Small Spaces
Yesterday I was off to the “studio” of a young producer, as he offered to record my vocal for a project I was working on. When I got there I realized his "studio” was his apartment with just enough square footage for not much more than a bed.
Dear Santa...
We don’t need material gifts, Santa….just some shift in the Universe that gives musicians faith in the idea that we, and the young people who will come after us, will be able to sustain ourselves and keep giving the world what they can not live without: music.
Color Blind
This is the time of year when we search for the better angels in ourselves. I’m keeping an eye out for mine.
Make the Music Industry Great Again
The Donald has promised to do things differently. This is an area where I hope he does. It would be a Huge gesture of good will and would improve an ecosystem in disarray.
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe
When it comes to creators' rights and digital royalty improvements, I’m praying for a President with a kid who wants to be a rockstar. Watch how fast the Copyright Office is given autonomy, streaming rates go up, take down stays down!
Blurred Lines Revisited
With the "Blurred Lines" case in appeal Pharrell & Robin have a chance to turn the verdict around.
H-O-L-D: The Forgotten 4 Letter Word
Songs got put on and taken off of H-O-L-D all the time. No one was immune. No matter your status. Even if you won a Grammy. Soon it would just roll of your shoulder. You’d dust yourself off and write another song.
Trading Places
What if, just for a few songs, Topliners took the bottom and the Producers got on top—so we could better appreciate each others’ function?
Suddenly...
We get so caught up in our work and then suddenly something happens that makes us take stock.... "Suddenly" from my new memoir...
Songwriting Camps
A few months ago, my esteemed colleague, producer/songwriter Greg Wells, who hosts a yearly event at a castle in Bordeaux, invited me to France.
Nothing Compared 2 U
If we’re of the age that somebody’s music was the backdrop to our youth, and the one who created it moves on, it's as if our youth gets a little farther away.
Farewell CD
There was just something a bit more tangible about handing someone something that wasn’t invisible…something they could touch…that took up space.
Wilson (No) Phillips....(from "Confessions of a Serial Songwriter")
From every songwriting session that you enter, hopefully you give something away and take something with you when you leave.
Is MusicAnswers The Answer?
I want songwriting (and yes—composing, performing and producing) to continue to be a legitimate occupation in which good people who work hard can at least make a living.
Straddling the Old and the New
I am of a certain age and they call my generation, "digital immigrants" for a reason: we had to adapt to the digital world, unlike the young "native" millennials who were born into it. They make it look easy. But I'm determined.
Come Together
When it comes to deciding who should go to DC to represent the creative community it is my view that no single group will be as influential or effective as we can be in a united front.
Why Don't We Do It in the Road?
It’s good to participate in activities outside of our comfort zone. When we stop trying new things, we get jaded.
Songwriter Therapy
I guess I’m just enjoying taking stock and remembering what matters to me—brushing up on and what I once knew so well. Because as soon as you think u know it all, you know nothing.
