The Life of a Songwriter

“Tennesse Jack” (January 2012)

This was one of the first songs I wrote this year.  There was this girl that I used to have a thing with.  After we decided that we should probably stop what we were doing, she goes and sleeps with one of my best friends.  Of course I was upset with both of them and she held no obligation to me, it still hurt me.  

I started playing this sort of “Outlaw Country” chord progression on my guitar and a few lines just came to me.  Of course at the time, I was really upset with this girl and didn’t really hold back on what I was going to say in the song.  Actually, I didn’t hold back at all. If I were to rewrite the song now, it probably would sound a lot nicer. Haha!  Since then, we’ve talked about everything and made up.  If she ever does find out the song is about her, I just hope she would know that I was just hurt at the time and I don’t feel that way anymore.  I only wish the best for her!

I seriously need to update this more…

Well, the passed few months have been very interesting.  A mix of preparing for school next year, getting ready to move to Texas for the summer, and songwriting. Lots and lots of songwriting! I think I’ll take the next few days to write about all the songs I’ve written over the passed few months. Stay tuned! 

Much Needed Update

Happy New Year! Oh and the EP is FINALLY out!  I should have kept up a little bit more with tumblr, but I figure no one reads this anyway haha! 

Here’s an update:

The release party went really well last week.  We sold almost half of the CD’s!  That was totally unexpected!  From what I heard, most of the people I talked to loved the record and can’t wait for more!  I’m really excited about that. 

Up until a few weeks ago, the last song I wrote was “Wildfire” which was in October.  Nearly 2 and a half months of not writing was far too long.  There was just so much going on.  I was just so focused on making a good record and it certainly turned out better than anyone expected.  But now that my head is clear, I can finally start back up with the writing process.

A few weeks ago, I was thinking a lot about this girl that wasn’t emotionally available but I was ready to commit to her and get the ball rolling.  She was okay with hooking up and everything but in the end that just hurt me.  So I started writing a song that basically says, “I should know better but I just can’t help being with you even if it’s just for tonight”.  And that is certainly not right.  It was good to finally admit that.  

A week later, I wrote a song about one of my ex’s but in the form of a duet.  It’s the first duet I’ve ever written and I love it!  It’s about two people that broke up.  Neither one of them want to be apart but both are too proud to admit it.  When you listen to it, you’ll just be so frustrated for both characters in the song because you know that both of them just want to be with each other but neither make the move.  I sang this last week with a friend at the release party.  It went over really well and I can’t wait to put it on the next album!

Just tonight I finished co-writing a song with my friend.  I had a the 2 verses done and half a chorus.  I called her up and asked her if she could come over and write on the track with me.  We finished the song in about 15 minutes.  This was about a recent experience I had with a girl that just likes to hook up with literally anyone.  Ha!  I’m dying to release this song just so she can hear it.

I’ll try and update this more often! Thanks for everyone that’s supported me during the making of the EP!  You guys rock!

Lock and Key

I started recording “Lock and Key” today in the studio.  I wrote this back in April when I was still with my ex.  It’s about knowing when a relationship is over but not being able to leave because the other person has you so wrapped around them that you couldn’t even try to break free.  

My original idea for the recording of this song was faster and going to be a lot more rock-like.  But the other day when I was just messing around on my acoustic, I came up with a really simple picking pattern that went with the song.  And that’s when I knew it was gonna be one of those slow, cry-your-eyes-out-break-up song.  Not what I initially wanted but they way it was going, it sounded great.  

The acoustic guitar is all done, along with strings, electric guitar and bass.  My drummer is coming in Thursday so he’ll lay down some a slow, easy beat.  Then I’m thinking I’ll have Kimball play pedal steel on this track.  I think it will give the song so much more emotion. 

While recording the vocals to this, I couldn’t help but tear up at times.  It was taking me back to a time where I was unhappy and didn’t like where things were going.  I didn’t think it was going to do that.  I thought I was gonna go in the vocal booth, sing the song, and be done with it.  There were just so many memories that rushed in my mind during the recording process. 

This song is certainly different from “I Don’t Care”.  That was fun and easy to do.  ”Lock and Key” has become quite the challenge.  I’m positive it will turn out good though!  Can’t wait for you guys to hear it!

It’s kind of funny when you look back at lyrics you’ve written and think, “Wow… who was the person that came up with that line?”  I’m not here to brag at all but I honestly cannot believe what has come out of me these passed 6 months.  I’m still not sure why I’ve suddenly felt this need to constantly write though.  I’m not complaining but it just seems odd.  I thought it would have burnt out by now.  I did go through one dry spell back in August.  I thought that my streak had ended but boy, was I wrong.  

