery still has not been solved. Just where were those two clown on that Saturday afternoon 3 years ago? We may never know!


We were supposed to go over to Maxwell House Thursday evening at 6pm for a special Broken Spoke Reunion writers night, but somewhere between Wednesday afternoon and Wednesday evening, two friends of ours, Charles and Janet Cox, got the impression the three of us were going to do a set at their writers night at Bobby's Idol Hour, starting at 6pm. So, we decided we had to go over there and make sure we were not needed. Turned out, they had 2 of 3 folks for the first round, so Justin sat in to complete the round. For someone who has never played in a writers night, he kid has jumped right in the deep end of the pool this trip, and has done a pretty good job of holding his own. We're proud of ya kid!!


After Justin's round we thanked Charles and Janet, and headed over to the Maxwell house. BUT, we got there too late and there were no seats. We had to stand up for about an hour of the show. The evening was 4 writers at a time in a round doing 2 or 3 songs each. These were all the old guard writers that had grown up at a place here in town called The Broken Spoke. Back in the day, it was THE place to go, second only to the Bluebird. A lot of the writers that night got up and played some of their hit songs. It's always a great evening when you can hear the original writer sing their song the way it they wrote it. MAB finally got up and played. He only got to do 2 songs, but they were the ones that brought the audience to life. More so than any of the other writers to that point. Even with their big hits. MAB does more than just sing his songs, He performs his songs for the audience, and it really gets them engaged. Was another great evening!


Thursday evening, Justin went home with MAB and spent the night there, so Friday, he worked with MAB while OD and I kind of just chilled out for the day. We went over and picked up Justin at 2:30 and spent the rest of the day back at the hotel writing a new song about hotel rooms. Maybe we can get Justin to post it when it is done.


Today is a brand new day and we'll see how it goes!


phil g.

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Justin Parker
#4342
Well hello all... Thanks for the kind words brother norm! It was great chatting with you too brother. The antics have abound in twang town. The kid has packed his truck and I'm heading home in the morning, about to head to bed for my 13 hour drive tomorrow... I've got Monday off work to recoup and prep for the Texas sun at work, I'll have my kids but I'll be resting for the most part. Once I wake up Monday I'll break down the days and share all the antics... It's been a great trip.
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Marc-Alan Barnette
#4343
Well, they are all gone now and things have quieted down. Till tomorrow. This week will be shows, traveling to Alabama for my Mother's surgery, some songwriters tours going on all week and a HUGE outdoor festival in Franklin next weekend. All along the same time we are still having our kitchen completely redone. Quite a lot going on. 

The guys did very good and it was great to see them. I got to break down and work with Justin, one on one, something we haven't done much of. He actually is developing into a decent writer, (YOU ARE NOT A JEDI YET!!!) and is NOT TOTALLY TERRIBLE, even though he is a TEXAN. LOL! Pretty good guy. And I did enjoy working with him.

The "Downtown bar" controversy got settled and I have lifted the ban on the word "TOOTSIE'S" so everyone is okay to talk about it. Was a pretty funny thing.

I kind of poke fun at Texas with Justin, but there are some actually real things that have happened over the decades which lead to this weird relationship with the LONE STAR STATE. There is sort of an annimosity FROM TEXANS toward NASHVILLE that only exists with them. There are some really definite reasons for it. 

Texas is a FIERCELY independent state in everything they do. And they are RIGHT to do so. They have had a violent tough time and have a LOT of area to cover, so you can understand where they get it from. musically, they enjoy their traditions and for good reason. They have some GREAT ARTISTS AND MUSIC THAT COME OUT OF THERE.
But some times that leads to OBSTINANCE, STUBBORNESS, and sometimes, ARROGANCE, they don't need.

Nashville has always been a melting pot where EVERYONE IS FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE. So there is less EXCLUSIVITY AND MORE INCLUSIVITY. But there is a tension. And often those great artists, BUDDY HOLLY, WILLIE NELSON, KENNY RODGERS, STEVIE RAY VAUGHN, and so many great artists throughout history had to GET OUT OF TEXAS to cross over to other areas. Many Texas artists will decide they need to get beyond Texas to expand their careers. Sometimes that is looked down upon by the TEXAS faithful. So it is always something.

Personally, I have always done well and been embraced by Texas. I have been to many places, played a good deal and visited a ton in that state and love it. Have taught workshops in AUSTIN, FT. WORTH, DALLAS, HOUSTON, MARSHALL, and many more places I can't even remember. Have played THE WHITE ELEPHANT in the Ft. Worth Stockyards, Poor David's Pub in Dallas, ANTONES in Austin, East Texas University, Marshall Texas. I've always been treated with respect and had a great time. I have a lot of blues and southern rock edge in me and they love that there.

But I do find sometimes there is a "chip on the shoulder" attitude among some of the music lovers there. So we deal with it. But they are ALWAYS welcome here, and Justin this week represented them well. Hope he learned some things and took them with him.

