CJ Hughes I CJ-Hughes.com I Songwriter Journal

04-11-03     BACK TO TOP

I just got out of my very first publisher meeting and wanted to relate everything that I got out of it, before I forget. It actually went a lot like I expected. I took a CD of 8 of my songs, guitar vocals, down to Larry Shell at Americana Music. Larry is a very nice guy and I am glad to have had the opportunity to meet him. We chatted for a moment on where I was from, how long I had been in town, etc...

On my CD I included a various selection of songs I have written, including some humorous bar fare, serious ballads, upbeats including a drinking song, lost youth song, etc... Larry listened to the first three all the way through, giving me pointers on melody, etc.... About half way through he told me that what the producers he is working with are really looking for are songs that grab you right from the intro, you relate with the first line and like it and then your hooked. He also said that I had hit Nashville at just the right time, since he believes that country music is about to swing back towards the traditional.

After going through the first seven he didn't seem to be impressed with anything, anything of course being what I consider some of my best stuff. He did mention that he liked the feel of a certain song, or the idea. But he had yet to hit on anything that he REALLY liked.

The last song on the disk is one that is very special to me, it's about my mom and the sacrifices she made to become a mother. Larry seemed to like it from the get go and when it was through he told me it was the best one of the eight, and until that one he had not heard anything that really hit home. We talked about the song itself, the changes it had went through, the fact that it might need some small changes just to make lines flow a little better, etc...

It was everything that I expected, except that he actually liked one of the songs that I played him. I've only been here a year so I was prepared for total rejection, which as I have heard is very common with first meetings. He asked that I get him a cleaner version of it, worked up a little more. He also asked me to bring by some more "commercial" up tempo material and some traditional country material.

I think that he liked what I do as a whole, which is good. It's another outlet for feedback, which I believe is very important, and its an open door on music row, which we all know is an awesome thing. Another thing he said that really struck me was that I should be writing about what I know, which is why he said he liked the song about my mom so much, because it was about something that I knew about, therefore I wrote better about that subject than the subjects in the other songs on the CD.

While I'll admit a bruising of the ego, I will say that it went very well compared to the horror stories I've heard. I look forward to meeting with Larry again soon, I will keep everyone posted. Looking to hit the studio soon to do a more worked up version of "Famous To Me" the song he liked, It was already in the works as a mother's day present.

Chip Martin called today with some demo work. I did the lead vocals for a song called "Love Co-dependant" which is a song he co-wrote. The production on it was awesome, I will try to get a sound clip up of it soon. Chip has a great studio, Chip Martin Productions.

I also did my first "one man show" tonight at the Hall of Fame Lounge. Not many people showed up but I didn't really expect them to, I had a good 12 people show up for my round on Tuesday, people that came out just to see me, which is always cool.   Anyway tonight's show was decent, I was a little wore out after my meeting and the demo session, went well though.

More Soon, I Country. CJ

06-06-03

Recently had a few weeks of writer's block, no fun. It's like I wanted to write the whole time, but couldn't think of anything that I thought was good enough to write.
It broke about a week ago with a song called "I'm Miserable, I Hope Your Happy." Which will probably get re-written, I like the title more than the song that I ended up with.

BIG NEWS! I signed the paperwork on "Famous To Me" this week with Larry Shell and Americana Music Publishing. Larry will start trying to get the song cut soon, we will see what happens.

So this week is FanFair, I was out until 4 this morning. My friend Buddy Owens is playing out most of the weekend and we have a lot of friends in town that are wanting to go out. So It's been hectic. I did two songwriter rounds last night. One at the Broken Spoke with Gerald Smith, where he surprised me by sings a song the he Buddy and I wrote, and then one at the Hall of Fame Lounge, where he broke out another song that he and I wrote. Great night.

My buddy Shawn Harnett is sick as a dog, sick, sick, sick. Don't know what he caught, he'll swears it's SARS. But more than likely its the good old "Songwriter Croup" which you usually get off of the microphones at one of the songwriter round clubs.

Not a whole heck of a lot else going on, I'm going in the studio next week to do some new guitar vocals and to record a demo for a friend, he sent me the tracks through the mail and I am going to go in and put my voice on them, if anyone else would care to do that just email me, I do it for cheap. $50.00 for my time and then $25.00 per hour for studio, normally $100.00 will get it because I learn the song before I go in. If your looking for a C-O-U-N-T-R-Y male singer, I can probably get it done.