I’ve now realized that this, this songwriting thing, is what I was put on this earth to do.  I’m here to put my life experiences into a song.  But they’re not just my life experiences, they’re other people’s too.  That’s the best part about it.  I’m not going through all of this alone.  I wrote a song called “Free” back in June and it’s basically about this girl setting me free from my last relationship.  One of my best friends, was kind of going through the same thing.  She and her boyfriend broke up and she was seeking others to help her get through the break up.  She told me how much she loved this song because of her situation.  Whenever I’d see her she was humming the melody.  It felt so great to have someone out there that knows how you feel and I hope there’s a lot more people out there that can relate to my music. 

Fate and Life

Well certainly not everyone believes in fate… But I sure do.  I know the theory doesn’t work for some people but for me, it couldn’t be more accurate.  Everything just kind of lines up and creates a balance in my life.  I think of the saying, “one door closes and another one opens”.  A door was shut on me a while back and an infinite amount of doors swung wide open!  I believe everything happens for a reason.  I know it sounds a little bit cheesy but it’s true.  People come into your life to teach you something.  Every single person that you meet is a lesson learned.  And it’s funny when you realize why you met that person at a certain time in your life.  I’ve now realized why my current choir director has come into my life; to remind me that music is my life and that I have to do it as a career.  Not necessarily choral music but just music in general.  People will come in and out of your life but when you know why they were even there in the first place is when you have figured the whole wonder of life out. 

Gravity…

Music Discovery: Adele

Adele’s album, “21”, came out a while ago but I just started listening to it at the beginning of this summer.  Every single song described my situation perfectly at a few points these past months.  It’s almost like she wrote about my life and the break-up I had with my ex.  Or about the girl that came along after the break-up only to leave me alone a few months later.  Or about the person that always seems to turn the tables on you.  Or about finally finding someone else, when you thought you never could.  I couldn’t get enough of this album for a solid two months.  Adele’s voice is haunting.  I feel bad for the guy she wrote about.  Maybe he’ll learn to never screw over a songwriter… 

My New Single!

Well after a full weekend in the recording studio, we finally got “Just Us Two” almost!  Friday, I spent almost 2 hours tracking drums with drummer, Fouad Melki. Saturday, I spent a few hours with Chris Frazer laying down bass and guitar parts.  Then later that day, Michael Berry came over to do a few guitar fills.  Sunday, one of my old music teachers, Kimball(can’t remember his last name :/) played mandolin and steel guitar on the track and man do those two instruments make the whole song come alive!  Then I added an organ track on to it and I love it! I’m proud to say that it was me that played organ on my song especially since I’m not too familiar with playing organ! It’s a really fun track and I can’t wait to release this Tuesday.  Today I’ll start doing the vocals and hope to get something good! It looks like this whole track from beginning to end will have taken a total of 20 hours to complete.  Can you believe a song less than 4 mins. would take 20 hours to record?!  It was definitely worth all the work cause it sounds amazing! 

Letting Go

A few months ago I was having a really tough time getting through a break up.  I felt like the world chewed me up and spit me out.  It seemed almost impossible to piece myself back together.  I think it’s the way everything happened… I won’t go into detail but the way it ended just wasn’t right.  But everything happens for a reason and now I’m just happy that it’s over.

I had countless people trying to help me get through and I’m grateful for every single one of them.  There was one in particular that helped the most but she didn’t even know it.  She showed me that there are a million other girls out there and that my ex wasn’t the only one that could love me.  This girl taught me so much in so little time.  I’m amazed at it all.  

This summer I wrote a lot.  And when I say a lot, I mean, I probably wrote 2 albums worth of songs haha!  I bought a notebook at the beginning of the summer.  At first I thought it would be like all my other songwriting notebooks, forgotten about, but I was mistaken.  This notebook is my sidekick.  I have it with me all the time.  I’m always writing down lines or verses that are in my head.  

I wrote a lot about my ex.  Most of it is negative towards her.  She just really hurt me after the break up.  She wasn’t acting like herself and I was really put off by that.  There were lines that she crossed that she can never take back.  I’m surprised how quickly I got over her.  I guess she made it easy with the way she was acting but I still wish she wasn’t so immature about the whole thing.  I have a hard time dealing with the anger I have towards her though.  There were so many things I learned about her after we broke up that I never knew while we were dating.  She lied to me about a lot and I don’t deal well with liars.  It’s hard for me to let go of the anger but I’m trying.

I think writing songs about the break up really helped me get through.  I don’t think I would be where I am right now if I didn’t write about it.  It wasn’t that there was so much I wanted to say, it was that there was so much that I had to say.  And I got a lot of it out through my music.  There’s still some in there but it’s still finding it’s way out.  Someday, I’ll be able to forgive but I know I won’t be able to forget.