A Great Song Will Find It's Way Out

Yesterday I mentioned a quote from the incredible songwriter Paul Craft.  Sadly, the music world lost a great songwriter this past year.  I had the privilege to hear him and talk to him a few times and it was always enlightening and funny.  I loved his sense of humor.  

It was quite a few years ago I was at Nashcamp at the beautiful Droulliard Mansion in Cumberland Furnace, TN. Paul and I had breakfast together on the huge porch overlooking the rolling hills and live oaks.  What a beautiful setting! Anyway, I was struggling with knowing who to pitch songs to and wanted his opinion. At that time in my songwriting journey, if I had what I thought was a "great" song I would be VERY stingy with it and not play it for any artist whom I didn't think "worthy" of such a "great" song. What he told me that morning changed the way I look at pitching songs from that day forward!  Paul looked at me and said, "Look...a great song will find its way out!!! Just get it "cut" by a decent band that will do a good job with it...after that people will start to hear it and A GREAT SONG WILL ALWAYS FIND ITS WAY OUT!!!"

I can remember sitting there going "Really???". I took his advice to heart and changed my pitching philosophy that day!! He did go on to say that you don't want the first representation of your song to be recorded by the local band "Joe Blow & the Booger Boys" who can't even play a decent G chord...but...his point was "just get your song heard"!!  And one of the best ways to begin having your song 'heard' is to get it cut by a decent band. 

All this being said...if I think I have finished a GREAT song (as least in my mind) and I've "vetted" it among friends, fans, audiences, jams etc then I still will try to pitch to a "top tier" of artists first. But, that being said, I have come to this conclusion:

I TRULY APPRECIATE ANY BAND THAT RECORDS ONE OF MY SONGS!!!!

Every band whether and "A" level band or "C" level band or whatever...the fact that they would think enough of one of my songs to include it on a recording gets me excited!!!  Sure, I'd love to get that Garth Brooks cut!!  LOLOL  But, in my old age (or my maturity as a songwriter LOL) I've come to appreciate EVERY cut of my songs no matter who records them. Every time I sit down to write I try to write the "best song I know how". Some turn out to be stinkers and some thankfully turn out pretty good :) I've come to the conclusion that while I write songs for myself...

I WRITE SONGS FOR PEOPLE TO SING THEM AND ENJOY THEM!!!

So, a big THANK YOU to Paul Craft for that advice over breakfast!! It changed my songwriting life forever. So get out there and "get your songs heard", "get someone to cut the song" and in the end...hopefully...A GREAT SONG WILL FIND ITS WAY OUT!!!

Thoughts for today...your mileage may vary and remember:  Write more...whine less!!!

Write on!!!

Brink