Congratulations on a great song!

Drea was the star of a television series in Pittsburgh last October. The producer would like her to make another episode with the show sometime next month.

Secondly, she won a beauty pageant and is going to the Ms. Pennsylvania contest next June. It is a precursor to the Ms. America Pageant.

Third, she is auditioning for the Wilhelmina Modeling Agency, New York this Saturday for a chance to be represented in films, tv, print etc.

She is still singing and is performing next month for her community’s “Light up Night.” Plus she just signed up with Mike Weiber on New Groove Music last month.

The same little quirk happens from time to time at Artist Development Network, where I work today. I’ll be working diligently at my computer when ding… I receive a 1500 word email from somebody that is “interested” in working with us. Peppered throughout their ramblings I’ll see statements like “I’m not in this for the money, or the glamour or whatever” and I’m left scratching my head. Why on earth would anybody want an unsuccessful musical career?

Today I talked to a beautiful woman who sings like an angel. She is particularly fond of spoken-word music and envisions herself as a world music singer. And again… I’m thinking… have you even looked at the CD unit sales of world music artists? Sorry… but that ain’t the way to roll. The world sales numbers are pathetic. Albums that sell 1500 copies aren’t going to do anything but insure bankruptcy. Here she is, in her comfy, warm apartment somewhere thinking… I can make the world a better place. She obviously hasn’t done the math. If you’re an artist and you want a well maintained tour bus and a sound man and a band and stage outfits and decent hotels to sleep in along the way… it’s going to require significant CD sales and revenue to pay the bills.

It’s a vicious cycle, art vs. finance. But I encourage you all to create music that does have mass appeal. I know it’s difficult… and don’t give me that anyone can write that crap line because I know better. I’m a professional songwriter! I know how hard it really is.  So seek help. Learn to write commercial music well. The overhead is too high to shoot for anything less. You should also note that the stars of today do whatever it takes to keep the gravy train rolling. Corporate sponsorships, tee shirts, hats, ring tones, purses, albums, toys, are all apart of the game. The industries that can keep your bus rolling on the road have an abundance of promising bands to pick from. Which bands do you think they’ll choose first?  Not a trick question, by the way. The answer is: they’ll want to work with the most driven, commercially appealing bands. It’s called return on investment folks…and your banker won’t be terribly understanding to your dream of saving the world.  He will, however, respond to money. 

So there we are kids. It’s still all about money. You get but a few legitimate shots at stardom in your career. The last thing you’d ever want to tell an interested A&R rep or manager is that you’re goal is to simply make a “living” with your music. He’s thinking about his percentage of the take! You can still have your personal projects, perform at Earth Day and give your time to charity. But whatever you choose as your bread and butter gig had better be profitable.

“Why Is Live Performance So Vital?”

Everyone wants to be a singer. Everyone wants to be a star. But I’m always surprised when I find out that some of these same people have never sung in public, never been on stage, never performed with a band. It’s one thing to enjoy singing, and it’s another thing to love it and be comfortable enough to sing in front of people. There’s no substitute for performing live in front of a crowd. This is where you really learn how to read your audience, measure how you’re doing, what you need to improve on, what works and what doesn’t. The stage is where you put all your talent, personality, and even your acting to the test! Can you entertain? Are you good enough, unique, and talented? Does your audience feel your music and enjoy listening to you? Are you giving them energy, excitement, and goose bumps? Do they feel what you are communicating through your songs? Can they relate? Do you interact with your band, playing off one another and making the audience feel engaged in the fun and pleasure of making music? It’s impossible to know any of these things if you’re not out performing regularly to learn and grow as a singer, as a musician, and as an artist.

“How Do You Prepare?”

One of the best ways to learn how to be a great entertainer is to study other singers and bands. You can critique someone’s performance by how they make you feel, how they look, sound, move, talk, etc. If you left feeling that your attendance there was worthwhile, that’s a good thing. Have you ever felt ripped off for spending money on a ticket for a concert or live show? Maybe the band was boring, maybe they did not interact with the audience at all, maybe they sounded terrible, or you could not hear them very well because the drums and bass were drowning out the vocals. Maybe they played such a short set; you felt you did not get your money’s worth. Maybe the artist was arrogant and you did not like their attitude. 

