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    Songstuff Writer and Artist Development Challenges

    By john

    Independent writers and artists face several large disadvantages when they are compared to signed, mainstream writers and artists.  Disadvantages that add up to making it a competition that indies can’t win. Hell they can’t even compete.   Lack of budget and poor contacts are fairly obvious disadvantages. Lack of experience and a lack of knowledge restricts songwriters and artists alike. Lack of an overall strategy, and a limited set of incomplete tactics, makes for a critical problem
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New Article - Aligning Your Lyrical Phrases With Your Melodic Phrases

Does it make a difference how well lyrical phrases line up with melodic phrases? Using an example song Songwtuff author Anthony Ceseri looks at exactly why it matters and explains what we as songwriters can do to improve our own songs. Click on the link below to read the article right now... Aligning Your Lyrical Phrases with Your Melodic Phrases Anthony Ceseri
Songstuff

Songstuff

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New Article - Taste, Not Just In Your Mouth Any More...

Songwriters can sometimes cause offense without intending to. By writing lyrics intended to have a broad appeal this is easy to do. This is further complicated by shifting trends in language. Songstuff author Jon Hanover looks at the topic in detail and explains what he finds. Click on the link to read the article right now... Taste, Not Just In Your Mouth Any More Authored by Jon Hanover
Songstuff

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A New Venue, And Computer Thoughts...

Poster’s done and notices are out for the Thirsty Lion performance on Valentine’s Day. We’ll practice Monday afternoon. This just might go all right. I connected—finally—with the folks who have put together the new performance venue in the old Beaver Mercantile (a former cheese factory). Yes, they’d like me to play there. Their next show, February 18, is a Valentine’s show featuring a number of local performers, and they’ll let me on to play a couple of love songs. I w
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A Song-A-Month Experiment?

I saw the suggestion today that artists should quit this fixation on producing albums. Albums may be what record companies want to sell, but they’re apparently not what the public wants to buy. (It’s been noted repeatedly that record companies do not care what the public wants to buy. Folks with less hubris should care, though.) What people are paying to download from places like iTunes and Rhapsody are individual songs—singles. What radio stations are playing—have always played, ex
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Updates...

Yes, the Arts Center Open Mike was good. Jane and I did “The Abomination Two-Step†(I continue to be surprised that’s such a hit), and the two new songs, “One Gas Station†and “Spend the End of the World with Me.†One couple apparently came hoping they’d hear the “One Gas Station†song. Not sure where they’d heard about it. Jam session afterwards (my favorite part). Suggestion was made that we should have a “jam potluck,†where we’d just all gather for dinner and play
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"jedi Pigs Of Oz" (&c.)...

The library is interested in another puppet show for the Summer Reading Program, and I have one ready to perform: our “Pig Wars†version of The Wizard of Oz, starring Princess Leah as Dorothy, Luke as the Scarecrow, Darth as the Tin Man, Yoda as the Wicked Witch, Hansolo as the Great and Powerful Wizard, and Chewy as the Cowardly Wookie. And introducing Glyn, the Good Witch who’s stuck in a balloon and can’t get out. Hight Jedi Pigs of Oz. I reviewed the script, and with Karen’s edit
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Two Good Songs?

So… two good songs this month, “Spend the End of the World with Me†and “One Gas Station,†the former an end-of-the-world love song and the latter just a snapshot of life in a one-horse town where the horse died. Both “keepersâ€; audiences like them. And I’m back as of this morning to wrestling with the Gospel song, “Is There Room Up in Heaven for a Sinner Like Me?†which I was working on before “One Gas Station†happened. Stan Good’s “The Next One†to record, too. Ye
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"one Gas Station" And Thirsty Lion Thoughts...

“One Gas Station†is recorded and posted; link is http://www.soundclick.com/share?songid=11400173 Problems with Audacity (my first time trying to use it to record stuff rather than just modify it), so I used the Tascam. I think the Tascam’s buzz was coming from the “effects†unit, so I left that turned off (except when I wanted the guitar to “emulate†a bass) and used Audacity to boost the volume afterwards. The old unit may be usable yet. For the video (I am trying to “thi
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Square Dance Calling, A Song--And A Movie?

Following our square dance meeting tonight (which included a short practice dance with me as caller) and caller class last night, I was told I’m ready to perform at a real square dance, Friday Feb. 17. Guess I better be prepared. I did get from instructor Daryl music for my preferred singing call, Woody Guthrie’s classic “Rubber Dolly.†Apparently, nobody’s ever used it in a square dance before, so there is no â€stock†choreography—I’ll have to invent my own. (I did get so
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Hoffman Post-Mortem--And Another New Song...

Packed house (again) at the Hoffman Center Talent Show; all the acts were real good, and this time none were on stage so long they became boring. Jane and I did “The Abomination Two-Step,†and she was right: it was a big hit. There is probably a market here for the “12 Reasons Why Joe Is Going to Hell†album (especially since host Lori mentioned it when introducing us). There’s also a potential market for the Joe Songbook (people were asking about lyrics). That one, though, is h
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A "making Of The Album" Video?

Friend Eileen is planning a documentary on the making of the Sedona Fire album. Neat idea. I’d like to do one of those myself—of my next album. There are only two major time constraints: YouTube has a 15-minute limit, and anything on public television has a 28-minute limit. I’d want to break mine into smaller increments anyway—though I’d want to have a final product that would be coherent in 28-minute blocks, just in case. You never know where these things might go. There
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And Some Writing Thoughts...

