I went to a songwriting workshop on my vacation. Eighty bucks for a six hour session. A little pricey but I was hoping I would get my money's worth. The teacher had interesting stories about how he had written a hit song and stories about artist that he knew and played with. That part was interesting.The theme of the conference was Pretent to be an Artist.  After you have mastered the art of pretending, you will be an Artist. This is kinda like fake it till you make it but it sounds more polished. 

       Also talked about how to make new music and songs. He suggested finding a song that you really like. Learn the song today. Then comeback tomorrow and try to play it. Don't listen to the original. Take the original song and make it yours. Maybe you slow it down, change the melody, speed it up, or give it a happy beat instead a sad minor feel. Change the lyrics and see if your new song is anything like the original. It won't be because most people are not that good at mimicking and repeating accurately.

        I remember when I first started bowling. I did not always throw the ball at the spot I was aiming for. I wasn't able to hit the sweet spot just to the right of the left of the front head pin. What I would do is I would aim for the head pin knowing I would probably be off a little to the left or right and I would get strikes. This method worked until I started to consistently hit the head pin and started getting too many splits. 

        I am not able to hit the sweet spot in somebody else's song, but I can create my own sweet spot. (and hopefully hit it) This gives me the chance to grow and get better without trying to bowl or write exactly like somebody else does it. 

        I remember when I first started playing guitar and singing at the coffee shop. I didn't have the singing range to do song exactly like the radio. I couldn't hit the high notes so I would change the melody to make it reachable for my voice. Then I started writing my own songs. I had nobody to blame for those high notes. It I couldn't hit them, I would change them. This was one of my first steps toward becoming a songwriter. I was pretending I was an Artist, so I could become and artist. 

        I remember when I first started writing songs. It was a fast process. Well, maybe not fast but faster than I write a song now. I would come up with an idea, get a title, make up a melody for the chorus, add lyrics for the chorus and the verse and presto- a song. Not always a good song but none the less, it was a song.

        I would send my songs to NSAI (Nashville Songwriting Association International) to have my latest hit evaluated. Needless to say, None of them were hits. They were just songs. They would tell me that I needed to rewrite the song. They would point out areas of opportunities. Here are some of the areas that I struggled with and some that I still struggle with. 

        The meter in the verses needs to match from verse to verse. What is meter? Meter is the feeling you get when you read a Dr. Seuss book like Cat in a hat. I loved reading these books cause I could feel the groove in the writing. That groove is the meter. I sometimes have to count it out. I sometimes have to count it out. That sentence has eight beats. If that is the first line in the first verse, then the first line in my second verse should have eight beats also. I couldn't change it to, I hate counting out all of the beats in a lyric, in the second verse. This line would have 13 beats. Oops! Now it doesn't sing right. 

        Other examples of errors I had to correct were the chorus not lifting (or singing) higher than the verses. The bridge not doing anthing different than the verses or the chorus. Bad ryhming, no rhyming, or too much rhyming. And the llist goes on and on.

        Over time I finally learned the art of rewriting and I enjoy it. The problem is now I can rewirte too much. The great thing is it gives me lots of ideas to choose from. Maybe too many ideas to choose from but this is part of the process. I have been know to find new titles, throw out part or all of the verses, change the chorus, and search for the songwriting pot of gold in every song. Sometimes all I find is a rainbow and I will put that in the song instead of the gold. lol

         So rewriting a song can be a curse and a blessing. You just have to figure out how to rewrite, what makes the song better, and try different ideas until you find the very best one. Not all gold nuggets are the same size. So you gotta work to get the best ones. Keep on wirting and rewriting. It is a great asset to have in your songwriting toolbox. 

     I am looking for a male country demo singer. I had a friend who did a great job on my demo's. He played guitar, great country singer style and recorded it for me. He was real reasonable on price. I paid less than fifty dollars. He charged me 30 and I paid him 35. Then I raised it and started paying him 40 bucks a demo. It was a fantastic deal for me. If I sent it to Nashville, I was paying 150 for a guitar/vocal and then the price went up to $200. His career is starting to take off. Good for him. I like to see others as they progress in the music business. 

