Sidenotes

Table top guitar solos 🎸🔥

I get questions about songwriting... like how do I do it? What steps do I take? Where does inspiration come from?

All great questions. The more I write, the better I get and the more opportunities present themselves to me. I try to channel the emotion and feeling when they come and hopefully capture it.

One time a while back I was working at a restaurant and I snuck into the bathroom to record a melody on my phone. When that inspiration strikes you ride it and make sure you get it down somehow. I’ve even written on napkins. It’s hard to explain but the music manifests out of nowhere sometimes.

Inspiration comes from life. Experience becomes music and imitates life. When I feel writer’s block I try to relax and go do something that engages my mind and my imagination. People watching is great for this.

For example, go to the mall especially around the holidays and notices the sights, sounds and smells. Every person has a story and you have hundreds right before you. Tap into that emotion and it will help awaken inspiration.

Okay writing music by yourself, or a whole album, is challenging.

When you write music with another person or a band, the song comes together quickly because everyone bounces ideas off each other.

When you write by yourself you have long drawn out conversations with yourself that take weeks to complete a song because you want that fuller perspective that comes with time.

Then you go in the studio and take even longer to record those songs and listen to them in your car and headphones and take notes and go back to the studio to make changes.

OCD and impatience collide in the studio but finally the song manifests and is ready to go.

I’ll finish the title later.

I’ve been writing songs like crazy, but I haven’t hit the studio in a couple weeks. I’m done writing the first album and I have a few for the next album already. I’ve also played a ton of shows lately... seven of them last week.

I had a lyric come to me while I was jet skiing and there was this open ocean in front of me.

“Don’t count what you lost in your path.”

I was speeding and jumping the jet ski off the wakes created by passing speedboats. One time I caught probably 15 feet of air and lost control after I landed. I spun backwards twice under water and lost my sunglasses and one of my Bluetooth headphones to the deep. (There’s a shark somewhere listening to Red Hot Chili Peppers).

Thats where the lyric came from. That spill cost me like $150 just from losing the headphones and sunglasses but I decided not to count it and move on because I’ll never forget coming back up for air and swimming 20 feet to my jet ski. There’s a lot in life you can look at that way. Don’t count it, just go. The longer you dwell on loss the longer you rob your future of gain, whether that’s money, time, relationships, etc.

I played five shows last week, and four of them in a row. Each night is unique. Sometimes I feel like wallpaper for people. Other nights the audience is engaged and interested in my original music.

I usually go live on Facebook with my shows and what I like about that is it keeps me accountable no matter what because I have an audience online that I play for too. That and I just love playing.

My family lives 1,300 miles away in Missouri and my mom said my family was listening to my live show while they played cards at the table. That gave me goosebumps. They’re so supportive of my dreams.

It’s nice to have the day off today though. After a few shows in a row I usually feel ready to retreat to the beach or in my room to read and reflect and work on goals. When you’re playing, your mind and emotions are at play too, and they need a break so you can approach the next show with a fresh mind.

So I hope everyone has a fresh week and a fresh mind. Love you all.