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