To prepare yourself for live performance, you must practice, practice, practice. Practice getting your vocals perfect as well as being in excellent voice by warming up and singing correctly, using your stomach not your throat, and properly breathing. Practice what songs you will sing in each set, so there are no dead spots in your show. Sing songs everyone knows and loves, along with a few of your originals to try out. Let your audience know you wrote the song and why you wrote it. Keep the music constantly flowing from one song to the next, only to stop briefly to introduce something interesting between a song or two. Give lots of eye contact; let everyone know you are a happy to be there. Try to coordinate your wardrobe with the band, so that everyone looks like they fit together; complement each other, to give a polished and professional look. Practice interacting with the band; choreograph certain moves during instrumental solos, for example, so you’re not just standing there like a stone. The audience will feel at ease, relaxed and comfortable if the band looks relaxed, confident and like they’re having fun on stage. Don’t talk too much on stage, and don’t be unfriendly either. Do what comes natural to bring the audience in and make them feel welcome and excited. Make sure at least one person in the band does great harmonies with your lead vocals. It adds so much to have great background vocals on the songs you are singing.

“My Observations”

My A&R guy, David Harper and I attended a showcase last Thursday night, October 13th, at the Cadillac Ranch on Broadway, in Nashville. An artist I represent, who lives in Atlanta, Georgia was doing a live show for some talent buyers, to try to get more bookings. This was the very first time I got to see Ryan Casper perform with his band. We had produced Ryan’s cd of many excellent songs that he co-wrote with some of the best songwriters here in Nashville, and I already knew of his amazing vocal talent. But performing in front of a crowd is a whole different experience. I listened and I watched, and I also observed others around me to see what kind of reaction Ryan and the band were getting from the audience. Ryan played the guitar excellently. He was exceptional on his vocals, too, and he did not say too much or too little. Great songs, no dead time, great range and pitch in his singing, but I would liked to have seen the band dressed up more for their show, and Ryan up there without the ball cap on. You have to look like a star on stage!!!”  

They were all well prepared in their musicianship, no complaints there. But there was one very important missing piece of the otherwise complete puzzle…they were not engaging the audience at all. It made me feel uncomfortable to see each member of Ryan’s band, despite how great they played, not moving on stage, no eye contact, no smiling or communicating any excitement or enthusiasm in their body language. I felt bad for Ryan. He was working so hard on that stage, like a one-man show, with no one coming to his aid. The band had not taken the time to practice how to move together, interact with one another, or how to “entertain” the crowd. The band needs to support the lead singer, and vice-verse. It was like being in a boxing ring, Ryan’s getting beat up by his opponent and there’s no one in the corner running to bring him water to drink, wipe the sweat and blood off his face, or treat his wounds. The band is his cheering squad, his support on that stage. If I were a talent buyer “entertainment value” is definitely something I would want to see in a live performance.

We took some videos of Ryan’s performance to show what could be improved upon. They are a great band and can be amazing once they learn to choreograph their movements and learn to “act”, or come alive on stage, as a team, not just “Ryan the singer, and his musicians”. A band really needs to work together to be in unison, to flow smoothly and in perfect harmony as a group.

There was another band that got up to perform after Ryan was finished, and we stayed to hear them. The lead singer was pretty good, and the band was more lively, they had more energy and better stage presence. My only complaint was the couple of minutes between songs, what we call dead time, that should have been filled with music, if they were better prepared with their song set selection. But this band involved the audience. An example, is that the lead singer introduced a couple that he had heard just got engaged. He had them come up to the front of the stage while he introduced them, and then he asked them to slow dance while he sang them a love song. It might be a little cheesy, but he was entertaining us. We enjoyed it, and it kept our attention. This kind of audience participation makes you feel like you are a part of the music, the song, and the celebration. You’re not just watching, you are involved, and that’s the difference between the two artists we observed last week.

