Advice from One of the Best

Tunesmith. net is a site I've mentioned in previous posts here. I've been doing quite a bit of reading over there of late and I'd like to share a few nuggets of wisdom that I've found with you. The first is a wonderful interview transcript with Chris Wallin, a successful Nashville songwriter who posts occasionally over on that forum. It's been a real treasure find to be able to read stuff posted in a songwriting forum by one of the best. Keep in mind that this information is from the "Nashville" perspective of songwriting. But, as far as I can tell, this is just solid information for any aspiring songwriter.

Transcript of NSAI's Pro Online Chat with Chris Wallin on June 7th, 2006

If time is tight, here are a few quotes from the interview:

Q: Do great ideas for you happen and "finish themselves" quick or not? How long does it take?
Chris: My writing never comes quick. I always have to build lines. When they do come faster then normal I always beat them to death to make sure I wasn't hasty.

Q: What is your single most important piece of advice?
Chris: In general, find out what it is that you do well and do that till you drop...no matter what it is. Whether it is editing, the idea person, melody, and so on and never write for the radio because radio is two years behind. If you can sing, save your $$ and do your own demos. But PLEASE be honest with yourself. If you can't do the song justice, get someone who can. It’s only your song that suffers if you don’t.

Q: Is it all about networking?
Chris: The networking helps but the best way to have good networking is to have great songs. The reason people will help you is because they like your songs. A plugger friend of mine has helped me out a lot. I thanked him one day for helping me. He said "Chris if you didn't write what I thought were great songs I couldn't afford to help you."

Ok. Now a few other quotes from Chris that I dug up in different threads on Tunesmith.

This one is his reaction to hearing When I Get Where I'm Going for the first time. I include this because I've had this exact same reaction to a couple of Chris' tunes.

This is one of those songs I heard and cried like a baby and then I called up Rivers Rutherford and said "YOU B*STERD!!!!" I have lost alot of family members in the last two years . This song hit me where I live. It also reminded me how powerful a song can be and inspired me to keep writing the songs that heal me.

This one is a small snippet from a longer post of his. This line really stood out to me and seemed to represent what we are about here at Songwriting Apples.

People look at Jeffrey Steele and Craig Wiseman and others and wonder "what do they do I don't do? I'll tell you.... they write 100-120 songs a year. They work their tails off all the time. They moved to Nashville years ago and sacrificed EVERYTHING to put themselves in the "right place at the right time".

I thought this "p.s." for one of his posts was very interesting...

p.s. There are songwriters here that will have deals one day . Probably not who you think. I wish all of you the best. Please don't stop learning. I learn something new everyday. If your dreams are flowers then hard work and knowledge are the sun and rain.

Concerning the process...

Sometimes I have Hook Sessions with people I write alot with. Just think of hooks and Ideas for songs all day and write them down. There will be alot of food at your next songwriting buffet.<---- ok so that was a little wierd. Anyway sometimes a song breaks out and you start writing. What a Concept.

And, finally, I don't think this is his, but he used it and it's relevant...

Just because you eat(listen to songs) doesnt mean you can cook(write).

Hope these quotes and the interview are useful and inspirational.

Write on,
J