Wow, its been a while since I blogged...it was summer, I was just home from Nashville...now its November...I have been to the Durango Expo and then to Nashville again...great trips! Co-writing tons, making new friends, enjoying every minute. 

This is more about passing along some info than my usual rambling blog. There is an amazing opportunity for songwriters to get involved with called:

"Skip Ewing's Horse and Writer Invitational"

which is a program providing a full week of one on one mentoring, with full scholarship available. I am hoping to be able to apply, and get accepted, but even if I can pass this along to someone else who does, that is a good start. This years program includes mentorship from several Hit Songwriters...Skip Ewing, Clay Mills and Deanna Bryant.

The Deadline to apply is May 15th, and the program runs July 12-18 at a Ranch in Wyoming...and the scholorship pays for all meals, lodging etc...WOW.

Now if I can just figure out how to afford taking a week off work...and what story I'll tell my wife! LOL

For more info, please visit their website: www.horseandwriter.com

Good Luck!

PS. if you have any good ideas of stories I can tell my wife about how to hang in there, after 20 something years of being a broke singer/songwriter/guitarist, please respond asap! I need an angle! LOL

So here I am in my little basement waiting for my next guitar lesson to show up...I am going to go re-do a vocal track on a new song Im working on...do a little myspace and web site stuff too...I feel fortunate to be able to work from home, do what I love and get padi...there are other benefits too. Especially in these days where people are getting laid off left and right, I am happy to have some work. I don't make enough to retire from this, so i have my short, medium and long term plans...but I am thankful I did not bail and go get a real estate license about 7 years ago, when I was pondering my future as a musician/songwriter!
So teaching has benefits of being paid to deconstruct and analyze songs...not just teach theory, ear training etc...but tons and tons of people jsut want me to do what I am really good at, which is figure out the songs...I write them out, notation or TAB, teach people the melody note they come in on singing, what the chord progressions and strum patterns are etc...of course I do all the formal stuff too, (theory, reading, ear training, technique, fret borad logic etc etc) which is also a benefit to me...I'm sure all teachers realize sooner or later, that teaching is learning and learning is teaching...so it helps me stay current on my chops, my knowledge and a million songs. A teenage student recently asked me how many songs I have learned. I was not sure so just for fun I did some math...lets see, average 40 students a week, say 50 weeks a year, and I'm at 14 years now full time teaching guitar...if everyone does 2 songs a month (conservative) I think that is around 13,000-15,000 songs. Subtract 500 for Sweet Home Alabama, 500 for Stairway to Heaven, Freebird, and a couple others...LOL
My favorite is when someone says they like Country, and I get to teach them all these radio hits...really has helped my own writing a ton, as all the styles I teach do...but For me, a country hit has several elements that other styles lack...the quality and number of images for one, the detailed descriptions aka "furniture" bring out something in the senses that pop type songwriting just doesn't do for me...I love lots of styles and have appreciation for a huge variety of music...just check out my "influences"...on this site...I am NOT dissing Pop or other styles, but for ME the Country lyric is the highest bar, and has the most appeal.
Check out my influences...I know I am supposed to be more consise and fit in a genre more neatly, and be less wordy so industry pro's who might come by to check me out can see clearly what I do...but you know what...I honestly love all these styles. If you dont want to read it all, don't, just listen.
I recently took a class with Pat Pattison and Steve Seskin...I have taken every one of Seskins classes and some several times over now...He is the MAN and a great teacher and amazing writer...can't say enough good about Steve...but Pat was new for me and I found him amazing also...one thing he said that really stuck with me was something like this: "images in lyrics engage the sensory memory" To me that is amazing to realize...it works, and many times the listener doesn't know why they think the song is good, but if you engage their sensory memory, you have achieved "SUCCESS". To me the success is the journey, the enjoyment of being in the moment, being in the process. When I write its like reading a great book, or seeing a great movie... i lose track of time, I am totally immersed and this song, this idea, it comes to life...and I am in it...for a while...its like living in a movie or a dream...and you can choose how it goes as you go along...like awake dreaming...dreaming awake...and when I enter that zone, I am succesful! Nothing else really matters to me. I sure could use to get out of debt, and sure I wish I had a sweet fishing/golf pad somewhere warm...mostly I Love my family and want to be the best Dad and husband and human being I can be...get out of debt and the rest is gravy! Success is wanting what you have not having what you want, as several songwriters have pointed out for us...most recently Sheryl Crow and Garth Brooks to name a couple.
I sure do want what I have! I have everything a guy could want...a great wife and family, and the amazing peace that comes with faith...all the money in the world can not buy happiness...in fact most people I know that do have tons of money are not very happy...their lives are mostly a mess because everything for them hinges on their money and their illusion that it matters...I have no money, but again, I feel blessed to have what God has given me...and I know more good things are in store! When He knows it is my time, when He is done preparing me, He will use me for His true purpose. Now that is real success!
 
