While our beloved friend Mandi was still lucid I had one last talk with her. She said “I don’t want to go. I have too much to do yet.” This would probably be how we’ll all feel facing our end. I offered her some perspective that I hoped would make it easier for her. “Mandi, [...]
The Brahenys Back at NSAI Songposium Sept 20-23-2011
JoAnn and I are excited to be back in Nashville to teach at NSAI’s Annual Songposium, a week-long collection of 140 highly specialized classes and workshops on an incredible variety of songwriting craft, business, performing and creativity topics by exceptional teachers. It all takes place on Music Row. You can get the full schedule and [...]
How do you know when your song is ready?
How do you know? When it meets your standards. Good to have a checklist to go through to make sure every aspect of the song is as good as it can get. Generally pros have higher standards for themselves than amateurs. It also depends on what you see as the destination of the song. If [...]
Lyric Writing:Common Challenges
John Braheny discusses common challenges for lyric writers: trapped by precision, expressing yourself vs. communicating, telling the story, not ABOUT the story, and creating context.
Interview with TAXI’s Michael Laskow
I recently sat down with TAXI’s Michael Laskow to be grilled on Songwriting and the Music Business. Here is my interview (reposted from Ustream).
Songbook Errors – Proof ‘em 1st
When noted lyricist, K. Lawrence Dunham (aka Kaye L. Dunham) told me the story of the wrong version of his lyric to a jazz classic ending up in a songbook and another artist recording that wrong version, I felt there was a lesson to be learned. I asked him if he’d allow me to post [...]