Oh, other good news. My friend Wayland Patton is putting out a self-produced CD project which will contain MY FIRST CUT ON SOMEONE ELSES ALBUM! How cool is that? It's a song called, "Best Thing Could've Happened." A little song about looking on the bright side when life knocks you down and kicks you in the gut. I'm looking forward to hearing the final product.

Thanks to: Matt Ramsey for reminding me I haven't written in my journal in a month. Sheldon lee Sweeney, Wayland Patton and Andrew Hall for helping me with the demo for "Famous To Me" Dani out at Big World Studios for helping with the demo, get your stuff recorded out there, they are great. Gerald Smith for singing the songs we've written out at songwriter nights.

One final night, check out one of my new client sites, www.ChrisYoungCountry.com I recently built this website for him. He is a great country singer, and he's won a ton of contests. He even has his own booth at FanFair this year! COOL! If your at FanFair be sure to look him up, as well as Thom Shepherd, oh and Gerald Smith will be at Tootsie's booth some as well, be sure and buy his new CD. It has a hilarious song on it called "Shut the Duck Up, Or Get The Duck Out." LOL

More Soon, I Country. CJ

05-06-03 BACK TO TOP

So it's been a few weeks since I've written here, but heck they have been pretty productive. To begin, a few months back I wrote a song for my mom called "Famous To Me." A rough demo of it is on the music page. It's a song about my mom never chasing her dream to become a singer because she settled down at a young age and had kids instead. Well, I played the rough version of it to Larry Shell down at Americana Music a few weeks back and he liked it. I told him I was going to work it up for Mother's day and he asked for a copy of it when I was done.

Last Thursday I went into the studio, Big World Productions in east Nashville call Dani at 615-300-3264, and I laid down the guitar track for it. My friend Wayland Patton came out and played guitar. Andrew Hall, Harley Allen's Dobro player, came out and put some Dobro on it. Then later that night we had a late session and my friend Sheldon Lee Sweeney put down Mandolin, Bass and background vocals. We mixed it on Friday and man I'm very pleased with it. Anyway yesterday, Monday, I dropped it off at the drop box at Americana. I got back home and my phone rang about fifteen minutes later, It was Larry telling me he really likes the song. I have a meeting with him on Friday, and if all goes well It will become my first published song, how cool is that?

But wait there's more! So tonight, Tuesday, I went to see my friends Gerald Smith, Buddy Owens and Jamie Kindleyside do a round at the famous Bluebird Cafe. About half way through the set Jamie looks at me and says, hey you want to do one. Well for those of you who don't know playing the Bluebird is a big deal to most young songwriters, I've never played there or even tried out for the new writers night. Long story short I got up and did my momma song, and was nervous as could be, I could barely play the guitar part. Which was strange considering I play out three nights a week in bars, the Bluebird will do that to you though.

So in less than seven days, I recorded my first full demo of one of my songs in Nashville, got an offer to have it published AND got to sing it at the Bluebird cafe. How cool is that! I think very. This town never fails to amaze me.

In other news, my friend Thom Shepherd, of Private Malone fame, is on the brink of signing a major publishing deal. My friend Buddy Owens had a meeting with the head of Universal South last week that went very well, he is coming out to see Buddy perform at the end of this month, which could very well lead to a record deal for Buddy. Oh and Buddy Jewel from my home state of good old Arkansas won the Nashville Star contest.

And to top it all off: My friend Angaleena Presley recently signed a publishing deal with Ten Ten Music, which is a great independent publisher here in town, home of Harley Allen no less. Anyway we where singing last week at the Hall of Fame Lounge and a guy from one of the local free papers asked to take her picture. They wound up doing a small article on her. The best part? She was wearing a shirt I gave her that says "Crackwhore" across the front. How crazy is that? She has this little song called "Crackwhore" so when she got her publishing deal I bought her a t-shirt that says that, just found it online. I thought it was hilarious that they published a photo with her wearing that thing.

It's great to see people that I admire & respect getting the attention they deserve as artists and writers. It's also great to be recognized for my own efforts as a writer. It lets me know that I am on the right track!

More Soon! I Country, CJ.

04-03-03 BACK TO TOP

I was walking out of the Cracker Barrel on Harding place after a fine meatloaf dinner when a gentleman walked past me that looked just like Eddy Arnold. I mentioned it to the cashier and he said, "That IS Eddy Arnold." He said they get tons of stars in there.

Bobby Braddock invited me to the #1 party for "The Baby" how cool is that? It will be my second #1 party and I am really looking forward to it, it will be at BMI and there should be lots of country music industry types there.