“Hard Work”

I’m impressed with the artists I represent who get out and sing as often as they can, even if they are not being paid very much for their performance. It’s hard work, its dedication. It’s a lot of sacrifice practicing with a band, working out all the kinks, conflicts of personalities and egos, jealousy, etc. Rarely do band members get paid for rehearsals, so it’s hard to stick together through the tough times. But I can see the difference it makes when these individuals have the passion and the patience, and the love for the music to hang in there. I’ve seen many artists improve in so many ways, with their vocals, their stage presence, their confidence in interacting with the audience, even their personality. It’s wonderful to see people like Amy Gass who was so timid and not a very strong singer now perform so confidently, singing beautifully, and looking comfortable and happy on stage. She gets better every time she performs. And she gets better every time she records. Practice makes perfect!

One of the greatest bands I have ever seen or heard in my life are, the Eagles. Wow, they are perfection in the ultimate degree! The songs, the voices, the musicians! It would be hard to top that incredible band! That’s what I call tight. It’s obvious that the Eagles have been performing for years and years, perfecting and polishing their “act”, until they are so intertwined musically that they no longer have to think about what they are doing. It comes so naturally. Bands need to work together to be tight. Make it look and sound effortless. Then you’ll get the big bucks and have them yelling for more!

How It All Begins…
I’m not talking about the creation of the world, or the beginning of life. I’m not talking about God. Or maybe I am. Because when I think about how inter-related it all really is, I certainly could be talking about God, our Supreme Creator, the creator of our Spirits. But that’s another sermon. What I’d like to talk about right now is something we each possess inside of us. It’s our gifts and talents, the things that bring us joy and fulfill our lives. It’s those things we are most passionate about and the things that come natural to us. All of us in this world have the capacity and the need to create, to bring to life something worthwhile and meaningful. I believe that’s what brings true happiness, like the creation of life itself, giving birth and having children is probably the greatest of all eternal joys.

But when we look around us, there is a vast of other creations that bring us great joy as well. Someone, somewhere, at some time had to invent, create, discover, or design all these wonderful things we see and enjoy in the world around us. How did they do it? How did it all start? I don’t know the intricate details of architectural or fashion designing, or writing a computer program. I have no earthly idea how those doctors can operate on someone’s heart, or do brain surgery, or even set a broken arm or leg. I’m not even very good at baking the perfect chocolate chip cookie. But I do know one thing. It all begins with a vision, looking ahead and seeing, what you want to do or what you want to be. When I visualize that perfect looking, round, tender, chewy and gooey on the inside, and golden crispy on the outside, buttery melt in your mouth delicious chocolate chip cookie, it motivates me to really make the effort to get it exactly right this time. And I can’t forget the ice-cold milk.

Start With The End In Mind
The very first step anyone must have before they can create something is that they must imagine it in their mind, have an idea, a dream, or a vision of what they want to do. What is your main objective? We must VISUALIZE any goal we want to accomplish. That vision is the driving force, or you can call it the “faith”, that brings that thought into motion. It’s that thought, that idea, and I will go further to say that we create that idea spiritually first, before we create it physically, or temporarily. We must first see it in our mind, believing in that dream or goal, and visualize it, so we can actually see into the future to work towards making it happen, making it REAL. But a vision without effort would accomplish little. Therefore, once we visualize that thing we want in our life, we must make the necessary steps toward accomplishing short-term goals that accomplish our long-term goals, to bring our dream closer to reality.

Can you imagine wanting to becoming a doctor without first visualizing yourself caring for the health and welfare of others? I imagine that a future doctor can see himself in his stethoscope and white coat, consulting a patient. Would it be realistic to think you could ever be a doctor without going to medical school? Could you be a lawyer without going to law school? If you start with the end in mind, you realize the necessary time, cost, and sacrifice it would take to get the training, education, the studying, practice, interning, clinicals, etc. that these professionals must accomplish before they are qualified and ready for their demanding careers.

Although simple compared to treating a patient or representing a client in a court of law, an example for me, is that every time I have taught a class or given a talk, I first asked myself, “What it is my main objective?  What am I trying to teach? How can I inspire this group of kids? Do I have any experiences that would relate to my message and help reinforce what I am trying to help them internalize? Starting with the end in mind gives me focus on the steps I need to take to accomplish the assignment. Taking small steps really helps me not get overwhelmed and discouraged. When we see progress from taking small steps, it gives us the incentive and self-motivation to continue moving forward. It becomes exciting and fun to accomplish our goals when we can see results.

