A Word About Snoring 😴😵💫
I know. l know. What does snoring have to do with making music? Actually it kinda does. And I’ll tell you why. Quality and quantity of sleep are directly related to creativity >>> being on your game. 😐 So if you or somebody you sleep next to snores, you may want to read this.
Every Day Is Another Chance To Try
Have you made any new year’s resolutions you suspect you won’t be able to keep? Think about it this way. For every time you don't succeed never look at it as a failure but as a rehearsal. Somebody once told me that young songwriters have to get through all the ‘no’s’ — all the hundreds of rejections — before you can get to the ‘yes.’ So best to get your no’s over with. All those rehearsals. Every one matters.
A Lost & Found Christmas Story
We want to believe there’s a reason for things - and that reasons will reveal themselves in due time. The alternative, believing in sheer coincidence, is not as enchanting as magical thinking. But I like it! Especially at Christmas. . 🎄❤️💚
EVERYBODY’S Working on a Musical!
I’ve been reluctant about sharing what I’ve been up to but I’ve learned you have to tell the Universe what you want. What your intentions are. Now, I’m not saying that every endeavor is going to fly just because you let the Universe in on your secret. It may not. BUT YOU STILL HAVE TO PUT IT OUT THERE. 😳
The C-Word
I have a theory: If we continue referring to music as “content,” we’re giving license and incentive to those it benefits should the language stick. I’m not saying that if we stop using the c-word we’ll suddenly prosper, but rather that continuing to give it cred is bad Karma. It puts a hex on our livelihood. The Universe hears us.
She’s Gone
After a month of anticipation, loading up the fridge with her favorite snacks from Trader Joes, getting all the junk I’ve been storing in her bedroom OUT of her bedroom … the week is over. What’s a mother to do?
Trust Anyway
Last Tuesday morning I FaceTime’d with my daughter Layla and told her I’ve been thinking a lot about faith. She, in an effort to comfort me, said the definition of faith is “trust anyway.” I wrote it down on a Post-it. That would be my mantra throughout a very busy day. No matter how it turned out.
Two Of Us
I always feel a sense of ‘what just happened?’ when I’m ready for take off after a trip that was long awaited and is now over … like so much else in life. Including I imagine, life itself. No matter how wonderful a time was had, it will be a relief to come home. To get my passport stamped. To speak and be understood. To know I can find my way all by myself if I get lost. So I’m happy. But I’m also sad to leave my friend. Because I’ll miss her all over again.
Good Morning Bodrum, Türkiye
I took this particular trip because one of my dearest besties up and left the country 6 months into the pandemic to go back to her homeland. One day I realized … she’s not coming back. (Maybe I should have known this when she sold everything she owned and packed up her 2 cats.) Clearly, I was in denial.
John Lennon, Selena and ABBA
John Lennon was featured on a larger-than-life screen behind Paul at a recent concert. I love Paul beyond and I’m ecstatic to hear, see, anything re-imagined on John’s behalf. But I wonder how John would have felt.
Catching Up With Haywood
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. Aside from one track on “Pressure On My Heart” she wrote and produced the entire album on her own — A local sister truly doing it all by herself.
Let’s Talk About Songwriting
You can never capture a feeling as clearly as you can in the moment you’re having it. So write it down ASAP. Or really SOON! Feelings and memories get clouded in the fog of time. And clouded by how we keep re-telling a story to ourselves. (But those are songs too.) (All of them.)
I Was Working as a Waitress in a Cocktail Bar
This is Kelly and I. We were waitresses together in the 80s. I loved being a waitress. I was the leading actress on a stage all the time. If you were seated in my section you were at my mercy. I had the power.
Everyone who worked in that lounge had stars in their eyes. Big dreams about getting discovered, signed to a record label, writing a hit song, dancing on Broadway. We supported each others’ endeavors by going to each other’s gigs. One day, Kelly and I ventured out to see one of the busboys in a play and a funny thing happened….
Dear Mandy Moore…
Dear Mandy, Back when we met way before THIS IS US, I wrote a song for you called “17.” You came to record vocals. You were so young. Sweet. Starry eyed. Baby skinned. But it was your performance on “I Wanna Be With You,” a lyric I wrote to a melody Keith Thomas sent me for the movie CENTER STAGE, that clinched my crush on you.
I followed you though all 6 seasons of THIS IS US but now that it’s over I miss you, Mandy. I miss THIS IS US. I think I’m going through withdrawal! 🥹 🥹
American Song Contest
I’m a song junkie — a sucker for smart memorable ear candy. And this show has ‘em. It’s nice to know those kinds of songs are still being written. But could Tracey Chapman have survived this business model?
Hotel Cafe
Hotel Cafe is packed. If I don’t get Covid tonight I’m immune! Good for songwriters. Good for Hotel Cafe. Good for the music business that so many ppl came. I’m happy to be here but definitely feel some personal-space anxiety. Deal with it, Shelly. It’s gonna take a minute. I need to get back to the land of the living.
Catching Up With Kasim
My friend Kasim Sulton (bass player with with Todd Rundgren for the past 45 years) was one of the many touring musicians whose livelihood was disrupted due of the paralyzing forces of the pandemic. That didn’t stop him from releasing an album, launching a radio show and starting a podcast. But now that Covid protocol seems to be in retreat, he’s back to his happiest place — on stage with Kasim Sulton’s Utopia. He and I took a moment to talk about where he’s at. Literally and figuratively. Oh and…here’s to musicians getting back to work!!
🥳🎊🎉🍾🥂
Still Co-Writing After All These Years
When I started out I was 20. Everyone else was 20. We liked to write about the same 20-something things. Now, I don’t blame anyone for being 20. It was great! It’s just that I have a wider palette now.
If You Can Teach, Teach!
They say if you can’t do, teach. I couldn’t disagree more. Why not do both? There is a season turn turn turn. If you’ve been successful in your field at some point it’s time to pay it forward. Plus, it’s good for us to keep doing things we’re not sure we can do. 🤓
And In The End — Part 3
I don’t know about you but my husband and I were bleary-eyed for days after this series. A similar-eyed friend texted suggesting we curate a support group so we can debrief, vent, commiserate, celebrate. We’d sit in a circle and pass around a talking piece. Because, we need to get it out of our system. But the Beatles will NEVER be out of our system. 😳💙