OD and Phil, along with Justin were LARRY MOE AND CURLY here. But everyone loved them, they are a hoot to be around and aside from their bets, Justin trying to end OD's guitar playing days, OD RENAMING some of my friends, and PHIL trying to figure out how to keep a GPS from turning him into a "Pokemon GO game." 

But it was great to have all of you here guys and I hope we can get you all to chime in when you get back. I hope you saw some new things here that have helped you on your musical journey. I know you have helped a few others on theirs.

Thanks,
MAB
"Wise guys huh? wooop woooop wooop wooop!!! nuk nuk nuk nuk!!!"

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OD OldDog
#4344

Awe yes, another Nashville trip over and done.  S.O.B.  I really enjoy my time in Nashville and this was particularly a fun trip.  I have to thank my good buddy and dear friend Philboy for being the responsible one, between us, and always staying sober enough to haul the Old Dog's drunk ass around from show to show.  I really love my buddy Philboy and I often tease him because he often tries to over analyze everything and his brain works in a way he has to make sense of it all. The Old Dog has no brain at all and I could care less.  We truly do make a modern day version of the "Odd Couple".


 


Then there is the Kid.  Ha!!!   I just love that little bastard (meant with the utmost respect).  Ha!!!   I am often amazed that the Kid still has anything to do with the Old Dog at all; because when he first joined the Ramp hoping to learn from the MAB, I immediately got on his case about being a dumbass kid and writing lyrics that were way too wordy and often didn't stay on subject.  I'd also tease him about staying out of my SongRamp back yard because the Old Dog was tied to a short chain and if he crossed the fence and got too close, I'd attack and take a bite of his dumbass and chase him back.  The Kid was able to overlook my grouchy ways, even when I was in the beer and would say something that was totally rude and out of line.  I realize why the Kid still wants to work with MAB, and I uderstand why he likes Philboy because has always been very supportive the Kids writings, but I'm often amazed why he wants to time his visits to Nashville when the Old Dog is there.  I truly have not been very kind; nor supportive of his songwriting efforts; until a year ago when I noticed a great improvement by him. 


 


It was only then that I recognized his talents but still felt he had a long way to go.  As MAB said, he is still not a "Jedi Writer" yet, but S.O.B.  he has really improved and come a long way.  In fact; Philboy and I kidnapped the Kid from Marc and Tina's late Friday afternoon and brought him back to our motel to write a song.  We had no song idea to write from and no idea if we would actually write a song or not.  If fact; Philboy and I didn't care if we even wrote a song or not; but the Kid insisted we write something. 


 


As we arrived at the Motel we had no ideas for a song at all.  When we stopped at the door of my room, the Kid noticed a "Do Not Disturb" sign hanging on the outside of the door adjacent to my room.  I explained that had been hanging there since I first arrived and I wondered if that person was even still alive or not.   It was then the Kid got the idea about writing about a "Do Not Disturb" sign as we entered my well air-conditioned room; where we quickly grabbed a beer from my iced down cooler.   I think Philboy had a cold beer with us before going down the hall to his room to fix his preferred drink of Brandy mixed with diet 7-up and joining back up with us.


 


Now this is where things took a dramatic turn as far as co-writing goes.  We began throwing ideas around about ideas of a "Do Not Disturb" sign, and the Kid got me interested in coming up with directions the song could go.  However; the direction we first explored (trying to write something different) was about the "Do Not Disturb" sign and everything in the room coming to life as anitmated objects and telling the story from their point of view of what they have experienced by motel visitors over the years (much like the movie Toy Stories).  However; Philboy was not on board with that idea and wisely suggested we approach the song from a more realistic point of view.  We then decided to each write a verse and chorus and choose which song direction we liked best and perhaps combine our ideas into a worthy song idea.


 


That is what we did and after some time of writing on our own, we shared our ideas and Philboy and the Old Dog realized the Kid out wrote the old guys and we went with his idea.  He changed direction in the song idea from making it about the sign to using the sign in telling a story about a young couple that used the sign not wanting to be disturbed and making it more relateable in a personal story.  S.O.B.   The Kid out wrote the Old Dog and I don't mind admitting it.  The Little Bastard (meant with the utmost respect).


 


We decided to use the Kid's lyrics and took some time to clean up his lyrics in the first verse, when we ran out of beer and had to make a beer run.  When we left the motel, and before we bought more beer and ice, we decided to get something to eat and got dinner at the nearby Cracker Barrel restaurant. So when we returned to the Motel we were full from dinner and tired from our trip and lost our enthusiasm to work further on the song.  I can only hope MAB helped him with it because we left many lines that needed cleaned up and a lot of room for improvement.


 


I'll close by saying this; I'm proud of the Kid for how far he has come in a short amount of time and I now realize he will not give up and only improve on both his songwriting and guitar abilities.  He has a problem with feeling the rhythm but I have no doubt he will work all of that out in the future.


 


Another thing I realized.  No matter how much Philboy and I tried to help the Kid with his rhythm problems, he learned more from his time with MAB than he ever got out of the two of us old guys.  It was a great trip for all of us, the Kid learned a great deal from MAB and we all got a chance to enjoy each other's company again.  Then add that to us being able to hang around MAB with his musical family and friends, along with some great MAB shows, and it couldn't have gone any better.


