The Artist Development Network would like to congratulate Courtney and her co-writer CJ Watson on getting an honorable mention in the NSAI song competition just last March!  

Hi Courtney!

The results of the 10th Annual NSAI Song Contest presented by CMT are now posted online. It’s my honor to inform you that your song, “Happy To Be Here” has earned Honorable Mention honors.

We received over 2000 submissions to this year’s contest. To be counted amongst the top entries, as you have, is something of which you should be incredibly proud. You can view the full list of winners on our Song Contest page of our website by clicking here.

You will be receiving a certificate of achievement in the mail for both you and any co-writers of your song soon. In the meantime, CONGRATULATIONS again.
This is a truly wonderful achievement!!!!

All the best,

-dp

Dave Petrelli
NSAI Director of Events
1710 Roy Acuff Place

This is the best way for an artist or song writer to promote themselves…get out there and get your music heard!

Cathy Lemmon,
President of ADN, Inc.

How about you? I ask this question because the why of it all is important. I think it’s important to be who we really are. We’re not going to kid anyone if we assume the wrong role while we’re on this planet. I think that in the case of recording artists… we’re going to stand out even more than most when things are mismatched… we do our work on the world’s stage and there’s nowhere to hide.

Singer‐Songwriters have to know who they are. Johnny Cash could not have gotten on stage at Folsom Prison and sang to those inmates if he didn’t honestly feel a kinship with them. Taylor Swift obviously loves her young fans enough to help them articulate meaningful words that they would like to be able to say, but can’t yet. She validates her fan’s feelings through her remarkable songs. Johnny did the same thing. Johnny Cash was, and Taylor Swift is transparent, at ease and delighted to be singing. I dig that.

The juice of this whole star business magically switches on when fans love you and you love them back just as much. The power of this reciprocal relationship transcends any artistic limitations too. Quality of voice, depth of musicianship and perfection mean little when stars and their fans unite. All that really matters is the connection, and the rest is as natural as an evening stroll.

So back to you… why do you want to be a star? This is a tough field we’ve chosen. Writing songs that stand up to the competition is hard. Singing beautifully night after night is hard. Keeping a band together is hard. Why do we do this? It’s personal for all of us and I’m really looking forward to seeing your replies on our blog. I do know this much… the friends, clients and prospective clients of Artist Development Network are a devoted and serious group. I’ve been here for a year and a half now and I’ve enjoyed every single minute of my time co‐writing beautiful music and getting to know many of you well. I am energized by your motivation and you keep me young. I feel your musical desires and make it a point to help you co‐write the most original music possible. Our whole songwriting team feels the same way. Cathy Lemmon has that same force about her as well. She’s been steering the ship here for 16 years in Nashville. Our dream is to help you with your dreams. We love our work. And there’s that reciprocal‐relationship thing popping up again ☺

My mother wore the same outfit, so often, that it eventually became known as her uniform. She drove an ugly, white Rambler station wagon with no power steering, no power breaks, no air conditioning, a one speaker AM radio and crank down windows. Oh… yes, she drove that car for almost two decades too, in an area of town where the average car was a fully loaded Chevrolet, not more than two years old.

I would put together a Christmas list every year, and no matter how much I wanted to believe in Santa Claus, only necessities would arrive on Christmas morning. Privately I suspected that my father had gotten to Santa and somehow corrupted his generous and giving nature. Are you starting to get the picture here? My father was so tight… that he squeaked while walking.

Was this really a bad thing? In hindsight, I’d have to say no. I did feel a bit like an unwanted stepchild when all the other kids had way better stuff than I did. And this was especially true regarding musical instruments. I started playing drums on the plastic lids of empty coffee cans while most of my young friends had brand new, champagne sparkle Ludwigs drum sets. But as I’ve learned, thanks to facebook, I’m also the only one of the batch that went pro. Maybe fighting and scraping and clawing my way up through the ranks was in fact, a good thing for me. Lord knows, I couldn’t wow anybody with a homemade, make shift drum set. I was pretty much forced into a competitive position where I had to look, play and perform better than the guys that had all the cool new toys.

