| Home |
•
The Unvarnished Truth For Songwriters - Nashville Style By
Jules Bloeth July/2007 I’ve been a composer of songs, a lyricist and a vocalist for many years. Lately, I had been feeling pretty good about my place in the Nashville food chain. I had worked hard to make contacts, record demos and had songs published. I visited the town one, two or three times a year. I was on my way up the ladder, albeit slowly, and I felt a certain confidence in what I was doing, the steps I had taken and where I thought I was headed. Sure, I wasn’t a pro, but I certainly wasn’t a beginner, either.
Enter, Marc-Alan Barnette (“That’s Where It
Hurts” by Shelby Lynne), a Nashville veteran of
nearly 20 years, willing to give me a dose of reality.
I’ve gotten to know Marc during my visits to
the city, by correspondence, through the NSAI
(Nashville
All of that sounded pretty good, so I agreed to
attend a tour. I
figured I could always stand to ‘up my game’ and I
was looking forward to sharing my experience with
others, for better or worse.
By no means am I a cynical person by nature,
but I couldn’t help wondering what a
songwriters tour like this would have to offer
me.
I attended a tour in mid-July of this year and
it became clear to me early on, I had a
lot to learn and a long
way to go if I wanted to be competitive in the
Nashville [songwriters] market. No one was more surprised than me to discover that not all my
songs (perhaps none!) could compete with the likes of
Don Henry (“Where’ve You Been,” by Kathy Mattea),
Randy Sharp (“Then What” by Clay Walker), Jason
Sellers (“You Can’t Hide Beautiful” by Aaron
Lines) and Craig Carothers (“Little Hercules” by
Trisha Yearwood).
Additionally, songwriters like me, are
competing with those writers/performers such as
Marc-Alan himself who live in Nashville and have
worked every day to get where they are.
How many songwriters can honestly say, they are
writing at that level?
If you raised your hand, put it back down!
I mean it; I’m talking to you.
This tour is for serious songwriters who have a
desire to learn more about the music business, who
have an open mind and are willing to work hard,
willing to listen and who have a genuine love for what
they do. Marc
has something to offer the beginning, intermediate or
advanced songwriter and
he’s also willing to create a tour around the
level of the songwriters who attend.
This is not a
pat-you-on-the-back-and-tell-you-how-great-you-are
tour. You
will hear the unvarnished truth about every aspect of
the music industry and about how your songs stack up.
On my tour, the day began anywhere from 8:00 AM
to 9:30 AM and ended around 6:30 - 7:30 PM except for
the performance night, so we’re talking about full
days of meetings and appointments during which you
gather enough information (on the first day alone) to
make your head spin.
The first two days began with breakfast with a
Nashville insider.
On my tour, I met Debi White, a song plugger
and publishing representative and Doak Turner, whom I
now like to refer to as a networking ‘guru’ who
has previously worked as an NSAI coordinator.
I also had the pleasure of meeting Phil
Sweetland the first day, an independent journalist
with the NY Times as well as being a well known critic
and a songwriter himself. He also publishes the Country Insider e-newsletter, which I
recently subscribed to (to sign up for Phil’s
newsletter, e-mail him at:
pianopks@aol.com
. The
cost is $26 for 52 issues).
Debi White focused on the role publishers and
song pluggers play and gave a unique perspective on
what they are looking for when it comes to songs.
I learned that [unfortunately] the demo has to
be professional quality for most people to even give a
song serious attention.
It’s hard enough to get someone to listen;
having a quality demo certainly will increase your
chances of getting heard.
As I mentioned previously, you are up against
Nashville’s best hit songwriters every time you
pitch one of your songs to a publisher, artist,
producer or plugger.
That means it had better be the best it can
possibly be.
Phil Sweetland was not only good-hearted and
entertaining, but he provided valuable insight into
the state of the recording business, record labels,
mergers, downsizing and the emerging role of smaller
and independent labels, and how this all affects the
artists, publishers and the writers themselves.
He addressed the affects of internet music
sites and the resulting loss of profit when it comes
to album sales. He
offered me great ideas as to which industry
‘pitch’ sheets would be best, depending upon where
you want your music to go.
I was honored when he offered to listen to a
song of mine and he even commented on it.
Aside from Marc himself, I learned a tremendous
amount from Doak Turner.
Doak is a songwriter and a true professional
when it comes to marketing.