Ran across another of those “songwriting rules†articles, this one from one of the big song-contest outfits. I am bothered by hard-and-fast rules. Not only do I not work the way the article said to, I’m pretty sure a lot of famous writers don’t, either—their stuff comes out completely different than it would have if they’d followed those rules. I guess I won’t be entering their contest—not if they’re insisting the winning songs have to fit those rules. Mine won’t. Unl
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I Bailed On The Portland Gig...

Bailed on tonight’s caller class and Thirsty Lion gig; hated to, but the roads to Portland are bad and near as I can tell will be getting worse—and county emergency management says a “real†storm is on the way. Eric has re-scheduled me for Tuesday, Feb. 14—Valentine’s Day. Told him I’d play all love songs. I have plenty. Some video thoughts. Some of my songs are easier to script out than others. Some potentially easy ones are: SPEND THE END OF THE WORLD WITH ME: Iâ€
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Snow! (&c.)...

Ah, snow… It is snowing furiously outside as I write this (I am inside); if it keeps up, I’ll go for a walk and take pictures. Snow was not fun when I was a kid in upstate New York; unless you liked skiing (I didn’t), 6-10 feet of snow on the ground for six months at a time got old really fast. It was a source of income for a kid—we didn’t make our money mowing lawns in the summer, we made it shoveling out walks in the winter, over and over again. Since moving to Oregon in 197
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Another Thirsty Lion Performance?

I got invited back to the Thirsty Lion next Tuesday (Jan. 17)—short notice, but I can do it. I’m in Portland Tuesday nights for the caller class. The only thing that’d get in the way would be a job interview, if I do get called for one. This will be my eighth time there, I think. What to play? I like to do different stuff each time. How about: Eatin’ Cornflakes from a Hubcap Blues—slow & sleazy quasi-blues Spend the End of the World with Me—ragtime Hank’s Songâ€
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A Job? And "rubber Dolly"...

Well. Got asked today what salary I’d accept for that interim city administrator job. Something might actually happen there. I’m trying not to be too hopeful about my prospects, but I have rehearsed how I’d go about the job if I got it. It is a performance, after all (that’s why I refer to these jobs as gigs); Ronald Reagan once called the Presidency “my greatest role†for the same reason. I am fond of saying “I know people,†but as fellow songwriter and publisher Bobbie
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Statistics (&c.)...

Blog statistics, again. (Gotta check occasionally.) Of the slightly over 5,000 people that have read the blog on blogspot (five thousand?), less than half are from the United States. The second-largest number of readers is from Russia (534). 73 are from Latvia, 69 from Malaysia, and 61 from China. I do hope those folks are not intending to learn English by reading my stuff. One person—I’m not sure from where—apparently ran across the blog while looking for a photo of a naked hamster
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The New Pa Works!

The little PA works! Ran a music clip from “Lazarus” the laptop into the “CD/AUX” ports on the little amp and it broadcast quite well. These are nice, powerful little speakers. I was able to do a voice-over with the mike, too, which is precisely what I need for square dance calling. The whole thing—amp, speakers and (for when I need it) laptop—measures less than a foot deep, less than 18 inches high and less than 18 inches wide—very compact. There are cables—around 50 feet of speaker c
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Singing Drummer As A Singer-Songwriter

It's been a long time since I've written here. Paradoxically, my drum life has been very busy and engaging. Often times the work behind the scenes is the only work. And now it seems I've come full circle, yet for the first time, in seriously planning to do a significant project as a singer songwriter playing drums. In 2008 I began playing drums "in earnest" following a scant 3 years prior to that, and a 12 year break prior to that. Probably the most courageous thing I ever did was to commit
Donna

Donna

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Ha... That's A Punch Line

Dear Blog Ok so I been like talkin to my ex and he kinda started liking me again and I was super excited Cuz he's the one I wrote young forever for and call me Angelina and sacred love and he's the one that I was scared to love but I'm not anymore and ya!! But we get to school Wednesday right and he's walking me to class and my friend Julian calls me up! And he's all dude get off his jock and I'm all huh?! What that's not what I'm doing! And he kindly informs me that there's another gir
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petewentzsgirl7913

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New Article - 3 Ways To Improve Your Singing Range

A great first article for Songstuff by vocal coach Ken Taylor discusses three simple and effective ways to improve your singing range while at the same time addressing some common vocal issues. To read the full article just click on the link... 3 Ways To Improve Your Singing Range Ken Taylor Please show Ken some love by replying to the topic link with some feedback on 3 Ways To Improve Your Singing Range: 3 Ways To Improve Your Singing Range Discussion and Feedback
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Quick To-Do List...

Quick to-do list: FOR THE ARTS CENTER: This week: thank-you certificates for all the folks who donated items to the Big Fund-raising Auction. Include a fill-in-the-value-blank receipt for taxes, too. Get some 9x12 envelopes—we’ll need about 40, I think. I can hand-deliver the certificates on my “rounds.” On the radio with Tommy Boye Thursday morning. Next Monday, John Ramer’s new shop will be open in Tillamook; try to get more RAM for the Arts Center’s 1999-vintage PC. Write minutes
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Soliciting Gigs...

There is a by-now-well publicized Craigslist ad from a restaurant soliciting free live music on a “Hey, you can promote your stuff” basis. It prompted an equally well-publicized response from a musician inviting the restauranteur to come to his house and cook dinner for free for himself and his friends, on a “Hey, you can promote your stuff” basis. On the one hand, I agree. On the other, as one 19th-century humorist said, not so fast. I figure about half the places I perform I’m going t
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