Advice to a Fellow Songwriter

Today is the birthday of a fellow songwriter. He's gone through a lot of hell the last few years, and finally got an album out after going through several bands, the death of several relatives, pals, acquaintances, and pets. He's been bullied by fellow bandmates and industry types, and even changed labels. To me, he's an inspiration for doing so well in the face of ridiculous adversity, but he doesn't see that. I thought I'd write this article as if I were writing it to him, but I think we could all learn something from it.

YOU ARE DOING GREAT!

Okay, so maybe this won't be your best selling album. You got a new band even after several personnel changes, wrote new material, got the new people to learn the new stuff, and are out on the road now with it. Gee, I don't even have my arrangements done to start recording yet, and I have yet to have an album do as well as your current one has-you are still up there compared to most of us, so keep up the great work. Sure, you can't seem to just sit down and write lyrics like you used to, but look what you've been through of late! Cut yourself some slack and realize that the fact that you can write now means you are getting better, emotionally, and that you will find writing more and more easy with time as you heal from all the wounds you've been dealt. It's totally normal to have problems being creative after such shocks, and you've had more than your share of late. We can't all be Superman-allow yourself to be human, and see how you are healing daily. It will get better-and sounds like this new band is giving you a ton of inspiration and support to do some really fun things musically and lyrically. Enjoy yourself!

STOP THE GLOOM AND DOOM STUFF, WILL YA?!

Sure, you are getting older-we all are. Sure, when you work out, it takes longer to stop being sore-aspirin is great for that, and they say that us older folks should take a baby aspirin a day, anyhow. Funny, though, I can still hear you hit all those high notes, except when you get nervous and tighten up instead of relaxing into them like I know you know how to. With age comes wisdom, and your singing has gotten much better over the years-keep using all those little tricks, and keep a nice band of musicians that don't feel the need to blow you out of the water behind you, and you can keep going for many years, yet. I can only hope that I can still sing like that someday, and hope I still can sing at least as well as I now do at your age. Keep up the great work! If I hear one more silly statement from you about how you might not see another Christmas, I'm going to write your girlfriend to give you a good spanking (and I don't mean the fun type)! Teehee. We all know the power of saying negative stuff-we can make it happen! You've always been the positive type who made the positive stuff happen by talking about that-this is one area where I wish you could take a step back for a bit. I know it really sucks that so many folks you know have died or are dying, but we all are. You're still here, and healthy-start thinking about next spring, and maybe a vacation in Florida or something, and make that happen, instead.

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