It's not that people don't care about
music in this town. You'd have a hard time finding any place in the
world more welcoming to budding musicians and songwriters. This is
music-city. Everyone here is in love with music and musicians. Most
musicians are regarded as something of an oddity in their places of
origin. They are seen either as no-accounts who can't pay the rent or
they are placed on a pedestal, lauded and applauded. In Nashville a
musician is a dime a dozen. We are the 99 here. There may be
something different or special about you but, in Nashville, it's not
going to be the fact that you make music. That is almost a given
here.
I don't know if it's true of other
songwriters but when I discovered that I could write a song it was a
major turning point in my life. Here was something that I was kind of
good at, which in itself wasn't all that amazing. The really amazing
part was that I really liked doing it. It was comfortable and made
immediate sense to me. There was some sort of instinct that I had for
writing that wasn't something I had to study or learn. It was just
there. So I let it have it's way with me. I wrote and wrote and
wrote. I wrote some more. I sang and sang and sang. I sang some more.
I compared my work with what was on the radio and then went back to
work. I was so comfortable in my songwriting skin that I began to
allow that to define me. Music was my “thing” and I really
enjoyed that fact.
Then I moved to Nashville and my
“thing” was no longer “thing”-worthy. It was just something
that almost everyone you meet does and quite often does just as well
if not better than you. It's not so much that Nashville strips your
grand ideas and dreams...it's that it strips your very identity from
you. It takes that thing you've grasped onto as your beacon of hope
and turns it into something dreadfully
common....prosaic............dull..............just stop with that
already.
So I wrote this song about Nashville
and called it, “The Killing Kind”.
But I got to thinking about it and
perhaps I was being a little unkind towards this town that embraces
artists so heartily. Maybe Nashville is more like a loving but tough
mentor who says, “ok...what else have you got? Who are you really?
Can you do that but do it better?”. It kicks the rock star out of
you and forces you to become a human again. It reminds you that the
rules still apply to you despite your precious talent (that you
didn't do anything to get anyway).
I submitted this song for critique
through an online service. The reviewer was very thorough and I felt
like he did a good job. It was money well spent. I've copied an
excerpt of one of his points below:
“Lyrically there is room for you to take your content a step
further. You could try adding a twist to really get the most out of
those last 8 lines. For instance, you could show the other side, from
the perspective of someone who didn't make it, or of someone who did,
letting the listener in on what it took to make it. Alternatively,
you could compare it to another force that people must grapple with,
like time, or chance, showing how one force is colder, or more
unpredictable, or more forgiving. Redemption is the counterpoint to
condemnation, so touching on that element is a great way to offer a
glimpse of the whole picture.”
I completely agree with his assessment and will bear it mind as I
write future songs. But for this particular song I wanted to write
from the perspective of someone stuck in a situation. If I'd followed
that advice I might have made the song more “universal” but I
think I also might have lost something in so doing. When you're in a
situation and you feel stuck you're not thinking about the whole
picture or the counterpoint. You're just feeling shitty and that's
all you can see. I wanted this song to capture that moment of despair
and disgust.
I think the redemption or counterpoint to this song is that through
writing and playing it I've had to express publicly that sometimes
this town feels incredibly difficult but I've also had to face the
fact that it's taught me an awful lot and most of the time it's a
pretty awesome place to be. Nashville won't flatter you...It will
make you a better artist and maybe a better person.
On that note, here's a few things I've
learned from living and playing music in this town:
- I still have a lot to learn.
- Talent alone is not enough. There's a hell of a lot of talent in this world. Embrace your talent. Love your talent. Enjoy your talent to the fullest possible extent. But above all DEVELOP it and DO something with it.
- Always be listening and and always be learning because you will never be as awesome as you think you are. Maybe you are that awesome but don't let it go to your head. Nobody's gonna want to drink a beer with you if you're that guy.
- I'd rather hang out with a good dude than a talented asshole. So be a good dude to everyone you meet.
- Focus on how you can help other people instead of wondering if your semi-famous 'contact' can help you get a show.
- Be genuine. Make friends rather than contacts.
- Don't play music for money. Play music because you love to play music or don't play music at all.
- Don't write songs for money. Write songs because you love to write songs or don't write songs at all.
- Be open to criticism and be open to change but don't be a pushover. You are an artist and it's possible people like your art BECAUSE it's different and wrong and imperfect and non-commercial.
- Strive to be true to yourself but also strive to be the best possible version of yourself.
- Strive for excellence rather than perfection.
- You may never make a dime from your music. It would be a shame to let that fact stop you from making it.
- You're in good company here in Nashville. Consider it a privilege to play and be played to here.
______________________________The recording above features Anna Johnson singing background vocals and was mixed by Chris Wright._______________________________
