Catching Up With Haywood
In the “before times,” (shortly before the pandemic descended upon us), I visited with my friend Leah (AKA Haywood) — her house a straight shoot up Coldwater Canyon. Why I hadn’t seen her for so long when she was only a mile away, I don’t know. Well, I kinda do. Life gets, well…lifey!
For a while there Leah and I were writing together constantly — back when my world revolved around a toddler (now that toddler is 24). Leah, along with her husband Dan, marveled at how I managed to be a new mother and have a full-on career writing songs at the same time.
I loved writing with Leah & Dan. Sometimes I felt like they didn’t even need me in the room. I was like a songwriter/traffic cop — there to stop them when they blurted out brilliance and didn’t even realize it…and to assign right of way when one was interrupted by the other. See, they talked incessantly and were oblivious to the good stuff being spewed — gems that were obvious to me. They would say I did more. And I’m sure did. But hey, that’s a very important part of being ‘in the room’ — that you recognize ‘material.’
Jon Lind kept us busy writing for his Disney roster: Demi, Selena, Ashley, Jordan Pruitt, Cheetah Girls. We had dozens of songs commercially recorded.
Then one day we started not writing as much. 😞 The biz was changing. The ‘rooms’ became saturated with topliners. The gatekeepers were locking the gates tighter. We started expanding our co-writing options. AND…Leah had a baby! And then another. She’d find out the hard and beautiful way how to be a new mother and have a full-on career at the same time.
On the day I visited we had coffee and got comfy on a sofa. She filled me in on the missing years…she had cuts with Katy Perry and Justin Bieber (without ME, Wahhhh!!!). That’s ok. I was busy writing my book which earned me a GRAMMY Nom. I was making an album. She told me she was making an album too. It was about time! I mean…artists used to mimic Leah’s vocals to the extent that you couldn’t tell who the real artist was!
And then 🦠. We fell out of touch again. But a few weeks ago we ran into each other at Lauren Canyon’s Pace. (The Universe clearly wants us to stay connected!) She told me her album Pressure On My Heart had just been released. I listened in entirely the next day while hiking Runyon. I do NOT listen to albums in pieces. I do NOT even like to hear singles before the album is out. I want the whole story. I want the flow. I want the chapters. Beginning Middle End. Otherwise, Satellite can just fling me random tracks (which I enjoy in a different way). I was blown away by Pressure. I knew Leah’s story, and how some things have changed drastically in the last couple of years but it’s always enlightening to hear the artist tell it in their words.
I am in AWE of Leah…I mean Haywood. She’s always had/still has it all. Lungs, writing AND production chops. I never had it all. I could never make a record without help. I can’t even open Pro Tools without having a panic attack. Aside from one track on “Pressure On My Heart” Leah wrote, produced and recorded the entire album on her own — A sister truly doing it all by herself.
Leah keeps suggesting we get together again to write. For the joy! She misses it. “You taught me so much,” she says. Coming from her (and knowing she means it) means A LOT! But I hesitate. And here’s why:
Lately I write less for the masses because…well, to be honest…when I started writing songs it was ALL for me. But when I began earning a living and receiving adulation it was hard to go back to all for me…or…to continue writing when the reality was, it’s less and less likely a song I did not write with a recording artist would find a home on a record. I wasn’t even sure my publisher was listening to the songs I handed in. But…
I’m getting back to it. On my own terms. So maybe Leah and I will try some 2022 Songsex. Plus I have other goals in mind that don’t require A&R.
And so does she…
Let’s discuss.
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