Another Personal Example… 
In the past seven past years, I have gained about 20 pounds, due to getting older and still eating as much as I did when I was younger and active while raising my five children. A few years ago, I kept saying I was going to lose the weight, but I have failed to lose even a couple of pounds. So this time I “visualized” myself 20 pounds thinner. I imagined myself working out on the exercise machine downstairs in the family room where that machine has sat untouched for over 9 years. I envisioned myself working out, squatting, strengthening my legs, rowing my arms, feeling my heart rate go up, getting fit, losing the weight, and looking like I did 10 years ago! I visualized seeing real results. I imagined myself toned, with muscles on my arms, firm thighs, and a flat stomach. OK, so I’m not there yet, I do not have a flat tummy, but it’s only been 4 months, and I have lost 10 pounds, and my arms are not as flabby, my thighs don’t rub against each other anymore, and I’m losing inches off my waist. This time it’s working, because I actually get up and exercise every day until I’m soaking wet with sweat! I realized that dieting alone does not work, at least not for me, so I needed to go the extra mile to reach my goals of losing the extra fat on my body. And it’s a daily battle I must continue to fight the rest of my life, if I’m going to be realistic about keeping the weight off.

Seeing Results
With any desire we have, setting small attainable goals helps us see results that inspire us to work harder and not give up. It does not matter if you fall on your face a hundred times, as long as you continue to get up and start over again. Like with my goal to drop 20 pounds, I feel confident I will lose that last 10 pounds if I am consistent. I’m motivated and excited, because I’m now finally seeing my clothes fit loosely after all these years! I see more definition around my face, muscles on my legs and arms I have never seen before, plus I have more energy and I’m feeling better about myself. I’m happier because I am accomplishing a worthwhile goal to be healthier and to look my best. I purposely visualize myself staying in shape all my life, so I will never allow myself to gain back that extra weight. That vision drives me each day, to continue to work hard and not slack off. I created a thinner, healthier me, (in my mind), and I am slowly becoming what I created spiritually. I must keep that vision of the thinner me right in the forefront of my mind. It’s really pretty easy once we understand that faith precedes the miracle.

A Dream Is Just A Fantasy Unless You Set Goals to Achieve Those Dreams
Too many singers profess that their dream is to be a recording artist. They tell me that want to be a star. “All I have ever wanted to do is to be a singer” That’s pretty much what I hear on a daily basis. But if I ask, “Are you performing out anywhere?” Or “Are you working with a band?”, or “Do you play an instrument?” or “Do you do any songwriting?” or “Have you ever taken any voice lessons?” or “What is your genre?” I’m surprised too often, that these “wanna be” singers have never (or seldom) get out to perform in public, nor have they prepared themselves in any way to make their dream a reality. As a result, most of these well-meaning individuals will find themselves still wishing and dreaming about stardom 30 years from now, wondering why they never got their lucky break. It’s quite comical when you think about it. I’ve heard it said that if you are not moving forward, you are only falling backward. Life is constant motion, and we must take those steps to make those dreams we want come true.

How can you want to be a singer if you are not getting out singing? If you are serious about becoming a successful singer, you have to take those steps that will prepare you for the hard road ahead. If you’re not willing to plan your work, and work your plan, you are not serious enough. You must visualize yourself confident and ready, singing on stage, performing in front of crowds of people, entertaining, selling records, giving radio and television interviews. You must have a vision of how you will look, what you will wear, what you will say, how you will sound, what your style is and how you want to portray yourself to your audience. You must be realistic. You need the talent and the training to be your very best, to be competitive. You’ve got to visualize the hard work of choosing the right songs, recording, vocal coaching, staying in shape, choreographing your stage movements, interacting with your band and with your audience, traveling all over the world touring, etc. Is it really, what you want to do? Are you willing to make that kind of sacrifice? Is this the talent you were born to share? Are you passionate about it enough to make it your life?

As a songwriter, you must visualize that great song that touches people, that clever hook, or chorus that is catchy and those meaningful verses that tell the story you want to communicate. Imagine and visualize how you want the song to sound and what you want others to hear and experience through your music, through your creation. Begin with the end in mind, and then start writing!