Today, I am very aware of my blessings. Seeing doctors and lawyers and professional guys at the local Guitar Center does make me chuckle sometimes. Life is not without a sense of irony. Here these guys are, finally in a position where they can afford anything their hearts desire. Some of them have basements full of Gibson guitars and pricey boutique amps. But here’s the ironic part… the thing they don’t have is the time or the days left it will take to learn to play those beautiful guitars well.

So what’s the lesson here guys? I don’t really know… I’m just rambling. Certainly I’m not pointing fingers or making jokes at anyone’s expense. But I do recall my father’s words from years past as I write this today. I was in grammar school at the time. I think I was griping to him about the fact that Larry DeNino (a fellow 4th grader and drummer) had a beautiful new set of drums to play the local talent contest with, while I had some ratty, duct-taped thing made my Mattel. And I remember my father’s rebuttal to my passionate pleas for immediate musical sponsorship. He said: “there are two types of musicians, David… those that polish their instruments and those that practice their instruments. Be the later, my son.”

And by the way, in case you were wondering… I did win that talent show, which left Larry DeNino more than just a little pissed off.

So practice your instruments, young’ns. Your songs deserve that much.

Contact David Harper at:

musicbydavid@gmail.com

It seems today’s music programming for FM radio is entirely different. All it takes is a day or two of careful listening to see that the simple objective of radio programming is: don’t touch that dial. Corporate-based radio doesn’t really want anything all that great or over the top. This explains, by the way, precisely why alternative isn’t alternative anymore, and, why “Sounds like…” syndrome rules the airwaves.

Most of us are not privy to what goes on behind the scenes of big corporate entities. But it would seem that they hold tight to tradition, as do their counterparts: the recording companies. Artists complain and gripe about how things ought to change. But do nothing. Why? Well, for those of you who are regular churchgoers, you can get a first hand view of imbedded tradition every Sunday, and how brutal a fight you’re in for if you’d like to shake up the status quo. You won’t have to go far to hear stuff like “that’s the way we’ve always done it” or “that’s our tradition, and we’re stickin’ with it.” Oh, yes, the semi-comatose pastor is probably preaching out to a sea of blue hair from the pulpit. The board of directors probably has an average age of 55+. The church is, no doubt, in a huge decline. The kids don’t want to come anymore and there are fewer young families every year. This church will be up for lease in the future. It’s only a matter of…time.

Seems like the bigger the entity, the slower the change. Thankfully, we live in a capitalist democracy (sort of) where the ultimate acid test is the bottom line. Radio stations, churches, magazines, newspapers and the like are all experiencing the financial reprimands of boring the crap out of people for years now. A few embrace change and actually survive. But most do not and will not, and I am beginning to see, first hand, exactly how well the expression “Real change happens one funeral at a time” applies in today’s world.

As artists, we have a responsibility to feed others and ourselves. It’s about money and art. The line separating the two can be a little fuzzy and in constant motion. But the difference between a number five hit on the top 40 charts and a number one hit is usually originality. The number one hit most often employs ideas that are unique, fresh and new.

Now, I would never suggest to you that you go the starving artist route and recreate the wheel. I would, however, strongly advise you to learn the rules, and then break them often. When you can do this successfully, you really have the makings of a music career. Getting above the media smog and the noise requires a lot more than a pretty face and a nice song. You’ve got to have a #1 attitude and something unique to back it up. This means doing it in a fresh new way with conviction and enough momentum to bulldoze straight through the traditionalists.

Those that can pull this off will thrive. I don’t know what the magic formula is for you, but there has to be a bit of tradition and a bit of new. Introduce new ideas gradually. Taking your time and testing ideas out in front of live audiences along the way is the realist’s key to success. You don’t want to spend an entire year writing left field songs and rehearsing a band only to find out a year later that your audience won’t embrace it. You want to pepper new ideas in the familiar landscape and keep adding to it until you either cross the line successfully, or drop off the edge. If the worst happens and you find yourself free falling, it was only a performance or two and you can backtrack to where you know the line is. Also, along the way, you’ll build a reputation as a very creative person. Artists that are known to be genuinely creative can cross lines without too much damage to their careers.

And once you’ve come up with something that is truly unique, you’ll find a lot more cars in the parking lots where you play. Everybody is hungry for something that is traditional and unique and fresh.

Go forth with gusto, dear young’ns.

Contact David Harper at:

musicbydavid@gmail.com