Don’t label me. The New York Daily News covers high-profile musicians taking the independent route and bypassing major labels altogether (Link):

If done successfully, going the independent route can be more lucrative than a record deal. Artists get to keep the rights to their master recordings and potentially capture a much bigger share of their record sales - $5 to $6 per album vs. the standard $1 to $2.(Link)

Road songs. Amos Lee talks about songwriting on the road. (Link)

“All these songs were worn in on the road,” Lee says. “Writing on the road came easily, really. It was more of an adjustment for me to learn to live in those situations. A lot of these songs are inspired by things I’ve observed, a lot of my life over the past year or two has been observational. Being on the road is like being suspended in a water tank.”(Link)

Let’s roll. Not exactly songwriting related per se’, but here is a great tutorial on “How to roll up your cables properly.” Good simple stuff that might have never been shown to you before. (Link via MusicThing)

Guitar Lust. Do you lust after all guitars, old and new? Electric Guitar Review is a site that does just what it says. Check it out. (Link)(I promise this is my last non-songwriting link this week!)

Long Black Veil. Reuters reports that co-writer of that classic song died in Nashville on October 28, 2006.

Songwriter Marijohn Wilkin, who co-wrote the classic ballad “Long Black Veil” and other hits, died at her Nashville home at age 86. (Link)