Well Yesterday was the kick-off to Tin Pan South, the songwriter's festival here in Nashville. Over the next week or so some of the best writers in music will congregate here and perform at dozens of local bars and music venues. It's my first one so I want to make the most of it. I went down to the NSAI building and picked up a pass that gets me into the clubs, if your planning on going, that's your best bet. Otherwise you have to pay at every club. I plan on seeing a lot of shows so it will save me some cash in the long run.

WEDNESDAY:
Went to see Joy Lynn White at 12th And Porter with Amy Rigby. Joy is my favorite female singer and never fails to WOW me, tonight was no exception. Amy is an excellent writer as well, look for her new CD at www.AmyRigby.com my favorite is "Don't Ever Change." Joy is currently working on a brand new album, woo hoo!!! www.JoyLynnWhite.com

WEDNESDAY B:
Headed down to Drink, a bar inside the Lowes Vanderbilt Hotel. My friend Wayland had a show there with the fabulous "Circus In A Chair" Neal Coty, as well as that crusty codger known as Harley Allen, I say crusty with love, then there was the lovely Karen Staley, giver of good hugs, and the man himself, founder of www.SongwriterForums.com and one of my favorite writers. He kicked it off with "Turn it on, Turn it up, Turn me Loose" everyone tore through a bunch of new stuff. Neal played the piano, which he is awesome at, one hell of a singer and entertainer, as well as a trooper, he played with a pulled tendon in his wrist. Harley and Wayland's notorious banter kept everyone rolling, as did Neal's stories, he needs to put those thing on tape and sell them, I would buy them all. Harley did "The Baby" "Learnin' To Live With Me" :"Another Good Reason Not To Drink" "The Little Girl" and others. Wayland did the excellent "A Beer and A Nickel Cigar" "I Don't Miss Miami" "The Dog Ate My Last Prozac(And The Liqour Store Is Closed) as well as a song he wrote for his wife "Mississippi All The Way." Glaringly absent from his set however was a recent co-write with yours truly entitled, "This House Must Be Cryin'."

Neal did "She Was" and "Playboys Of The South Western World" the later being a cut on Blake Shelton's new album The Dreamer. He also did my favorite song of his "Nashville" which is a great story song about his parents coming to visit Music City. Karen did "On A Night Like This" "I Leave My Heart In Tennessee" "Every Time I Cry" and a big hit she had that escapes me. The best part, besides the songs, was the banter between these writers. They have played together before, and know each other's routine, which makes it easier for them to set each other up and to play off of one another.

Tonight will be the big www.SongwriterForums.com Hoe Down at the Hall of Fame Lounge. I'm playing at 9. Some guy named Wayland plays at 8:00 and the awesome John Pannell, writer of about 20 Allison Krauss songs including my favorite "Every Time You Say Goodbye" is showcasing at 8:30 or so.
More to come.

THURSDAY: Thursday turned into an excellent evening of top notch songwriting! We had droves of people come out to support the SongwriterForums.com get together at the Hall of Fame Lounge. Through out the night members of the forum from all across the country got up and sang their originals, I heard several songs that I REALLY liked! Great job Songwriter Forums! Wayland played a 30 minute set all alone at 8 which was very good, he�s got some really good stuff. John Pannell played after Wayland, he's had several Allison Krauss cuts, and also has the title track to Dan (Soggy Bottom Boys) Teminski's new CD, Carry Me Across The Mountain.

I sang in a round with Shawn and Gibson from the forums around 9:45 or so, it went very well. I was heckled by a good friend who will remain nameless, she did give me a idea for a song, she had had a few drinks and she looked at me and said, "when this is all over, remind me I had a good time." I thought that was cool.

I did my regular bar fare, a song called "Damn Skippy" about a dog I used to have that kept running off, Wayland screamed for it until I did it. A more serious one called "Those Little Things" and then "Twelve Fluid Ounces At A Time." Since I just got over a cold on Tuesday or so I just thought it was a decent round as far as my part was concerned. Afterwards however John Pannell waved me over to his table and introduced me to a gentleman sitting there with him. It turned out to be the president of Americana Entertainment. We got to talking and he told me he really liked my stuff, we exchanged cards and he told me to call and come by to see them next week. I thought that was really something, I've never had a publisher meeting so it will be a new experience. That was Thursday night, so Friday I go out in the morning to get some errands ran, then went to eat. While I was sitting in the drive-through line at Wendy's "Murder On Music Row" came on the radio. It's a great song but one you don't hear on Nashville radio very often, since it looks down at the labels for disowning traditional music.

