Great post MAB! I can personally attest to the positive outcomes of co-writing. My first co-write was with MAB and JimmyB. All I had was a hook idea, but no idea of where to go with it. With 3 of us in the room, the song took shape. Same experience the the next time when it was MAB, Melissa, Justin and I in the room. We all just kept talking about the ideas going in to the song and it just came together. Another one I could NOT have done alone. The third one was with MAB and RiDawn. Again, I only had an idea for a hook and story. (I actually had several, but the others were dismisssed as either "already done that" or "too similar to what's already been done".) And again, since there were three of us, it just worked great!
The other co-write I did long distance with Justin using e-mail. And again, it was just soo much easier bouncing ideas off each other to get a finished song. And, another example of a song I would never have thought of writing. The idea and most of the story and lyrics were Justin's and I basically added the rhythm and melody. BUT STILL, it took two of us to "git 'er done".
Now I want to address another thing MAB said, and that is when he talked about how even though some of the greats of the past didn't actually sit down in the same room, they did study each other, hang together, talk about each other's work, and basically come up with new ideas for their art. THAT WORKS, and SHOULD BE considered a form of co-writing. That happened to me a couple weeks back. A local singer/songwriter decided to host a songwriter's circle. When she made the anouncement, she gave attendees "a challenge" to write a song that included Kentycky Fried Chicken, tin cans, mountains, and Mexico. I got a verse and chorus by that night, BUT THE POINT IS, I would have NEVER even thought of writing that song without having interfaced with her. Then, during the meeting she gave us another challenge. A song that included Cheyene Pepper, two way mirror, hotel shower, and sweat in it. I have another new song (and so does she) because of that conversation. These are two examples of how RELATIONSHIPS will help you write (at least) more songs. AND, in MY MIND, I consider both of these songs co-writes, because I would have NEVER THOUGHT of writing that song in the first place.
phil g.
OOPS! Almost forgot. I also have two more songs I need to credit MAB with. The first one was inspired by my first co-write with MAB and JimmyB. It really wasn't anything he said, but was more because of how the co-write went. But, had I not had that interface that day I would have never written the song. The second song was a direct challenge from MAB to write a song where the same chorus lyrics took on three different meanings, based on the story line. That WAS a challenge! LOL But I did get a new song out of it, and learned a valuable lesson about the craft of songwriting as well.