Determination and perseverance are important in the music business. Those few that make it in this industry are the ones who push forward despite obstacles. It is not talent alone that opens the door for that lucky break, it’s more about hard work, perseverance, and drive, and wanting it bad enough to hang in there through the hardships and disappointments along that bumpy road. It’s not giving up, it’s believing in yourself, it’s loving what you do, and focusing on that vision.

Choose Realistic Goals
Ok, so sometimes we are not realistic about our goals. Like I would be very unrealistic if I wanted to be one of those beautiful, graceful ballerinas you see at the ballet, or at the Opera, leaping effortlessly across the stage like a gentle swan. I’m smart enough to know that I have large feet and lack of coordination! I would not want to be a cardiologist either, because I’m simply not willing to dedicate myself to years of medical school and studying. I’ll leave that for those who love school and all that hard, technical, medical stuff. I’m happy doing what I do best. My creation is my family, my home, my little music business. We should choose those things that bring us joy and satisfaction, while helping others.

Find Your Niche
It took years of making a lot of mistakes and trying many new things for me to find what it is I was suppose to do with my life. But I finally found my niche. Sometimes we need to have experiences that teach us what we are good at and to discover what things we are better off leaving alone. Through the gifts and talents we each possess, we eventually find that perfect thing we do that gives our life balance. When that happens, it’s a wonderful blessing. I believe prayer plays a huge part in being led to what you are suppose to do with your life. You can call it your “mission” in life. What I have learned about myself is that I am good with people. I also know that I have always loved music. I love to sing, I love to hear the creation of new songs. I enjoy hearing all styles of good music and the miracle of the production process, hearing a song come together in it’s fullness. It’s so much fun to me. I love to be in the studio producing tracks and vocals.  It brings great satisfaction to hear these new and beautiful creations come to life! So coming to Nashville as a singer/songwriter and ending up running my own music business came natural to me. It is a result of my life’s experiences and the talents I have been blessed with. I’m grateful to be involved in a career that fills my life with music.

It’s important that each of you find that thing that fulfills you and brings real lasting meaning to your life. You need to be realistic, and then visualize it as if it has already happened. Plan your work and work your plan, until it is accomplished. I believe we can achieve whatever we want to in this life. It is my belief that our Heavenly Father wants His children to be happy, healthy, and successful, and to help each other along the way. Let’s create beautiful things with our minds and our hearts, and make them become a reality.

Without a great image, it would be like going into the recording studio with the most talented and amazing musicians, and then recording terrible, boring songs that have absolutely no commercial appeal. The word “artist” gives us the visual of something extra ordinary, a beautiful painting, something fresh and breath taking, a work of art. You are an artist.

Think about some of your favorite artists. What kind of image comes to mind? Garth Brooks, for example, a great entertainer who took the world by storm, bringing a rock edge to Country. He was always the well-dressed artist in his pressed jeans, cowboy shirts, and cowboy hats.

How about Reba McEntire? Born in Oklahoma, then living on a horse ranch in Tennessee, Reba is the artist with the down to earth personality, western clothes and boots, and natural Southern draw, which made her instantly famous, with her one of a kind country voice. She’s the real deal, and now almost 20 years later, she is still remembered as the queen of Country music. Equally remembered is George Strait, who we could call the king of Country. Like Reba, George Strait lives on a ranch, (in Texas), rides horses, and lives the real cowboy life, and his music reflects his values and style.

When I think of Miley Cyrus, I see a confident, very talented bubbly young star with a unique deep voice. She’s an artist who is full of energy and personality.  Now this teen has a fashionable image, young and spirited, fun and expressive. Miley even has her own line of clothing at Wal-Mart!  They have done well with her image! An actress on Disney television, now a star on the big screen and selling records and sold out concerts all over the world. Many young girls wear Miley’s style of clothes because she set a new trend that is classy and cute, and very popular.

Some of us older folks remember Boy George. Now he had a unique image. Strange, yes, unusual, but that’s what he was trying to portray, and we were all curious about the man. There’s no question who he was as an artist. Alice Cooper was another artist with a strange image. It kept us interested to see what weird thing they would do next.