So then I got home and checked my messages. No lie, Larry Shell from Americana was on my answering machine. LARRY SHELL CO-WROTE MURDER ON MUSIC ROW! How cool is that!!! It was like a freaking omen or something. Anyway, turns out Jon, they gentleman I had met the night before, had told Larry about me, Larry runs the publishing at Americana, so Larry called and asked me to come meet with him. I have my first Publisher meeting next Friday! I'm not getting my hopes up but I just thought it was so cool the way everything happened.

Friday: My friend Don Derby and I headed down to the Broadway strip to see some friends playing. Buddy Owens has the 6-10 spot that Thom Shepherd used to have at Legends. While Thom is doing the 6-10 on Fridays in the back room at Tootsies. When we stopped in to see Thom he and his band had drawn everyone that's normally downstairs, upstairs, the joint was packed. His band is awesome, they should all be on the road, Thom included, making big bucks. Stop by and see them when your in town, Thom's show dates are on his site, www.ThomShepherd.com

After watching Buddy and Thom for a while we headed down to the Flying Saucer to one of the Tin Pan shows. I really wanted to see Dean Dillon, he's had like 17 George Strait #1's, and he was playing at 9:30. Leslie Satcher was there as well, man besides being able to write a hit song, she can WAIL. Great singer.
Also in attendance was Kerry Curt Phillips who is now one of my favorite writers. He co-wrote my favorite song of this year, "Almost Home", with Craig Morgan. He also wrote, "Is It Cold In Here, Or Is It Just You" Damn what a song!

Dean did a bunch of his, "A lot Of Things Different" "The Chair" "Ocean Front Property" and many many others, and then ended with a medley of George Strait hits that he has written.

For me the best part of the night was a story that Leslie Satcher related about Dean. She started off by talking about a songwriter from out of state that was pestering her sister, who is a song plugger, to get some of his material to people in Nashville. He kept at it until finally Leslie's sister had to tell him, "If you want to be a songwriter then move to Nashville, work a crappy job and starve. Because when you really want something, you should be prepared to suffer and work hard for it." Then Leslie told a story about Dean that she had read in a bio of his. It said that when he graduated High School he walked to Nashville, WALKED, because he KNEW he wanted to write songs. She asked him about it and he told her that when he got here he had no where to stay and no money. So during the day he would meet with publishers and writers and get to know everyone. Then at night he would sleep in one of the old coal shutes off of one of the old houses down in music row. We are talking about a very small box with a flap for a door that people used to shovel coal down into their basement with. He was homeless and slept in a coal shute after walking to Nashville because he KNEW that songwriting was what he was meant to do.

I don't know anyone else whose urge and need to be in Nashville was that strong. That's sacrifice and that's determination. And people like Dean Dillon are the ones that make it in this town, and there the ones that everyone else, including myself, should aspire to be. He was a hero to me before, he is a legend in my mind now.

SATURDAY: Man am I wore out! I wasn�t going to go out tonight until I remembered that my friend Matt was wanting to go out because his wife was having a bachelorette party for a friend of hers at their house. So we went down to the Hall of Fame Lounge to see Thom Shepherd and Marla Cannon, both put on a great show. Thom did several new songs from his new CD "Country Squire" which is available on his website at www.ThomShepherd.com It includes his version of the hit "Riding With Private Malone" as well as a song he and Jeff Batson wrote that is currently in the top 10 on the Christian charts, "Little Hope Baptist Church."

Tin Pan was an awesome experience, but truthfully, I�m glad it�s over, lol. I haven�t gotten any work done in seven days!. And today, Sunday, I slept for 12 hours! Which made me miss Doak Turner�s first Annual GuitarBQ. I was just to wore out to go.

Tomorrow I�m going to the #1 party for "The Baby" should be a lot of fun. It�s another full week, Tuesday I have a round at the Broken Spoke Songwriter�s Cafe with my friend John Pannell, as well as Keith Nixon and Shawn Harnett. Then Wednesday and Thursday I�m headed home for a visit, then back on Friday for a meeting with Larry Shell at Americana Music, then a showcase that night at the Hall of Fame lounge, looking forward to another fun week.

More Soon, I Country. CJ

03-16-03 BACK TO TOP

I got some feedback from the publisher of the song that was my first paying demo, they loved it! Or that's what the producer Chip Martin said, he also said more demo work would come out of it, so that's great. Hopefully once I get a few under my belt they will come more easily, by then I will have plenty of material for people to hear. I posted clips up to the page of the two I have done and they have already lead to more work, so that's great! Not a whole heck of a lot going on right now, gearing up for Tin Pan south in a few weeks, going to run around like crazy and try to catch all of my friends that will be playing.