He is also
the editor and publisher of “The Nashville
Muse,” a free weekly e-newsletter sent out to over
10,000 subscribers (to subscribe, go to www.nashvillemuse.com
). Doak
also hosted our tour group at his home for our writing
day and proved to be extraordinarily gracious.
He shared sometimes hilarious tips on what not
to do, when networking and meeting people in the
business. I
also learned how to best leave a lasting [good]
impression, which is difficult to do when you only
have a few minutes in which to do it.
I ended up seeing quite a bit of Steven Sharp,
with Sharp Objects on Music Row during my trip, whom
Marc introduced me to on my first evening in town, and
whom I learned a lot from.
He’s a song plugger who has promoted 60 or
more number one singles and his clients have had
hundreds of cuts.
Steven graciously opened his door, and was
generous with not only his time, but his advice and
tips on songwriting.
It was a tremendous experience meeting him and
the writers he represents and I will forever treasure
listening to Don Henry, Jason Sellers, Randy Sharp and
Craig Carothers perform at Sharp Objects.* The last day of the tour, was a writing day, and I was to be paired with a Nashville inside writer. I really lucked out, because I was paired with a beautiful and talented lady by the name of Kat Speer and none other than Marc-Alan himself. Let me just say in advance, this was the only day of the tour that I was truly nervous about. As many years as I’ve been writing songs, I’ve never sat down in a face-to-face meeting and written a song with someone. Kat and Marc made it look easy! This was another valuable learning experience for me. I’m accustomed to taking as long as I want to write a song. We had to finish the song in a matter of hours. This is what happens in Nashville every day, and you must be writing at a high enough level to bring something to the table if you plan to do this for a living. For me, it was a learning experience and they went easy on me! However, I now have an understanding of what will be expected of me when I make writing appointments in the future.
These introductions and experiences were made
possible by Marc-Alan Barnette and without attending
his tour, it’s still possible,
but highly unlikely I would have ever met some of
these professionals who taught me so very much about
the business in
a short three days.
I know there are people reading this article
right now who are either considering moving to
Nashville, or are in the process of making a move to
Nashville. I
would strongly encourage each and every person to take
a tour with Marc before you make that move.
Certainly, people don’t make the move
lightly, but I dare say nine out of ten people simply
aren’t fully prepared for the realities of the
business once they arrive. The failure rate is high (a 95% failure rate for people who
move to Nashville).
Do yourself a favor; if you’re serious about
the business of songwriting, run, do not walk to your
nearest telephone or computer and contact Marc. If you are a Basic SongRamp member or above, ask for
the “Jules Discount.”
I have been writing music for a lot of years.
I’ve met many people and I’ve been pretty
lucky - sometimes.
The bottom line is, no amount of luck or
experience can replace the most important things when
it comes to being successful in Nashville - you’ve
got to love what you do, have a great song,
professional conduct and a friend on the “inside.”
I’m a published songwriter and I’ve got
some good
songs (and if any of them get cut, I’ll claim
they’re great). The reality for someone like me, who doesn’t live in
Nashville, who is trying to break into the business,
is that the deck is stacked against me simply because
I can’t be present, but a few times a year.
Marc has a great saying, “You must be present
to win.” I’m entirely undeterred by percentages
and odds. I
left Nashville after my July 2007 trip with Marc-Alan
Barnette’s tour, not discouraged, but filled with
determination and armed with the information I need to
succeed in this business.
I’ve met new co-writers and made new friends
and I now have mentors in Nashville that I will
continue to meet with during future trips.
In the recesses of my imagination, I would have
been touted as the next up and coming songwriter to
hit the Nashville scene and Marc would have loved
every song he heard of mine.
But, how would that have helped me?
It wouldn’t have.
Instead, I received the unvarnished truth about
what it takes to make it in Nashville as a songwriter
in this business, from a true professional and it was
an invaluable experience. © 2007 - Reprint With Permisson Only To Contact Jules Bloeth: julesbloeth@songramp.com To Contact Marc-Alan Barnette: Mbarne4908@aol.com
615-417-7181 Listen to an audio interview with Marc at:___________
•Line
Dancers Take On “Too Much Blood In My Alcohol
Level”
•Orange
County Songwriters group, April 30 – May 8, 2005
Featuring Cliff & Bev Nelson
Lava
Hot Springs, ID
Songwriters Organization of Wisconsin
•Marc-Alan
Barnette article, February 2005
Overview of songwriting business, tours and workshops 
|