Look at Taylor Swift, the teen sensation who took everyone by surprise. Young girls love her. They feel and relate to the songs she writes and sings about. Like her songs, her image is sweet, and simple, and she’s beautiful, fun, and stylish!

Brittney Spears was the all American, multi-talented singer/dancer, entertainer. Unfortunately, a few poor choices took away her squeaky- clean image.  Nevertheless, for a while, she was on top of the world, and every girl wanted to be Brittney Spears.  One thing we can learn from this artist is that it can be difficult to win your fans over and regain their trust once you’ve let them down. Therefore, what an artist says and does in public, and can help or hinder their reputation. The cameras are always rolling when you are a celebrity, and you have a responsibility to the media and to your fans. It comes with the territory.

I have a picture that was taken of Tim McGraw and me around 1994 when his first single came out, “Indian Outlaw“. He stopped at Printer’s Alley here in Nashville, TN, at a club that was called “Barbara’s”, and most people do not recognize Tim McGraw in that photo. He was thin, probably not working out regularly, nothing really special to look at.  But he morphed into a sexy, well-oiled machine, with a unique image everyone today recognizes. What a difference! Tim is always sharply dressed, w/cowboy hat, nicely trimmed goatee and long side burns, an image that really works for him.  He’s the singer with family values, heart-felt songs we all relate to. His wife, Faith Hill, is the beautiful blonde by his side, natural, wholesome, earthy, and amazingly stunning. They both have done well off and on stage, and have been successful on the big screen.

The topic of the lecture that day was behavior. Actually, the more precise topic was the behavior of woodpeckers –government funded, of course. LOL (insert comedic drum riff here). Anyway, Dr. No-Chin (professor) had stumbled upon the details of the woodpecker study, and like me, he found it quite interesting.

The story goes as follows: Top scientists had apparently fabricated a telephone pole from steel that looked, smelled and probably felt like real wood (at least at the surface). These “top” scientists temporarily erected several of these massive mirages in wooded areas where wildlife flourished to study the effects of synthetic but familiar props within the habitat. The story of the woodpeckers, and their determination to keep drilling holes in these steel poles is what has stuck with me all these years.

According to the good professor, the woodpeckers never gave up! Those cute little critters would pound away at these steel monstrosities until they literally bashed their little brains and beaks in. It was kind of sad, really, now that I think about the net result of their efforts. But what has kept this story alive in my mind over the years is that at no point did these genetically-hardwired creatures ever stop to evaluate their progress, their health, if it was working, or…the fact that they were dying. Hmm. See where we’re going with this?

I think aspiring songwriters and singer/songwriters have more in common with those little woodpeckers than we’d like to admit. Not all of us, of course. A small percentage of us have excellent self-management skills, a great work ethic, and ultimately we see our careers skyrocketing. But by and large, the other 90% of us tend to bang away at the same, no-win situations, and then wonder why nothing changes.

I see this puzzling reality all too often at Artist Development Network, where I work. Singer/songwriters come to us for…well, developing. Duh. It’s a very different type of business. I honestly have days where I feel much more like a psychiatrist than a staff writer and A&R guy. Yes, the average day for me is anything but average. I deal with sensitive, artistic personalities that have been around the block long enough to realize that things aren’t going to happen for them without professional help. They usually have above average intelligence. They are usually pretty, handsome, well-funded, great singers; but all have one thing in common: most have been trying the same things for years without success.

And let me tell you, changing behavior is a very difficult thing to do. Creative people, as I’m learning, are quite habitual. Just changing the way a particular line is sung can take hours in the recording studio. It’s very hard to re-learn things.

I have discovered, for instance, that simply changing hairstyles is pretty much a life-altering event for most men. You want to see how weird things can really get here? Sit in my office and watch what happens when a guy is told that perhaps his hair needs some attention, and that we’ve booked an appointment with a stylist. I’m pretty good with words, but what follows is usually not something I can adequately describe. Yes, the average male can dig in faster than a gopher in the path of a John Deer when hair is involved. The same thing goes for stage clothing and image. Most guys don’t easily get the fact that those jeans that Keith Urban wears for his album covers—the ones that cost about $100 per hole—are quite a bit more stylin’ than the Levi’s he plans on wearing to his next photo shoot.