Had my first writing session with Thom Shepherd last week, it went decent, we did get a good start on what I think will be a great song. I'm sure we will write well together, we have known each other for a while know and I think that will help with our writing.

I got to hang out with John Pannell the other night, good friend of Shawn's and writer or co-writer of about 20 or so Allison Krauss songs, he rocks! He wrote my favorite Allison song "Every time you say goodbye" He's a great guy, performs pretty regular in Shawn Harnett's Thursday night songwriter rounds down at the Hall of Fame Lounge.

Took my second official trip to Music Row last week, the first was the #1 party for "I Wanna Talk About Me" at BMI. Hard to believe I have been hear almost a year and have only been on the Row twice, just haven't had a good reason to get down there yet. Debi Champion over at the Broken Spoke is having a benefit show for fellow songwriter Jonathan Long at the end of this month, he was hospitalized and nearly died a month or so ago, and doesn't have any medical insurance so we are going to try and help him out. Anyway Bobby Braddock agreed to sign some albums for me for the auction, so I dropped them off at Sony/ Tree. Thanks Bobby!

I wrote a new song last week I really like called "I'll Tell The Devil You Said Hello" I wanted to tell the story of a man going through Hell after his girl leaves him, without using the word "hell" in the song, I think it turned out very well.

Finished a song with Gerald Smith last week, he wants to keep the title a secret though, lol. It's a hook I carried around for a long time that he believes is very good and might wind up getting stolen before we can get the song pitched around town, we will see how that goes.

I pitched my drinking song "12 Fluid Ounces At A Time" directly to David Ball, never heard back so I guess it wasn't what he was looking for, to bad, next!

More Soon, I Country. CJ

03-06-03 BACK TO TOP

Got to see a terrific show at the Bluebird Cafe last night. David Ball, Wood Newton and Thom Shepherd. I know Wood and Thom, and got to know David some last night. The show was also taped to be broadcast on Turner South, check me out, I'm sittin' behind Wood Newton, lol, for part of the show anyway. I was in the back of the room until half way through when they took a break, then some folks left so I got to be a seat filler, lol. Anyway Thom and Wood wrote "Riding With Private Malone" which was a big come back hit for David. David did several songs from his Amigo album which Private Malone is on. Thom did some material, including an AWESOME sequel song he wrote to Private Malone! It's called "Last Letter Home" and is told from the perspective of one of Private Malone's army buddies in Viet Nam. It is a very well written song, hopefully David will put it on his new album! Wood did an excellent set as well, he's from Arkansas and as I told him last night, he makes me proud I am from Arkansas as well. A very gifted songwriter he did "I can see Arkansas" which was a big hit, "Lillie's White Lies" which was a hit for Martin Del Ray about 10 years ago, as well as "It's What I Didn't Do" which was a smash for Steve Warner and was also re-cut by THE George Jones on "The Rock." Wood also did "20 Years Ago" which was a monster hit for Kenny Rogers, Wood has written a lot of great songs.

Got to talk with David, Wood and Thom after the show, even managed to pitch a song directly to David. It's the same one that Wood was holding onto for him to listen to. He hadn't heard it yet so I just brought a copy with him, I'll be sure and let everyone know if I hear anything on it.

Tonight begins 3 songwriter rounds in a row, tonight is the Hall of Fame, tomorrow is the Broken Spoke and then the Spoke again on Saturday. Besides a few scattered rounds I am taking it easy on them this month and next, don't want to get burned out on them.

Ran back into Marc Allen Barnett on Monday night, he did a very good set, he is an awesome performer, with a voice similar to T. Graham Brown.

My first paying demo recording went very well!!! I recorded a song out at Chip Martin's studio for a fellow songwriter, full band and everything, it turned out very well I think. I'm sure I will get better at these as I get a few more under my belt, all you songwriters, if you need someone to sing on a country song, I'm your hick! My current rate is $40.00 per song. Usually takes at least an hour to knock them out, less for songs with simple lyrics, more for songs with complex lyrics or tricky melodies. Hope to be doing a lot more demos, just another way to get my voice and name out there.

Looks like I will be trading graphics work for studio time with a few different places in town, which will work well for me. Hopefully I will have several of my songs worked up in the next few months. Also had some interest from a publisher out of state who heard me singing on the demo I did for Chip, we will see if that turns in to anything.

Just plodding along, doing what I can do. My logo/ web business has picked up considerably, it gets harder to balance music and work when I'm this busy, but they are two things that I love to do, so it makes it a little easier.

