February is album writing month. You know that right? We’ve covered the insanity of February album writing before and there is a lot of buzz among songwriters and musicians alike in 2012. The most popular projects are: FAWM.ORG Each February, this website forges a collaborative community of thousands of musicians worldwide, from all walks and [...]
The latest in songwriting competition announcements: International Songwriting Competition(ISC) Launches New Music Competition for Unsigned Artists Completely separate and distinct from ISC, Unsigned Only is a fresh and novel approach to other music competitions. Not only does it offer great prizes, recognition, exposure, and the chance to be heard by a group of judges consisting [...]
Guitar Center has a nice barebones recording set from M-Audio for 65% off retail. (Note: This package is no longer for sale.) M-Audio Fast Track MKII USB audio interface I have one of these and absolutely love it. It includes phantom power so the condenser mic included in the package will work flawlessly. Dual M-Audio [...]
Michael Stipe talks about why R.E.M. called it a day [In] the first interviews he’s given in America since R.E.M. announced its disbanding in September — and it appears that the decision was as much his as anyone else’s. That he’d perhaps wearied of the touring grind, or no longer felt he could give it [...]
The latest in songwriting contests the world over … and some other news. It’s The John Lennon Songwriting Contest, Not The John Lennon Enunciation Contest Yesterday, 16-year-old Eliza Callahan got a nice surprise on Good Day New York when she learned that she took the top prize in this year’s John Lennon Songwriting Contest. (She [...]
Someone named Richard W submitted a question to a songwriting forum: “How do you deal with self doubt as a songwriter?” Good question. It is something all creative people face. First, let’s take a look at some of our great creative types and their battles with self doubt: The famous painter Agnes Martin said: “An [...]
Make progress with your songwriting using a system for great work. You’ll wake up one day and see your music reached a tipping point.
Matt Nathanson has a new album out, and speaks briefly with American Songwriter Magazine about his songwriting workflow: Most of the time, melodies and chords come first- then the words. and the words are usually a combination of a few key ones I have in notebooks (I try to write everyday) and ones I make [...]
There are few things I dislike more than reality shows. So, as a writer and owner of a songwriting blog I was torn about the whole idea of a songwriting reality show. The first episode began with an introduction of the hosts, Jewel and Kara DiGuardia, and immediately pushed into the first challenge – coming [...]
Here is a compilation of some nice songwriting tip snippets from a variety of songwriters, with accompanying links to their full articles. Check it: Ben Gibbard, Death Cab For Cutie “Writing is such a solitary act. You spend hours alone, only with your thoughts, and you torture yourself. It’s a tendency of many writers to [...]
