November 30, 2011

Three Reasons To Be Thankful You’re a Songwriter

By Cliff Goldmacher

On the heels of this Thanksgiving, I thought I would take a moment to tell you (and myself, while I’m at it) a few of the things we have to be thankful for as songwriters. Songwriting is the kind of pursuit that often takes place in a vacuum with little or no encouragement and is, by its very nature, solitary. Also, given that only the tiniest percentage of the songs we write ever get to see the light of day by getting cut, it’s easy to get frustrated. The risk is that we tend to forget what a gift being a songwriter actually is.  Here are a few reminders.

1. You’ve got a way to express yourself. In the course of living our day-to-day lives, we are subjected to an unpredictable mixture of elation and sadness. No matter what, this is a lot to handle, but having the ability to write about it is a huge advantage. Putting your thoughts in a song that will not only help you but also those who hear it is a wonderful, constructive way of processing life.  Without the ability to write songs, you might never have the luxury of this kind of perspective.

2. You’ve got something you’re passionate about. Many people go through their entire lives without finding something that truly moves them. You’ve got a passion. While your passion for songwriting will make you crazy and plunge you into the depths of despair, it will also bring you great joy and drive you to efforts that you never imagined yourself capable of. This kind of growth can only come from true, heartfelt dedication. Never take this for granted.  Being passionate about your songwriting is its own reward. This is not to say that you shouldn’t strive for any and all successes that are out there. However, it’s important to remember every once in a while that you’re lucky to have found something in this world that is so important to you.

3. You’re on a journey. Whether it’s the first time you write a whole song or winning a Grammy, every step of your journey as a songwriter should be appreciated. You will only have one first time to see someone listen to something you’ve written and cry. Don’t forget to stop and enjoy each event no matter how small. The danger in putting too much significance on the end game of financial success is that you’ll miss all the incredible moments along the way.

We all know how difficult, frustrating and even scary songwriting can be. Being thankful for all of the good it brings us can help keep things in perspective.  Personally, I’m thankful for my high-school piano teacher who nonchalantly asked for the impossible at the end of one of our lessons: “For next week, I’d like you to write a song.”


Cliff Goldmacher is a songwriter, producer, session musician, engineer, author and owner of recording studios in Nashville, TN and Sonoma, CA. Cliff’s site, http://www.EducatedSongwriter.com, is full of resources for the aspiring songwriter and his company, http://www.NashvilleStudioLive.com, provides songwriters outside of Nashville with virtual access to Nashville’s best session musicians and singers for their songwriting demos. 

So I just had one of those "holy crap" experiences... ]

I was able to Skype and be face to face with industry pros, chit chat, say hi how are ya, and have them get to know me... all over SKYPE!  Technology blows my mind. Most people don't even realize that you can record a song in one place, track vocals in another, and have a mix happen in yet another location.... Wow!

Then the internet and Facebook etc reach out and help me find fans from all over the country.  I know I'm blah blah blahing but seriously it is amazing and inspiring to know that the gap between artist and creation/success is closer because of all of this technology.

Today was a great day and I can't wait for tomorrow... Til later- Michael

Just got my itinerary and brand new masters just in time! I'm definitely ready and can't wait to write some great stuff with writers from Nashville and all over the country. 

I'm hoping to hit up some of the well known tourist bars, but bottom line is that this is a business first trip... wooo hoooo!  Ok, so I'm pumped and don't have much else to say about it... see yall soon! 

So... I auditioned for "The Voice" this past July. I'll preface this whole post with - I didn't get picked. So now here's how the day went down...

My buddy Scott and I drove down to NJ on Thursday night and got a hotel about 2 miles away from the Izod Center where auditions were held. It just so happens that this week was probably the hottest it's ever been here in the Northeast... the kind of air you can cut with a knife and swallow. So we slept for about 4-5 hrs and then got ourselves ready to get outside for 6:30 AM. We figured that would be plenty of time, seeing as the printed time on our audition tickets was 7AM.