On March 23rd from 2-7 Debi Champion is hosting a benefit for fellow songwriter Jonathan Long who recently had to undergo emergency surgery. Jonathan did not have health insurance at the time of the incident so he needs all the help he can get for medical expenses. There will be a charity auction of autographed material, etc... as well as some awesome big name songwriters performing, please stop by and make a donation if you get the chance.

More Soon. I Country, CJ.

02-28-03     BACK TO TOP

After having a songwriter round go quite poorly last week, see the last journal entry, I tried my best to do better this week. Wednesday at the Broken Spoke was a good round. Shawn Harnett and Roxie Randall joined me on stage to entertain a crowd of roughly 30 people, not bad. And everything went smoothly. Thursday was a little different. Sometimes I get in to these little funks, normally brought on by a bought with insomnia. If I am in a funk I know I am not going to do my best before I even get on stage. Thursday was one of those nights. Right off the bat I spilled a drink on stage, totally blowing any image I had attempted to impress upon anyone. Then I struggled with some high notes in my first song, but it eventually smoothed out and the round turned out ok. Sheldon Lee Sweeney and Bill Warrington did an excellent job.

I on the other hand took on a self deprecating manner on stage, never a good thing. I try for humor every now and again and am sometimes successful at it. I wanted to do well because a guy that I admire, Marc Allen Barnett, was in the audience. He put on a great one man show just before my round. Well right after my first song he got up and left, so I figured, "Wow I must have really impressed him." So we get through with the round and I walk off stage and someone hands me a napkin that says C.J. on it. The woman that handed it to me said it was from Marc. I left it there thinking it was some kind of joke, because it only said my name.   Well a little while later the woman comes up to me toting this napkin again and says, "I really think you should read this." And I'm like "Read what? It's just my name." Then of course it hits me to turn over the napkin, yet another sign of an off night. And there on the other side is this little note.

C.J.
Hated to leave but gotta!
you're doing great man!
very proud of you!
Good Up tempo Dynamics!
Good Song
Good Stance!
Great Job!
~ Barnett

So of course I felt like a total ass, because I had opened my big mouth on stage and mentioned that Marc had left after hearing me do one song.   Marc has been here over 15 years and had some minor successes with getting cuts, etc.. as he will tell you, he can tell you everything not to do in Nashville. He's been there and done it, and even wrote a book about "Your first year in Nashville." I haven't picked up my copy yet but I am going to, he really does seem like a great guy. I even thought so before the afore mentioned bar napkin scrawl.

What would have been my first paying demo session was cancelled today. I got out to the studio and the computer/ board was offline. Good luck getting that fixed Chip. Once he does and I lay the vocals down for the track he wanted me to work on I will post it online, if it's ok with the writer(s.) I think Chip might be able to help me with getting some kind of CD out soon, at least I should be able to get some of my stuff on tape, I have several things I would like to pitch.

Next week should be one big old blur. I have four rounds. The most I've ever done in one week. Monday at the Spoke, Thursday at the Hall f Fame Lounge, Friday at the Spoke and Saturday at the Spoke. I should be a puddle by Sunday. I will probably slack off from rounds a bit for a while, I don't want to get burned out on them. My friend and fellow songwriter Doak Turner said it was time for me to take a "Mental Day Off" I think I will do jus that very soon. I've also decided that there is a thing as being TO supportive. I'm finding myself running around like crazy to see friends rounds or shows. It's getting to be that what should be good entertainment is turning into a chore. So I am going to have to watch my time a little better. I love going out and seeing my friends play, but I have to make some time for just relaxing.

Thanks to Shawn Harnett, Roxie Randall, Sheldon Lee Sweeney and Bill Warrington for being in my rounds last week. Thanks to Bobby Braddock for agreeing to autograph some CDs for a fundraiser for a fellow songwriter out at the Broken Spoke on Sunday the 23rd. A big thank you to Emilie Patton over at Fitzgerald Hartley Management for agreeing to round up some items to be auctioned off at the benefit. Oh and thanks to my friend Buddy Owens for letting me on stage when he does bar gigs down town, it's a very cool feeling to get up on stage and sing with a full band, thinking of starting one of my own.
Thanks to Marc Allen Barnett for the encouragement, it came at a very needful time my friend.

More Soon, I Country. CJ

02-21-03 BACK TO TOP

Had a very good round on Tuesday at the Broken Spoke. Had several folks come out to see me, including Thom Shepherd, Wayland Patton, Shawn and Logan. It was a blast, it's hard to get Thom to come because he's always playing, and Wayland doesn't do the bars much. We had a blast though, Wayland and I stayed after my round and watched Jeffrey Steele play which was awesome, he is very good on stage. Good story teller, singer, songwriter and guitar player. We also stayed for Marc Allen Barnett's round which was very good as well, Marc can whale like T. Graham Brown!

