MAB, thanks for your stories on Jeff and Mark D. And, for that matter your own story and ALL the "Artist", "Writer" stories you have shared over the years. The one common theme in all those stories is all you guys started really young. Early teens or before, and NEVER STOPPED chasing that dream.
My own story is totally different. Even today. Back when Moses started leading the Jews out of Rome I got an old beat up guitar from a friend of my dads. He showed me how to tune it, but not much more than that. I was between 13 and 15 at the time I think. I had taken music and band in high school. Yep yunguns, back in those days, public schools had the $$ to support those kinds of classes. So, I was able to figure out "notes" on he guitar. I don't remember if I ever learned chords back then. I was more interested in playing lead. You know, like Duane Eddie. And The Ventures. Oooops! I may have just lost the younger guys LOL. But you can google them. It was cool music back then. Any way, like most of my life even back then, I had no passion, or drive, and was always loosing focus. I was part of a small 3 piece garage band and we played a few birthday parties. Weren't that great at all. I never spent a lot of time pracicing, so i really never was any good. I even got up on the stage at some school dance thing once. REALLY SUCKED! Not even sure why I did it. One of the band members was the guy I used to jam with and he goaded me into it.
THEN, "There was a girl". And the BIG "M" thing happened. Right away, we didn't have any money to pay rent or buy groceries. Her mom couldn't help, and my parrents refused to help. "It'll be a great growing lesson about responsiblity". So, I wound up selling my guitar and coronet, and her clarinet. I didn't play guitar again for about 15 years I guess? Then, when I did get another guitar, once again, no commitment, so I still didn't play it enough to "learn it".
Fast forward to around 1995. I had always had little snippets of lyric and melody running around in my head, but had never done anything with them. Finaly, it was a Saturday morning. We had already decided (well, she did anyway LOL) we were doing house work and going grocery shopping. When I woke up, I had these few lines going through my head; "It's Saturday morning, gotta get myself out of bed, It's Saturday morning, gotta get myself dressed and fed. Get on down to the grocery store. Take care of domestic chores". For the first time, I actually got up and wrote that down on a piece of paper and stuffed it in my night stand, where it sat for about 3 years. Then, in 1998, between my birthday (in December) and Christmas, I got a Yamaha keyboard and a Kerokee machine. I had been singing in the house to Elvis albums. People, ALBUMS! You (might know) the old big round vynal things with little groves that a RECORD PLAYER with a needle in it used to pick up sounds and play them? You kids don't know what I'm talkin about do you? Nothing was "digital" back then, except computers. Anyway, it was either still after Christmas 1998 or Jan. 1999, I was playing with my Yamaha and the different rhythms it had, and stumbled on this Country two step rhythm that kind of moved me, and I wrote a song caled, "You better be ready to dance". It was about a guy trying to pick up a girl at a dance bar, and she told him, "Well I've heard all the worn out old lines, from every cowyboy here tonight. If you've come down here to waste my time, let me set you right. Don't be sayin what we could, just keep your love in your pants (which I later changed to keep your talk of romance) If you've come down here to the hardwood, you better be ready to dance".
I was hooked! I was gonna be a songwriter! BUT, THANK GOODNESS, I DIDN"T quit my day job and move to Nashville!! LOL But I did somehow find out about NSAI and joined a local Denver chapter, run by one Randi Perkins (who DID move to Nashville, is still there, but is not a hit song writer. I go visit Randi every time I get to Nashville. MAB knows Randi). Back then I worked for Lockheed Martn and would make trips to the DC area. I would always take the sceeninc route through Nashville and back then, the Broken Spoke on the north end of town was THE place to meet songwriters. It was hosted by MAB's friend, Lee Rascone. It was the best music in town (to me) and was alway my inspiration to write more, better songs. I went to several of NSAI's Spring Training events, which happen at the end of the Tin Pan South week. You always got to meet Nashville songwriters and publishers at those events. There was also a big Nashville presense at an anual Durango, Colorado songwriter event. I attended 2 or 3 of those. I got to meet quite a few songwriters and publishers. But, I didn't know how to "hang" and how to make RELATIONSHIPS back then. I've always been a little shy and introverted I guess.
So, here I am today. Like everyone who writes, I write the coolest songs! At least my wife loves them! Doesn't that count? Then, about 2 years ago, I decided I needed to get out of my shell (A.K.A. living room). There was an open mic in Gainesville, about an hour drive from where I lived. OH! I need to digress! I DID do a few open mic's in Denver back in early 2000's. Randi used to host one, and since I was in his NSAI chapter, I played a few of my songs back then. But, it was short lived, and I was terrible and so nervous I barely got through any of them. Any way, back to Gainesville. That actually got me started. I went to a lot of those open mic's. It was a bar sceen. None really listened. And I got comfortable. Sort of. All most. FINALLY, I found the courage to go to an open mic in Nashville. My first one was supposed to have been Douglas Corner, but I had called too late, had just gotten into town after a 10 hour drive, and just didn't feel like going on at 2AM and playing for Donnie, the lady at the bar, and maybe 3-4 other folks. BUT, I did hook up with another NSAI guy that trip, Beaty Demitt, and we went to Commodore and did one song at about 11PM for a crowd of about 2 dozen or so.
Today, I try to make as many open mic's as I can in Gainesville. They are both at coffee houses and there are no drunks, and the crowd actually listens to the performers. It's really cool, and in some sense, better than Douglas Corner and Commodore, EXCEPT that the music is a lot of covers, and all over the place genre wise. AND, you have to listen to Really bad comics and so-so poets. Nashville, even though the open mic's are more bar sceen, are at least all original. AND, in Nashville, you CAN once in a while catch a hit songwriter show. Also, today I spend a LOT MORE TIME practicing my guitar and singing and trying to get a litte better. YES kids, you CAN teach an old new tricks! LOL HOWEVER WHAT I LACK these days, is writing. Don't write nearly as much, and sadly, I don't write with other writers either. It's that shy, introverted thing again. GOTTA GET OVER THAT!!
Any way, I'm tryin! HEY, That sounds like a really cool title! Oh, It's already been done! And, Jeffery Steele was one of the writers on that song along with Chris Wallen (who I have also met) and Anthony Smith.
phil g.