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Thursday, November 29, 2007

Classic Writing

Jayz's American Gangsta is a classic why to write an album. Jay made sure he looked at the movie and gave you a story line that was parallel with the album. In songwriting you have to get your theme together in order for the reader listener to follow you. Jay Z took you on a journey from start to finish and put himself in the songs view so the listen could see where he came from and where he was going.

When you write a song you got to get your climate,setting, and climax together inoder for you story to be the best. Just remember this if we can't see what you wrote then you didn't do a good enough job getting your point across.

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Song Writers News letter

1. WE'VE MOVED!We've moved! We're now in Canyon Country CA. (Still in Los Angeles.) You may have seen the fires in our neighborhood on the news. They came within a mile of us and it was chaotic around here for a few days -- we were spared everything but the smoke. We moved on Sept 1&2, which turned out to be the hottest of the year at 110 degrees both days. Anyway, we have a new phone number: 661-424-1525. The e-mail is still john@johnbraheny.com and if you want to send a CD, etc. for critiques, e-mail us first and we'll send the address. I've been getting mostly MP3s lately though and had to set up a new g-mail address so it would handle bigger files. That address is … songconsult@gmail.com.2. TAXI ROAD RALLYFor you Taxi members (plus one guest) attending the annual Taxi Road Rally songwriters convention -- 3,000 songwriters from 21 countries -- this Thursday-Sunday, November 8-11 at the Westin Hotel near the LA airport. It's looking to be another blockbuster event with a lot more focus this year on marketing. Here's the full schedule .
I'll be on a discussion panel Friday from 10:15-11:15 called Secret Sauce: The Inside Scoop on How TAXI's Screeners & the Industry Really Work. I'll also be doing a "Drivers Ed" class on Sunday from 9-10:30AM called "Songcraft Basics — Control What You Know."
Here's a short description. "If you started writing by instinct before you learned the principles of manipulating song structure and dynamics for maximum impact; if you keep getting TAXI critiques that say you need better structure or more contrast; if you need to brush up on what you missed and get more control over what you instinctively know, then this is the class for you."
I'll also be scheduling one-on-one consults throughout the Road Rally so please take advantage of these while you're here, come visit our booth at the "Booksellers Room" next to the ballroom on the main floor. I'll be participating in the free 10 minute Mentor Sessions on Friday afternoon 2:45 to 5:30. These slots fill up fast so sign up early on Thursday at check-in.
Speaking of Taxi, a couple months ago Taxi CEO Michael Laskow summoned me into his office from my screener shift, set up a video camera and started asking me questions. The result is on YouTube but I also have it on the front page of my website, johnbraheny.com.Check it out.
The Road Rally got me thinking about what a great networking opportunity it is. Not only the Taxi event but South By Southwest , The ASCAP Expo, Nashville Songwriters Assn. events, The West Coast Songwriters Conference (Sept. in Palo Alto CA) The Arizona Songwriters Assn. Gathering, (free every Jan.) and any other event that brings songwriters and industry people together, I thought this would be a good time to post an excerpt from a longer section in my book, The Craft and Business of Songwriting with some tips about making the most of these opportunities.