Great week for some stargazing here in Nashvegas. The Radio DJ's from all across the U.S. had a big convention at the Radisson Hotel. Then they did their partying on "The Bridge" which is a bar that sits on the walkway from the Radisson to a car garage. A friend told me there would be a lot of starts and songwriters down there so I decided to go down and check it out on Wednesday. My friend Shawn and I went down there. As I was coming through the door Joe Diffie was standing in the lobby. Then once I got up to the bar Toby Keith was in the corner, Tracy Lawrence was milling through the crowd, as well as Mark Wills, most of the Clark Family Experience(Now just called "Clark") and Clay Walker. I got to sit and chat with Wynn Varble, who will have a record out on Columbia in the spring that you all should run right out and buy. Wynn wrote "Cadillac Tears" for Kevin Denny, "Self Made Man" for Montgomery Gentry and many, many more. He's a real laid back Georgia boy. Thanks to Miss Em for showing me around, she was there working, or so she says.

Thursday night I had two rounds. I filled in last minute for my friend Matt Ramsey over at the Broken Spoke. I got there at 6:45 for a 7:00 round. For some reason they where running early and had held the last round on stage until I got there. Then our third didn't show up so Matt and I hit the stage by ourselves. Which was really kind of cool, while he's more rock and I am more country our styles are similar in some ways. We did a few a piece and then our third, Mikey Mike, finally showed and did a few. It was a very good round. We had a songwriter seminar in the crowd and the where very receptive to our music. Then at 10:00 I had my regular Thursday night round over at the Hall of Fame with Shawn Harnett. It was running a little late so I went on about 10:30. Got about half way through my first song and busted a string, would have kept playing except that the tension it released cause the other strings to go out of tune. So I used Shawn's guitar to finish the song. Second song went grand. Then, third song, I get half way through and busted a string on Shawn's guitar, then I gave up, lol. I've been here almost a year and had never busted a string on stage until last night, when it rains it pours.

The night was productive however. Chip Martin was in my round, he's had a few cuts, and asked me to come out to his studio to lay down some tracks to use as reference for people that might want to use me as a demo singer. I thought that was really cool, he couldn't believe that I haven't gotten into demo singing yet. Also met some nice ladies that just moved into town to sing and songwrite, hope they do well.

Then the whole gang from the hall headed over to the Radisson to see what all the fuss was about. I settled it and talked to Wynn who was there again. In the 30 minutes or so I was sitting there, Clay Walker came up and sat down to talk for a few minutes, and right behind him was Dean Miller, Roger Miller's son. Also there was Jo Dee Mesinna, Clark was back out in full force, as well as several of the label's new acts that they where wanting to break in with all of the DJs. Toby Keith also made a short appearance. Very cool night. And it ended the way most good nights do here in Nashvegas, me and my bud Daniel at the Waffle House at 3am eating breakfast.

More Soon. I Country, CJ.

02-14-03     BACK TO TOP

When I tell people who I've come in contact with since I have been in this town people seem amazed.
I always look at it as, we are all crowded here together, we are bound to bump elbows now and again. But now looking back I realize I was making a conscious effort to meet people that I admire and that I would be interested in working with. This type of attitude, of seeking out and saying hey I love your stuff, has worked for me. And I think the reason that it has is because the people I am going out of my way to meet are people that have actually influenced my music, or that I admire a great deal. I think a lot of songwriter hopefuls make a big mistake when they walk up to any and everybody that has had some chart success and says "hey let's write." If you turn that situation completely around, it sounds crazy. So your Jeffrey Steele, you've had a trillion cuts with 5 songs currently on the charts, and Joe Smith, two weeks off the bus walks up to you and says, "Hey I see your name on the charts and all over albums, let's write!" Of course Jeffrey is going to say to himself, "This guy is crazy I have never even heard any of his stuff and have no idea who he is."
     On the other hand if you where to go to several of Jeffrey's shows, maybe invite him to a couple of yours, actually talk to him like a person a couple of times, he might consider it. If your sincere about it. You will find that most of the hit writers in this town are very weary of "newbies" sniffing around their doors. And for good reason. Some people seem to think the fastest way to the top is riding the coat tails of others. I'm sure there are writers out there that do this successfully, that's just not the way I work however.
     The guys that I am writing with right now where friends first, that's what is important, someone you can call and talk to about the business, or for God's sake talk about anything but the business, or go to a show with or just go out and drink and hear some music. And all the guys I am writing with heard my stuff before we ever wrote together, AND, here is the kicker, they asked me, I didn't jump down their throat at every chance I got asking them to write with me. The point of this being, if someone that's established likes you, and likes your stuff, there is a good chance they will ask you to write with them. And this lends itself to something even better, friendship.