The fact is, becoming a star means a lot of things. Suddenly, everybody’s nitpicking and detail-oriented. And there’s a good reason for this, too. Opportunities are not endless. Careers have expiration dates. You can’t blow it. Artists need to present themselves at their best, right out of the gate. Fans become fans when obvious and not-so-obvious conditions are met. The smallest details, the right clothes, the right hair, the right expressions, etc can add up to huge success or failure. We can’t possibly see this stuff objectively, for ourselves. We are, after all, the owners of our own bubbles.

So experts are called in, and Artist Development Network is basically a team of purported experts. It’s a tricky thing to do too. We’re on thin ice when it comes to image and intangible concerns. But we actually do know what works for our artists. And it’s not a “one size fits all” deal, either. I can honestly tell you that I would have signed Joe Cocker if he had been in my office 30 years ago looking for a label deal. I would not have tried to fix his hair, or that “I just got out of my wheelchair” dancing style he has. It all suits him and works as his own, unique artist package. But we also know when things don’t work. Cathy Lemmon (Artist Development Network Owner) has a finely tuned antenna for this sort of thing. She handles the bulk of the image-related duties here. She formulates an itinerary for positive image changes in the blink of an eye, sizing up singer/songwriters with a single glance.

So we concentrate on these things. They’re important. Weight, song selection, outfit choice, makeup, camera technique, stage patter, image…they’re all very important to your future. The whole package has to work. And if you weren’t blessed with a face that belongs on the cover of Cosmopolitan or GQ magazine, you can at least make whatever improvements are possible. Take a little lesson from Dolly Parton’s words in the movie Steel Magnolias, a classic. Dolly, a hairdresser who ran her own beauty shop in a small town, looked at her new apprentice (played by Darryl Hannah) and said: “Now remember sweetie…there’s no such thing as natural beauty.”

Back to the woodpecker thing: Don’t be one. You must have a working compass of your own, some direction. But you definitely need to stop doing things that don’t work if you’d like to see success. That alone is a great start if you aspire to be signed with a major label someday or have a hit song in the top 10 as a writer. After you’ve stopped doing things that don’t work, after you’ve cleared that hurdle, you can begin fine tuning and tweaking the little details.

I call that progress. Change is good.

Contact David Harper at:

musicbydavid@gmail.com

We pulled Jeff into our video to share with you his thoughts on the importance of songwriting in the music industry.  With over fifteen years of hosting the writer’s night at the famous Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, Tennessee, Jeff Pearson has been highly involved in the songwriting arena.  Jeff has taught countless classes on the craft of songwriting and has helped so many songwriters learn about the do’s and the don’ts that make a hit song. He has been a writer for Phil Collins’ publishing company in Los Angeles, California, as well as being published by several large Nashville companies. We’d like to invite you to view this uncut, unrehearsed video segment.

If you desire a career as a singer, I can save you years of wasted effort and get you on the right track to success. Having a concrete path and expert advise will get you where you need to go. You have the talent. I have the wisdom and the knowledge you’ll need to get started properly, taking the right steps in the right order.

Candidly, it’s too easy to get sidetracked with things that don’t matter in our business. Let me help you get your career into focus and assist you in realizing your dreams.

In my e-book you’ll learn the following:

· A little history of the record business, and why things have changed.
· Why it’s critical to start performing and find your fan base now.
· What gigs are out there, and what to expect from them.
· How to make money and handle your career as your business.
· How to start a band one piece at a time, in the right order, step by step.
· The honest 411 about working with musicians on stage and in the studio.
· The three (3) essential ingredients for studio success.
· The truth about MySpace and wanna-be virtual “stars”.
· The importance of hit songs, and how to co-write radio ready songs with help.
· The importance of getting your recordings done professionally—the first time.
· Why vocal coaching is so important to stage and studio.
· How important image is today and how you can get “camera ready” with help.
· How to employ your fans for maximum results.
· The truth about do-it-yourself stardom.
· Recording labels will come calling “if…”
· The professional networks that are out there to help you right now.

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