Life, family, and music.
When inspiration strikes, where do you store your ideas? Are they all over the place? Notebooks, your phone, the back of receipts, Word documents on an old laptop? If you’re like I was, you’re about as organized as a third grader. You’ve lost so many ideas that the inspiration fairies have you on notice. If […]
My litmus test for sharing stuff like this is to ask, Do I completely hate this? Often the answer is Yes, and I quit–painting is for suckers. But sometimes the answer is no. So, here’s stuff I don’t completely hate. Worst-case would be that you don’t hate it either. Best case would be that some
Recent Watercolor Sketches Read More »
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
Protected: Cover Band Triple Pandemonium Violates City Noise Ordinance Read More »
You’re going to have to set them. I’m sorry, but that’s pretty much the only way. Do you know why I’m writing and trying to finish this blog post right now? Because I set an arbitrary deadline to publish it for you today. Nobody told me to do that. Not the internet, not my dad,
Arbitrary Deadlines Read More »
Safe Enough to Wander (2013) Spotify | Apple Music | Youtube “What if all the constellations were railway stations?” (First line of the song.) The obvious answer is that the stars would liquefy the railway cars due to their temperature being around 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s also true that it would be difficult to fit
[#011] Behind the Music A-Z: “Beautiful World” Read More »
Single (2021) Spotify | Apple Music | Youtube I’d had this short composition sitting around for a long time on my computer. I had no idea what it could be used for, and the chant I sort of made up kind of sounded like “heymumma-heymumma” over and over again. Here, this is it: One day
[#010] Behind the Music A-Z: “Beautiful Place” Feat. DJ. Stanfill Read More »
From the album Passages (2017) Spotify | Apple Music | Youtube | CD | Vinyl I remember standing in my backyard after the phone call, trying to figure out what to say to my wife. We had two young kids, and suddenly, I felt extremely foolish for pursuing a career as a songwriter. How could
[#009] Behind the Music A-Z: “Be There Soon” Read More »
I thought this Kevin Kelly quote was such a great reminder for us songwriters. It’s from this book.
Separate These Two Processes Read More »
Distraction is Enemy Number One. Use airplane mode as your default. Tell people to call if it’s urgent. Resistance is Enemy Number Two. So make songwriting convenient. Keep your guitar, pen, and paper close to a place you visit regularly (e.g., couch in the living room, next to your bed, beside your office chair). Do
How to Be a More Productive Songwriter Read More »
In this week’s issue I share…
1) That time (last Thursday) when my Instagram post about our family’s number one rule went viral.
2)Austin Kleon on parenting as an artist.
3) What are the steps from honing your craft to having a career?
3 on Thursday – 8/10/23 Read More »