I guess I'll need to get my legal team together to go sue people for stealing my titles!!!LOL!
Phil,
The "studio" stuff we are doing are simple guitar vocals first. The "RiDawn project" is one that is going to take a while and has some very specific reasons. RiDawn, who has been one of my good friends for about 15 years, is what I refer to as a "starter/stopper. She moved here after doing a stint on cruise ships in the 90's. She didn't understand the nature of Nashville at first, and didn't realize the importance of songwriting. A lot of people are like this, singers from other states, countries, particularly resort areas and things like cruise lines, think they can come here and set up shop doing cover material. They see television shows and news reports of all this music in the downtown lower Broadway area, with all the bars,and resturants, and figure they can just waltz in and start singing. Hey,they've got Karaoke all over the place. Then they find out that even on the lamest Karaoke nights, there are 100's of people there waiting to sing, all doing it for free, the "hosts and hostests" (those that get up during the night to 'show how it's done', are GREAT and it is MUCH MORE COMPLILCATED AND COMPETITIVE THAN THEY EVER REALIZED. And FORGET MAKING MONEY AT THIS! Everyone is fighting for exposure. The venues get free labor, and no end to the people wanting to do it. Supply and demand people. Supply and demand. Always works that way.
So she got into the songwriter scene and of course looking like she does (Yes she is amazingly gorgeous) she drew the attention of every male writer (and a few females) all at once. The problem she had was always putting her career on the back burner. She got involved in other thing or another, and years passed by. There were a few others in there but she always put her own goals on hold. She has a lot of family members and friends who were always asking when she was going to do something and always made up a lot of excuses. The truth is she simply didn't trust her own abilities and felt unworthy to promote herself.
12 Years ago she married a great guy, Tom, who is a musician and computer tech guy. He has kids and she has been playing step mother and loving wife, which she does well. But that creative spirit kept inside her and while she would sit in occassionally with his bands, she still was pretty unsure of how to proceed. just always kept herself in the background.
She approached me at a show a couple months ago, and sitting down told me of her desire to 'get out there." She said she would do what I told her to, and so we began. My process with artists irregardless of age or intentions are always the same:
#1. Find out who they are as a person and performer.
#2. Write songs that are about REAL things, get them in touch with what they really want to say, their hopes and dreams.
(But stay AWAY from all the cliched' truck songs for guys, and Angry chick stuff for girls. Avoid all that like the plague. this is the challenge of songwriting. How do you say the same thing in a fresh way and avoid all the overused cliche's that everyone puts out continually.)
#3. Write a LOT of songs. Breaking down each one and putting it in it's place, build catalogue, find holes that don't fit yet.
When you write all of the songs, you are writing the equivilant of a Broadway show. You have to find beginning's middle's, ends, find pacing, find tone, moods, textures. So you have to find interesting subjects, not write the same thing. View it as a SHOW.
#4. Record those songs. Simple at first, then more elaborate.
#5. Test them out in small shows, then work to a larger presentation.
#6. Constantly review in context. Toss out what doesn't work.
#7. Do some form of CD project, Can be small or a more elaborate form.
In this case, we will probably do most of it at her husband's studio. He is a great bass, guitar player and drummer. I'll play some and he'll do the rest. When we play live, it will be he and I, probably a cajone player, and Bonnie Lee and Alice on backgrounds. Simple, direct, to the point.
So that is where it is. About 5 songs written, around ten to go. Two recorded. More to go.
That's how you build from within.
MAB