3. TIPS FOR NETWORKING AT EVENTS
Research the guests before the event; search their names online and read their bios, or an article about them or interview with them. Listen to a song they placed or the records they produced. Once you’ve absorbed that info (take notes for later) you’re in a good position to start an intelligent conversation and you never know where it can lead you. “Behind the scenes” people always love it when you can talk about and ask questions about something they’ve done that you’re familiar with or a fan of. “Hey I loved the guitar sound on that record (you produced). How did you get that?” Don’t b.s. them though. Be genuine. If you’re not, they’ll know it right away.
Exchange cards. Often they won’t have them (sometimes on purpose!) and will say, “Just call my office” or tell you to ask the organization host to give it to you. Don’t assume that they don’t want to be bothered, though. It may be true but you don’t want your shyness to stop you if you have confidence in your music. When you get a card from anyone, write some notes on back of the card to help you remember who they are: “We talked about____” – “ Call after first of year.” “ Short blonde with great song about____ .” Note the date and occasion. You may find the card later and have to wrack your brain to remember why you have their card and where you met. Hopefully you’ve got a database with a notes field where you can transfer those notes. I use Filemaker Pro and have thousands of those entries. I not only can search by name but I often search by the notes. Who was that attorney I met at the DIY (Do It Yourself) conference? I put “DIY” in the notes field and several will pop up, narrowing the search. Or I could put both “DIY” and “attorney” and narrow it even further. Your card should contain your e-mail address, website, contact phone and preferably a photo.
Demo pitching etiquette at the event. You should always be prepared to give them a demo with lyric sheets or your finished CD. However, it doesn’t mean you should. It really depends on the event, the person, and frankly, the moment. The people who create the event can tell you if there’s a special etiquette for their event. If industry people are there specifically to look for new songs or artists it may be perfectly okay. If they’re there specifically to speak on a panel, it may not be. In that case it’s better etiquette to wait for them to ask you for it. That may not happen until after you’ve had enough conversation to get comfortable. If it seems okay you may want to ask, “Would you like a copy of my CD to take with you or can I contact you later." It gives them an opportunity to gracefully decline. I’ve come back from places deluged with CDs I haven’t had time to listen to because my business is to consult and critique songs and my priority is to listen to what my clients have paid me to critique. Occasionally I’ll get around to listening to others. However it is part of the job of publishers, record companies, etc., to listen to them.
Meet and talk with as many other writers and artists as possible. Networking with music biz people is very important but I feel it’s equally important to make contact with your fellow writers and musicians. Beyond the obvious focus of finding collaborators and artist/bands to record your songs, it’s very important to your life to make friends. You’ll find that it’s your friends who you can talk to when you’re feeling rejected and dejected, people who have been there and understand. It’s your friends you’re going to call when you want to celebrate that somebody just recorded your song or you just finished writing one you’re proud of. And you’ll be there for them, business or no business. Those aren’t the calls you make to the VP of A&R at a major label. It’ll be your friends who will turn you on to that great new website where you can market your songs, to that great deal on CD duplication, demo producer or that killer bass player.
The elevator speech. Whether you’re meeting industry people or other musicians and writers you need to arm yourself with “elevator speech.” It’s called that because when you get into an elevator you need to maximize your time so you can give someone your pertinent information in about 15 seconds and hopefully have time to get theirs. Someone with a new record label says he’s looking for a producer or website designer. Someone else is or knows one, etc. The point is that you need to work out and rehearse two or three short speeches without making them sound rehearsed. Think about what you want it to accomplish. “I’m Jim Adams, I’m a singer-songwriter from Chicago and I’m into rock (folk, blues, R&B pop, Hip-Hop) and I’m here to find a good lyric writer (producer, etc.) to work with. What do you do?” In no time at all you’re finding somebody you can get together with later and get a little deeper. So it’s a combination of what you do and what you want to accomplish. Always have something ready so you don’t waste an opportunity with “Hey, do you think we're gonna get some rain?”
Make the most of those events by meeting as many people as possible. They’re there to meet you too.
Tip: Support the organizations that produce these events with your membership and volunteer time and you’ll often find yourselves surrounded by opportunities. Organization newsletters also provide valuable information about industry events of interest to songwriters.

4. WINERY MUSIC AWARDS
One of the highlights of the Summer and Fall for JoAnn and me was being invited (thanks to old friend Jim Hilton and new friend, Roy Braverman) to be on a panel of distinguished judges for the 2nd Winery Music Awards in Paso Robles CA -- halfway between L.A. and San Francisco -- graced by about 150 wineries.
Unfortunately, by the time we found out about this 5-month competition, the deadline for entries had already passed. I know that many of you reading this could have been serious contenders here and I'll be sure to notify you when entries are open next time.
We were hosted at some wonderful wineries and B&Bs – they treated us royally – Kathy Kelly did a fabulous job of producing and publicizing the series, which ended with exceptional LA singer/songwriter Shannon Curtis taking top prizes. JoAnn's got more impressions and photos on her Goosing Your Muse blog but for the full picture, go to their web site.
Why I think Shannon Curtis won. Not only did she have well-crafted songs with a unique style and point of view but she was entertaining. As an audience, we felt like she was letting us into her living room and was talking with us like we were old friends. She created an intimate rapport with us. And it's not just that, but she knew when to stop talking and start singing. It's a special gift as a performer to be able to sense when you've gone on too long, even when you know your audience loves you and you could probably get away with it. There were time restraints on her set so for all I know she may not possess that sense all the time, but it seemed just right when I was there. I've seen many, many artists who write good-to-great songs and have total command as a musician, but I may as well just be enjoying their CDs because I got little beyond that by taking the trouble to be at a live show. I think that, particularly in intimate settings (we expect more spectacle at an arena show) we expect a more unique way to experience an unique artist. Shannon gave us that performance.

STAY TUNED!
In the next few weeks, we'll be sending an announcement about my new blog and podcasts of guest lectures on songwriting that I presented recently.
Write on,
John Braheny
Songwriting Consultant, Author of the Craft and Business of Songwriting