We pull up to the Izod Center, which was even closer than we thought and there is literally a line ALL THE WAY AROUND THE BUILDING! We parked the car and walked around the building until we found the end of the line. Conserving energy was our biggest concern and it took about 10 minutes before both of us were dripping sweat- I mean DRIPPING nasty soaked.

Oh I forgot to add in that I got poison ivy all over my arms and some on my face last weekend while doing some yard work. Heat and sweat don't exactly make a good combo with poison ivy... LOL. At least I can laugh at myself... Anyways, so we made friends with the people around us and we all braved the heat together. We didn't get around the building and inside until 9:45 AM. Stepping inside that arena and feeling that A/C never felt so good!

The main floor of the arena was split into 10 or so lines and there were check-in tables at the end. We checked in and this is where fate stepped in and altered my day. The girl who checked me in said "go to the middle". I said "ok".

At this point Scott had checked in one spot in front of me, so I thought he had "gone to the middle" as well. I walked toward the middle of the long set of tables that the staff were sitting at and there was a space in the middle leading to the next area for people to get in line. 

So I walked through, got in line, and was ushered up into the stands of the arena to sit and wait. Now I'm looking around thinking "where the hell is Scott?"  So I text him saying something like, dude where'd you go?  He says "I'm in the middle line, where are you?"  At this point I realize that I just jumped half of the auditioners in line and wasn't supposed to go through that opening in the tables. I was supposed to go in a line that led TO that opening! Ooops. That's a classic Chenkus move there, clueless.

So I stayed where I was, and Scott ended up in a line that was sat on the opposite side of the arena. I thought this was probably a better thing, as we didn't want to be competing for one judge's callback pass, especially since you go in groups of 10. I figured we'd have a better shot of both getting a callback split up anyways. 

So it finally came to my group of 10. We were ushered up to one of those skybox rooms that has the fancy glass window. We could hear the group before us in the room still. One girl was ripping out a great version of "Black Velvet" and she ended up staying behind when the room was let go. A minute later she left the room with a callback slip. 

And now, we enter. There were 4 guys and 6 girls in my group. They were all very nice and supportive of each other. The whole atmosphere, minus the outside heat, was actually a very positive one. So kudos to the staff and process for getting that right!  Anyways... I think I was the 4th or 5th one to sing. Up to that point people had only sung one song and sat down. I sang "What's Goin On" by Marvyn Gaye for the lone judge, a guy. He liked it and said that it's a classic but wanted to hear me sing something more current. So I pulled out "I Won't Let Go" by Rascal Flatts. I sang both tunes very well, definitely happy with how I did, and sat down.

The rest of the room sang. One girl was seriously good. She sang "Listen" by Beyonce and then he asked her to sing something else. She sang "Rolling in the Deep" by Adelle and killed that too. I was very impressed. She and I were the only ones he asked to sing twice. When everyone was done, he sais thanks. He said "there were a few maybes in the room, so if you don't get a phone call from us by 8PM then you didn't make it through."

REALLY?!

Hey I'm all game for the guy saying YES or NO, but Maybe?! Not only that, what is this guy looking for? That girl sang the snot out of those two songs which are both very tough tunes. If anything, pick her! Needless to say I left the room thinking that "maybe" was just this guy's way of saying no. I started walking around and found Scott who was ready for his audition room (different room and producer inside). I couldn't hear too much through the door but I could tell that he was asked to sing another song and he was the only one in that room to do so. When they let his room out, he stayed behind and was given a callback slip. I was definitely happy for him, but bummed that I didn't have a chance to sing for a different judge... all because I didn't understand what "the middle" meant LOL.

Oh well... it was a fun experience and Scott and I had a great time. We're old friends from way back and always support each other in this long journey of music. He has a callback on Monday in NYC which I'll be dying to hear how it goes. As I type this right now I have several other aspiring musician friends who are standing in the heat around the Izod Center for their Saturday audition time slot. If nothing else, it's a great chance to do something crazy and different, meet great people, and remind yourself that so much of this thing called life has to do with fate and luck. All we can do is be prepared to grab the opportunity if it comes our way.