Just went to my first Frank Brown Songwriters Festival and Oh My! What an experience. I got to hear lots of number one writers and up and coming artists and also a lot of folks like me -- write OK songs, perform well enough, but just haven’t taken the time or effort to write at the professional bar/level.
Major takeaways for me (I'll try and add some more later today if I remember anything else):
1.) MAB is a dang force of nature. Although we all know he is great, seeing him in a setting where there are many #1 writers you definitely can tell his performing level is very, very, very high. He was the most energetic and best performer I saw all week.
2.) Hey, I actually have written a song with a #1 writer – Lance Carpenter. During a group tour back with MAB I was placed with Lance and Bob Paterno and we wrote a funny song. OK, they mostly wrote it and I got the coffee (ha, ha). I did get a couple of lines in there, I think I should go back and re-learn it.
3.) My favorite show (besides MAB’s) was the show with Lance Carpenter and Erin Enderlin. We thought Erin was some nobody and boy were we wrong. Erin co-wrote Last Call (recorded by Lee Ann Womack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oCdAvyAsAo ) and she played a couple of other tunes recorded by big stars, including Monday Morning Church ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Xo89BgFOxA ) recorded by Alan Jackson! Lance did mighty fine too.
4.) A lot of writers there still did very forgettable tunes. Went too long or sort of went nowhere. OD gets on me because I don’t spend the extra time on my lyrics and “dig deeper”. If you are using a cliché and it means what everyone thinks it means you aren’t digging deep enough. The good writers use clichés but they have a twist on the phrase or come at it from an angle you didn’t expect. For example if you use “between a rock and a hard place” in a song and it just means you are in a tough situation, then you have written a weak song, you’ve settled and not gone far enough. How many songs have you seen with a cliché in the title and it means exactly what the phrase is supposed to mean? – it is a turn off.
5.) To be an interesting performer you have to do at least one of three things a) have a great song with great lyrics/story b) sing great and/or c) play some super interesting guitar parts. One of those three is enough, but if you have all three you are a pro! I am going to work on my guitar playing this year (ha, ha).
6.) I played a couple of “songwriter showcases” (sort of an open mic with just originals) and I did as well as I could have expected to. Next year I'll try and up my game a bit!
7.) Many, many shows all around – too many to see them all, but I caught enough to be inspired and amazed at times.
8.) Did I learn anything new? Not really, MAB has taught us well, but it sure is nice to have the lessons MAB has taught reinforced out in the real world.
9.) OK, maybe the high point was getting to hang out with Phil G and OD all week! It sure is nice meeting people that you have conversed with on-line. They are mighty fine folk!
Major takeaways for me (I'll try and add some more later today if I remember anything else):
1.) MAB is a dang force of nature. Although we all know he is great, seeing him in a setting where there are many #1 writers you definitely can tell his performing level is very, very, very high. He was the most energetic and best performer I saw all week.
2.) Hey, I actually have written a song with a #1 writer – Lance Carpenter. During a group tour back with MAB I was placed with Lance and Bob Paterno and we wrote a funny song. OK, they mostly wrote it and I got the coffee (ha, ha). I did get a couple of lines in there, I think I should go back and re-learn it.
3.) My favorite show (besides MAB’s) was the show with Lance Carpenter and Erin Enderlin. We thought Erin was some nobody and boy were we wrong. Erin co-wrote Last Call (recorded by Lee Ann Womack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oCdAvyAsAo ) and she played a couple of other tunes recorded by big stars, including Monday Morning Church ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Xo89BgFOxA ) recorded by Alan Jackson! Lance did mighty fine too.
4.) A lot of writers there still did very forgettable tunes. Went too long or sort of went nowhere. OD gets on me because I don’t spend the extra time on my lyrics and “dig deeper”. If you are using a cliché and it means what everyone thinks it means you aren’t digging deep enough. The good writers use clichés but they have a twist on the phrase or come at it from an angle you didn’t expect. For example if you use “between a rock and a hard place” in a song and it just means you are in a tough situation, then you have written a weak song, you’ve settled and not gone far enough. How many songs have you seen with a cliché in the title and it means exactly what the phrase is supposed to mean? – it is a turn off.
5.) To be an interesting performer you have to do at least one of three things a) have a great song with great lyrics/story b) sing great and/or c) play some super interesting guitar parts. One of those three is enough, but if you have all three you are a pro! I am going to work on my guitar playing this year (ha, ha).
6.) I played a couple of “songwriter showcases” (sort of an open mic with just originals) and I did as well as I could have expected to. Next year I'll try and up my game a bit!
7.) Many, many shows all around – too many to see them all, but I caught enough to be inspired and amazed at times.
8.) Did I learn anything new? Not really, MAB has taught us well, but it sure is nice to have the lessons MAB has taught reinforced out in the real world.
9.) OK, maybe the high point was getting to hang out with Phil G and OD all week! It sure is nice meeting people that you have conversed with on-line. They are mighty fine folk!
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