What's Next
Uncategorized Shelly Peiken Uncategorized Shelly Peiken

What's Next

Indeed, life, career, love have their ups and downs. Perhaps the lulls are necessary, albeit not as thrilling, as the excitement. I’ve always enjoyed unscheduled time to collect my endless thoughts. Examining is where we get material. We need to take time to replenish. 

Read More
10,000 Hours
Uncategorized Shelly Peiken Uncategorized Shelly Peiken

10,000 Hours

Sometimes I feel invisible. I am a singer/songwriter who has yet to write a hit. I go to a party and when you ask what I do I tell you: I wake up every day and write songs. It’s like breathing. 

Read More
#Us Too
Uncategorized Shelly Peiken Uncategorized Shelly Peiken

#Us Too

When it comes to the MeToo movement, Songwriters are not immune. As sole proprietors and small business owners, we are currently unable to unionize. We have no HR departments, no sexual harassment protocols, no real recourse. We only have each other. So where does a female songwriter (or artist or composer or producer) go when a line has been crossed? SONA is stepping up.

Read More
Back Down To Earth
Uncategorized Shelly Peiken Uncategorized Shelly Peiken

Back Down To Earth

Looking out the window of my west bound plane, taking in what just happened, I’m filled with so many thoughts. Adam is worried. He suggests after all the excitement and euphoria I’m going to crash. Post GRAMMY Depression. I won’t. I’m pretty sure I’ll be high for a while. 

Read More
Christmas in L.A.
Uncategorized Shelly Peiken Uncategorized Shelly Peiken

Christmas in L.A.

Songwriters! If you’ve ever written an original Christmas song you know the drill: REMEMBER THE BULLET POINTS...or as they say in Nashville—the particular pieces of "furniture" that represent all things Christmas—the snowmen, the carolers, the mistletoe, etc. And whatever you do, do NOT forget the jingly bells in the production. It’s not a Christmas song without jingly bells! 

Read More
The Bluebird & The Bucket List
Uncategorized Shelly Peiken Uncategorized Shelly Peiken

The Bluebird & The Bucket List

I pondered the first blog I ever wrote, where I wondered if I should stay in the music business…if I fit in anymore. I was a different girl back then. Now, I’m having the time of my life conquering my fears, fear by fear. I’m doing the things I was too afraid to do when I was younger. (I recommend this highly, by the way.)  

Read More
I Can't Keep Quiet
blog Shelly Peiken blog Shelly Peiken

I Can't Keep Quiet

As the late great Nora Ephron put it, "Everything is copy." Art, resulting from a traumatic experience, is still something worth sharing.

Read More
The Room Where it Happens
blog Shelly Peiken blog Shelly Peiken

The Room Where it Happens

I love these young faces. College campuses. Skateboards. Limitless possibility in the air. I want to be part of the movement that helps make those possibilities possible. Perhaps it’s a different road than I traveled but even a detour should eventually lead to the same bliss, sense of accomplishment and livelihood.  

Read More
Dear Kesha...
blog Shelly Peiken blog Shelly Peiken

Dear Kesha...

 I hope you continue to journey through life, along with its joys and “incidents,” with dignity and perseverance. 

Read More
Imagine
blog Shelly Peiken blog Shelly Peiken

Imagine

Every party involved in the process of getting a song to your ears should be compensated. We’re nothing without each other. The songwriter, the record label, the delivery platform, the technology. The imbalance of royalty distribution is the result of archaic music licensing laws that are no longer relevant. Imagine how workable things would be if we had some new laws.

Read More
Born This Way
blog Shelly Peiken blog Shelly Peiken

Born This Way

We never feel so high as when we wake up in the morning and listen to the song we wrote the day before and realize it’s as good as we thought it was. And we’re never so bummed as when we wake up and realize it isn’t. But we write another. We know who we are. We are each other. 

Read More

Confessions.