Can't Say No

Been waiting quite a while to get the umpteenth rewrite done on this one, then again a while to get a demo done.  For me, it was well worth the wait.  Can't Say No is one of the first ones I started writing when I went back to the chalkboard to start writing again.  It's a swampy-bluesy kinda thing and I love what The Gator Hole did with it.  Different type of song for me, so what else is new?

As of now, its sitting at the top of the song list here on the blog, if you want to have a listen.  I'm finding it fun to go back to earlier songs and rewrite with new-found skills.  Going to try to get another song into the studio right away.  My goal was 6 demos by the end of 2011, which I think I'll fall short of, but that's all good too.  I think the quality is crawling up the scale.

Still no "takers" on pitching any of the songs, but you know, that's another part of the process to learn about.  I'm planning on keeping my focus mainly on songwriting and get more active in the business end in 2012.  I think it's hard to spread the time out properly when the rest of life pulls and tugs on the clock.  As always, it's about balance and doing what you love to do.  I love writing and getting better, not too keen yet on marketing, so we'll see where that goes.

Character Ammo

I've heard real evidence of progress in my current musical adventure.  The process continues and I now find it increasingly challenging to figure out how best to proceed for the "best" progress.  I can tell you, it's not boring.

I'm mid-way through a class at SongU about story songwriting and character development.  Now I can see where I need some ammunition to reload the guns.  And here, I thought this was going to be simple.  Ha!  I think I have some real opportunity to better set up most of my lyrics by better character development.  You know, not only do you have to be adept at this process, you've got about 3 to 4 minutes in a song to get it done and tell the story too.  Oh yeah, simple.

I realize that not all songs are really story songs, but I'll just bet a lot more are than I tend to think about in that way.  Some are obvious, like "Mr. Bojangles" or "Cat's in the Cradle" (to go back a ways), but even if the story is less deep, the characters make it real.  Hmmm.  Lots of work to do.  I'm thinking about taking a creative writing class and then applying it to the songwriting.  I'm sure it couldn't hurt (not me anyway).

Interesting side-note, I understand that Harry Chapin's wife actually wrote the lyrics about Harry and his son.  No credit for the talented lady, hope she got to spend some of the cash for that one anyway.