 


Now before I sign off;  I have to "Thank" MAB for once again making one of my trips to Nashville so special.  S.O.B. what a great entertainer he is; and he always is so good about taking the time to plan events to make us out of towners feel welcome and assure we enjoy our trip.  Who Else Does That???


 


While it's true the Old Dog has gotten old and no-longer cares about writing songs,  I'll continue to make future trips just for the relationship factor that is huge to me.  Take younger writers like the Kid; with youth, energy, and enthusiasm  and the combination of making relationships and learning all they can to become better songwriters (and even artists) and MAB certainly stands above the other teacher/mentors trying to offer a similar service, in my book.


 


Even though I was not trying to learn any more about songwriting, I learned a little bit more from MAB in how he advised the Kid, and approached helping him with lyrics and melody rhythms. 


 


It's never to late to teach an old dog new tricks.  I just wish the ladies would approach that idea with love, and not MAB with songwriting information.  S.O.B.    But that is how it goes for this Old Dog.


 


OD


 


 


 


 


 


         


 


 

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OD OldDog
#4345

Now if I may offer my personal story and my limited experience about attending seminar's by former hit songwriters in Nashville, and them offering their advise for any of us wanting to break into the music idustry and perhaps learn how to write to the level of songwriters being able to get a cut by a major artist. 


 


They all mean well and they all share great advise.  Most of them have hit songs to their credit and that gives them a great deal of clout.  They mostly offer their advise with a large crowd that signs up for a seminar.  They may give a one or two day seminar and give great insight and information; but after the siminar is over, you will never hear from them again.


 


That is what separates MAB from the rest of the hit  songwriters giving seminar's and tutorial instructions around Nashville because he goes way beyond the seminar and the teaching sessions to include all of us into his circle of friends.


 


It's true MAB has no hit songs under his belt to give his teaching talents the credibiity some hit writers may advertise; but he has had some cuts by famous artists; and although his songs may not have become a hit; he has improved his skills as a mentor and teacher the other hit writers may never realize.


 


I am not going to suggest the hit writers are not worth the money they charge for a seminar, the certainly have a good amount of advise to share.  But remember this, once their seminar has ended you will most likely never hear from them again.


 


They don't offer their personal cell phone numbers or offer the home mailing address, and many don't even offer their personal email address; only an email to their website.


 


I'm not trying to talk anyone into working with MAB; but I will say: anyone choosing to work with MAB will get their money's worth and learn how to become a better songwriter or artist.  Not only that, he will invite you into his circle of friends and often into his home.  How many of the other pro songwriters will do that for you.


 


My last trip to Nashville, only this past weekend, was special because I stayed with friends I met on MAB forums, went to shows he invited us to, and hung out with his cirlce of friends he intorduced all of us to.


 


To me, that personal touch is what separates MAB from the rest.


 


OD


 


 


 


 


 


 

Like
Eddie Rhoades
#4346
OD,
    SUCK UP.
Like
Marc-Alan Barnette
#4347
I'm Marc-Alan Barnette and I approved this commercial. LOL! Thanks a lot OD.

MAB
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Marc-Alan Barnette
#4348
OD and Phil,

I do appreciate it and was great having you here. You guys are a hoot to be around. Thanks for going to all our stuff, and for making Susie feel so good about what she is going through. Also great that we have a new name for Janet. JALINDA!!!! That is a great one!!!!

In truth, I wish I had more time to work with everybody. Would love getting in another couple of "LOVING LAZY" songs. Hey OD, WHY DON'T YOU DO THAT ONE? WE wrote it just for you in a style you can play. You know you are supposed to be performing these things. Ol' MAB don't get time for everything.

Phil, would like to work with you more as well. I'd love to tweak some things, give you some heads up on elements of performance, nuances, and dynamics you could use. 

Was a great time and was incredible having you guys around. And thanks for helping out the Kid as much as you did. Going to pick him up when he breaks down at all the adult bookstores, was a great help. 

I'm off to Birmingham. See you later.

MAB
Like
OD OldDog
#4349

MAB,


 


Best of luck to Mom during her sergury today.  Let us know how she is doing.


 


Hey, about the song "Lovin Lazy" and me not learning it.  The song pretty much explains I'm too lazy to work on a new song, even though we wrote it 2 years ago.  I barely took the time to practice those 3 old songs I performed.  I really wouldn't have even gotten on stage if not for the Kid and Philboy being in the same round.  That will most likely be my last stage performance.  I just don't feel comfortable with my limited abilities to get back on a stage again.   I'll leave that up to Philboy and the Kid, who seem to love doing that.


 


Thanks again to you, Tina, and your friends for being so kind to us and allowing us to hang out with Y'all.  It was truly a great trip.


 


 


Hey Eddie R,     "BITE ME"    Ha!!!


I'll be the one getting the backstage passes after MAB concerts at FB this year.  If your nice to me, I'll consider getting one for you also.  Ha!!!   (just teasin Ol Buddy)


 


OD


 


 


 


 

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