 

Well, I had a great time in Nashville, and lived real good for real cheap. My econo lodge survived the tornado...and I got by cooking in my little kitchen.... The only market near me was a Mexican market called Gigantica...they had a good selection of food, especially seafood dept. One night me and my friend Mitch had Steak and Shrimp dinner, which we spent about 8 bucks on total. Another night I went back for some more of those shrimp...they had these fresh ones with the heads still on...I sauteed them in some olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper, tossed with some linguine...yum...cost about $4...sure beat fast food for dinner for that price! I worked tons of restaurants before getting into construction and stone masonry...my real trade for a while was stone masonry...patios, walls,, fountains etc...was starting to do pretty well at that until my back gave out...lucky it was my back and not my left hand crushed under a sledge hammer...good thing I got out of that trade...anyways all these skills still come in handy...I'm probably not the only broke songwriter you would meet who would still find a way to have a tasty meal...just have to be creative and use whats there...mexcican markets prices are about 1/2 of the normal grocery store prices I found out, and I might continue to shop there now I'm back home in Colorado...theres plenty of little markets where you can get meat and fish for a fraction of the cost!
What do these experiences with cooking and stone masonry have to do with being a musician and songwriter? Well to me there is a lot in common! Lets take stone masonry...you have all these peices of stone, you lay them all out...and start finding ways they fit together...you have to get and eye for what works and what doesn't, and when your done, you have something that will likely last several generations...kinda what I hope happens with one of my songs...these little bits and pieces of melody, lyric, etc that eventually fit together in something that ends up a whole lot more than the sum of the parts...same with cooking right? You take what you can get, apply some creativity, a few spices, garlic and olive oil tastes and smells so good on about anything...you end up with something delicious that sure is better than all the little parts on their own...I guess with dinner the difference is it doesn't last very long...I pretty much scarf it down and thats that! LOL...anyway whether cooking, laying a stone patio, or writing a song...the process is similar, I always enjoy it...and the end result is something better than I might have imagined...sometimes...and if not, there's always the garbage disposal! LOL

Here i am in my econo-lodge by the airport on a borrowed computer. Its tin pan week in nashville...lots going on. Im having a great, productive trip...writing with friends, attending events and meetings, it's going as planned. So far...then

Yesterday a tornado ripped the siding off the building I am staying in. I was not there. Luckily there was no serious damage, and no one got hurt, here. People were ready to help. All around people are in need of help...to me this town has a very special feel to it. Its not about how many hit writers, how many hit songs or how much $ people make, its about a community of people who support each other thru the journey.

What a great Country we live in. What a great World. What a beautiful Planet...this little rock spinning around in space. What amazing things we can do when we realize we are not alone, we are not separate...we are all One...how much better can our Country be if we take on the attitudes that this town and others all over have about supporting each other...reaching out to help.....getting  creative, finding solutions...finding the angels that are all around us.
Peace

Hey MySpace Friends,

I just returned from Songposium week in Nashville Sept 22-26 and then Durango Song Expo here in Colorado this past weekend Oct 2-4. What a great time. I always get so much out of these events, and am noticing more and more how much we all have in common.

There are common themes that link us together as writers, musicians, artists, producer's, publishers, A+R etc... regardless of what stage in our career we are in. We enjoy what we do, meeting others with common interests, we thrive on putting energy into our craft regardless of what results we may or may not see, we give 110% all the time, we are passionate about music and life, we care about each other and we want to see each other succeed. If I missed something feel free to chime in here.

To all these people I say THANK YOU for your help, support, info you shared, your generosity, your commitment, your hard work, and your freindship!

I always get home, take a minute to breathe, and then attack my goals with more intensity, more commitment, more information, more skills, more passion than ever before because my brain is chock full of enthusiasm.

Cheers!

Leebob