“I started playing guitar and writing songs when I was 15. I think what mainly sparked my interest was just the fact that I grew up listening to Cheryl King, Joni Mitchell, and James Taylor, and was just always inspired by that sort of organic art, and organic songs and just very natural songwriting that came out of some of those artists.” ThinkingWritingArtFactsArtistSongInterestNaturalListeningGrewKingsGrew UpInspiredGuitarSongwritingWriting SongsPlaying Guitar Author:Kate Voegele
“The songwriting style, to me, is superior. There was a certain amount of joy in it, no matter how sad the song is. You get joy in listening to these Buddy Holly or Roy Orbison sad lyrics. I'm attracted to songs that have balance between the darks and the lights and giving them all equal opportunity.” GivingMatterLightJoyCertainSongOpportunityStyleListeningAmountBalanceEqualSuperiorsSongwritingBuddyEqual OpportunityHolliesWriting Style Author:M. Ward
“I'm from the generation that's always been recording, from the very beginning. I learned to play the guitar on the four-track. I started listening to music at a time when people were doing recording at home, when the discussion about songwriting correlated to the discussion about producing and engineering. I think that's a description of my generation.” PeopleThinkingPlayHomeFourGenerationsListeningGuitarTrackDiscussionDescriptionSongwritingEngineeringListening To MusicMy Generation Author:Sufjan Stevens
“I studied acting and there's certainly an element of performance. I think that the songs are in many ways written to be performed. I think about what it's going to be like to sing them on stage rather than what it's going to be like to have someone at home listening to them on a CD. I guess in that way there's a connection between my acting experience and the songwriting and the way the songs are written.” ThinkingWayHomeSongActingWrittenStageListeningElementsConnectionsPerformancesSongwritingCds Author:Loudon Wainwright III
“I'm doing more deep listening, which is part of the role or job of the songwriter. I think with a lot of songwriting, songs sing themselves to you tonally and also lyrically. And it's not necessarily your own visual memories that are writing the song. It's like there are words that you can catch out there and you have to be able to see and hear them.” ThinkingWritingAbleJobsSongMemoriesRolesListeningVisualsSongwritingSongwritersDeep Listening Author:Mirah
“Listening closely to songs these days, there's a lot of lazy songwriting where people get away with it. I don't want to be too critical about it. But I also feel like I wanted to say something a bit different from just being a musician and singing about yourself. Ultimately, that's not really interesting to me. Even when I was a kid, I was interested in observing people and maybe making my own stories. That kind of reflects in my music.” PeopleKindDifferentKidsSongInterestingListeningMusicianSingingLazyGet AwaySongwritingAbout YourselfObservingReally Interesting Author:Steve Gunn
“I don't really have a set-in-stone process or formula. Sometimes the melody is there and I have to chase down the lyrics. Sometimes, the song is there and I have to make the melody fit. What I've learned so far about songwriting is that I can't force a song. If I try to do that, it's hollow, and people know a hollow song when they hear it. It's the song they stop listening to and forget about. I'd prefer not to write those kinds of songs.” PeopleWritingTryingKindSometimesSongForgetListeningFitMelodySongwriting Author:Kasey Anderson
“For a songwriter, you don't really go to songwriting school; you learn by listening to tunes. And you try to understand them and take them apart and see what they're made of, and wonder if you can make one, too.” IfsTryingMadeSchoolWonderListeningTunesSongwritingSongwriters Author:Tom Waits