What he did at three years old was instinctive to him. He wrote about what he knew! What was important to him! What inspired him! He still does. Now it’s about Dragons and Yu-Gi-Oh adventures! He’s got three different groups of folded pieces of copy paper in his backpack that he tells me are different books he’s working on. He will coming running into the dinning room throw open the closet door to get a piece of paper because he has an idea that he has to write and draw. He has a list of book ideas he wants to write. Maybe he has learned some of this from watching me, but I have not sat down and taught him any of these things. This all has come natural for him. He has The Soul Of A Writer!
My wife and I encourage our kids to pursue their passion, but we also know that “life happens.” That doesn’t mean you have to stop pursuing your passion when you get detoured along the way. Sometimes the detours make you better at what you do. Maybe they are just part of the road we have to travel down to get to be that writer we are meant to be. Maybe they give us depth to our soul. I’d like to share a few stories about some really good friends of mine who have taken the “Long and Winding Road” to successfully reaching their dream. What they all have in common is the Soul Of A Writer!
My main co-writer, Bud Tower started writing songs at 13. Joni Mitchell and Eric Anderson heavily influenced him. For 30 years he always thought writing was a “hobby.” He did what most of us do, went to college, got married, got a job, started a family etc…. He was a stock research analyst for an investment bank. He did extremely well at his job because he worked very hard. But that “hobby” was always calling to him. He would write down idea’s all the time. Write songs on the side and play at local bars. One day Chuck Cannon (#1 Hit Country Songwriter) heard one of his songs and encouraged him to pursue it professionally. Bud joined NSAI in New Orleans, started making trips to Nashville (that’s how we met) and after two years of doing that he quit his job, sold his house and moved to Nashville. Five years later, he has the current single by Hank Williams Jr. called “Red, White & Pink Slip Blues!” (Check out the video, it’s killer: http://www.hankjr.com/home/) He also just landed the title track to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s new CD “God & Guns!” Almost everyday he calls me and says: “Hey dude, I got this really cool idea for a song!” What he thought was a “hobby” was really his passion and now his profession. It just took him a long time to finish completing his degree! He has The Soul Of A Writer!
The Eastern PA Chapter of NSAI’s Adopt-a-Shop-Pro, Bob Dellaposta would be right now getting ready to retire from his High School Band Director job in Altoona, PA. But he didn’t follow that path. At first he didn’t know he had The Soul Of A Writer! He came to that epiphany through the oldest reasons in the book. A girl! He wrote a song for a girl and that was it! (BTW, John Mellencamp gives the same reason for writing.) Of course Bob got detoured in good ways like most of us do, (Family, Career to pay the bills etc…) but he just kept writing one great song after another. Storing them up. He is also an excellent trumpet player and his trumpet gig got him an invite down to Nashville by Loretta Lynn's bandleader, Buddy Spicher. Nashville seemed like the right fit for a guy who had a bunch of songs stored up. So, Bob eventually made the move and he is not looking at retiring anytime soon! He’s got more to say! He’s excited everyday about getting another cut! He’s got The Soul Of A Writer!
My good friend Bill Shore, whom I will have an interview with in my next blog has traveled an amazing road. He left the family farm in Texas at 19 years old and along his way has been around the world and has written a bunch of #1’s! He says: “I am a dreamer, I am a creator and I have never lost the passion for either.” He has The Soul Of A Writer!
So what feeds your soul? Is it listening to a great singer or musician? Then do that every morning on your way to work. Is it playing guitar, reading, singing or cooking? Do it. Take a detour from your “everyday life” and feed The Soul Of Your Writer! If you’re a carpenter, hammer out a rhythm of that new song in your head as you build a new house. Feed your soul! If you work at a factory, read a book of short stories about a place you have never been. Maybe do it at lunch and on breaks and jot down lines about the scenery and people to help you paint better lyrical pictures in your songs. Feed your soul! If you work retail, or at restaurant, maybe a bartender, get a small digital recorder and listen to all the great hooks people will blurt out. Record them and write them down in a “Hook Book” every few days. You will be surprised at how many great ideas the average everyday folks are giving away for free! Then set up a three-way co-write with the carpenter (who’s already got a great groove) and the factory worker (who’s got awesome lyrical lines written). Write a great song that feeds your soul!
Another way is to join a songwriters group like NSAI. Go to the next NSAI Meeting and meet your next “main co-writer!” Bud said to me today, “writing feeds my soul, it fills it up every time I write a song. It makes me feel good! It's really that simple!”
It’s really that simple! Feed & fill The Soul Of A Writer today! Make it yours!
Let me know what feeds your soul. I will do a follow up blog somewhere down the road with all the ideas I receive!
Inspire yourself today!
Jim Carolan
Big Daddy Songs
www.bigdaddysongs.net
c.2009 Jim Carolan
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