     I don't need a fancy demo. I need a quality singer with a good country style. A decent guitar player who can record it for me. What do I do with the demo?  I usually will put the song on my website, and pitch it the publishing company I work with, Ammar Music. I like to have a better singer than me so they can get a better idea of how the song could sound. (You have to use your imagination a lot less.) 

     Today, I found a new singer on Fivver. It is an app where you can hire people to do just about anything. Make video's, play guitar, make full demo's, write lyrics for you, write a song for you, and the list goes on and on. Usually the person will have a video of them playing and singing or whatever it is they do. I found a guy that had a good voice,and played guitar well.

     I sent him a text on the app and it said, This person is in another time zone and it is still night time in his time zone. So he contacted me a couple hours later. I sent him the lyrics, and my rough demo. He sent me a bill with our agreed upon price of $40. It is suppose to be completed in eight days. 

     I am looking forward to hearing this new demo. It is always like Christmas morning when you get a demo made. So I am hoping for the best. I will play it for you when I get it. This makes me happy. 

     I wrote a song about the Kansas City Chiefs, Patrick Mahommes and how we all want to be winners like them. It is called Me.

ME 

Watching TV, wearing jersey fifteen 

cheering for Mahommes, and the KC Chiefs 

I ask myself, What would I do? 

if I was wearing his quarterback shoes 

Chorus- Oh, it's all about Sundays at Arrowhead 

hear the chants from the faithful in red 

I wanna shine like those stadium lights 

If Patrick can do it, maybe so can I 

believe, I believe, I  believe 

someday that'll be me. 

Could I thread the needle, for a touchdown 

or scramble for my life, get a first down 

I feel his joy, I feel his pain 

two kindred souls, who both love the game 

Chorus- Oh, it's all about Sundays at Arrowhead 

hear the chants from the faithful in red 

I wanna shine like those stadium lights 

If Patrick can do it, maybe so can I 

believe, I believe, I  believe 

someday that'll be me.

Sometimes life don't play out  

like it does in my mind 

but the dream is the gas 

that powers my ride, and  

Chorus-   it's all about Sundays at Arrowhead 

hear the chants from the faithful in red 

I wanna shine like those stadium lights 

If Patrick can do it, maybe so can I 

believe, I believe, I  believe 

someday that'll be me. 

I believe, I believe, I believe 

someday, that'll be me.

Yes, even though I am just a fan. Never was a football player. When we see a great play completed. Yeah, I wish it was me.

     Yesterday, I went to the Bluegrass Festival at Prairie Lake. It is a small lake a couple miles from Holton, KS. I have been going to this event for years. On Saturday afternoon they had an open mic for bluegrass bands. This could be a band that was established (been practicing together for years), a new band (just starting out), or a thrown together band of anybody who wants to play.

      I was playing in the campground with my friend Tim. He is a fiddle player that I had played with before at the festival. A guy with the open mic came up and wanted to know if we wanted to play. Tim told him that he wasn't interested. He asked me if I wanted to play. I told him I didn't have a band it would be just me playing my original songs. He said, That would be great and signed me up to do a half hour set. 

      So I proceeded to work up a set list of my songs to play. I had forty minutes to pick out my songs. Here is a list of the songs that I played. 

1. Long live the King

2. Polaroid Memories

3. Linwood Cafe

4. Best Friend

5. Sing

6. Shades of Gray

7. God sized hole

      It was fun to get to play my songs for a crowd. It was an opportunity for me to play and I was prepared. (Not totally prepared) I knew the songs but had to brush up on  a couple of them to remember what key I sing them in. I am glad I had the forty minutes. 

      I had an opportunity and I was prepared. So many times we have opportunities and we are not prepared. We don't have what we need, a guitar, a stage, don't know the lyrics, don't have a copy of the lyrics with us, or we make excuses. If I had more time, If I had known, or if I had somebody to play with me.

      So if you are a dream chaser like me, remember to be prepared to make the most of every opportunity that comes your way. What a great way to live and not have regrets. Good luck chasing your dreams.