Congratulations are in order for Blake Shelton, "The Baby" will take over the number one spot next week. Edging out "19 Somethin" Congrats also to my bud Bobby Braddock who produced the album, and I even happen to know the writer, well one anyway, hey Harley, congrats man, another #1!!!

I'm getting a lot of positive responses from my rounds. I do them mostly to test material. I'm getting requests for my stuff weekly, and it's getting to where I don't have to buy my own drinks. So if I don't turn into an alcoholic maybe I have a decent shot in this town. I was worried when I first move here, they always tell you "We don't care if your momma thinks your great." Well I've had some people here tell me that they really thought I was going to do well, if I kept plugging away at it. I appreciate all of the encouragement. I also want to thank everyone that comes out to see me, the gang over at the Songwriter Forums has been very supportive, I wish I could visit the site more, sorry guys, business has been pretty good.

My good friend Buddy Owens went to the Merle Haggard concert this week. But what was really a trip was that he got to spend the entire day with Vern Gosdin!! My freaking vocal hero, I am jealous. They went out to eat, hit the bars and then went to the Merle concert where they watched from the side of the stage at the Ryman Auditorium. They where nice enough to send me a picture.

Looks like I will finally be getting some studio time. I got asked to do a demo for a guy last week which I thought was really cool. I am going in on the 23rd I believe to do the vocals for him. It will be my first demo so we will see how it goes, a little song called "Don't talk about my wife." I'm also getting some recording time of my own soon, my friend Daniel, who is a audio engineer at a studio here in town, is trading me some studio time for graphics design work, so maybe, just maybe, I will get an acoustic album out before summer. Well, I've jabbered enough for one sitting, back to writin' them songs.

More Soon. I Country, CJ

01-29-03 BACK TO TOP

Thom Shepherd called and asked me to go to the Bluebird Cafe with him on Tuesday. Daryl Worley was playing as well as songwriter Wynn Varble. Wynn is an awesome writer and a damn fine entertainer, he recently got a record deal, on Mercury I believe. So we get there at 9pm and there is a line snaking around the building, we don't have reservations, they do. So we stand in the no reservations line. Basically you stand there in hopes that people have cancelled or just not shown up, then it's first come first served to whoever is in the no-res line. After everyone got inside they actually had two great seats left so we took those. It was sold out, partly because Daryl was there, partly because it was a live taping for WSM. Which I didn't know before we got there, I've not been happy with WSM after they gave the boot to half a dozen or so of their veteran DJs and employees. Wouldn't surprise me if they continue to slip further and further away from country music.

The show was something else, two other writers where there, their names escape me. Daryl and Wynn put on a great show. Wynn has a way with funny songs, my favorite being one called "It's Hot" In the chorus it says, "It's hot, and I ain't just talkin', I saw a dog chasin' a cat and they where both walkin'." That's some funny stuff. He's also got one called "Fryin' Pan" that is hilarious. It's about him wanting to kill the man that invented the frying pan because his wife keeps beating him over the head with one. He's also written some hits, "Self Made Man" for Montgomery Gentry comes to mind.

A somewhat somber mood was cast over the night. One of the songwriters originally scheduled was unable to due to a death in his family. His brother took his own life last week. Daryl did a song that the three of them had written together, a very touching moment. I've lost family to suicide, I can sympathize.

Did a round with Michelle Snyder at the Broken Spoke last night. The other person in the round was the weather girl for Channel 5 here in Nashville, or so I was told. I don't own a TV. Yes I know it's weird but its true. I gave it up when I moved to Nashville. Now instead of sitting in front of a TV 8 hours a day I sit in front of a computer for 12. It has improved my quality of life though, a lot less stress. I still keep up with what's going on through online news services. But I can be selective about what I read, instead of having it thrown in my face. I was over a friends house last week and he had the TV on. It wasn't five minutes before I was there that they where showing a car wreck that happened here in Nashville in graphic detail, blood and all. I was in a pretty bad car wreck in 2001, the last thing you want is some jerk sticking a camera in your face, but they do it in the name of "news" just the same.

Haven't heard anything from Doug Johnson on the song Wayland and I wrote. Way pitched it to him last week for Kevin Denny, it may be too country for what they are looking for this time around.

Well I have to turn it in early tonight, I get to spend tomorrow at the DMV, I hear its hell here. I've been coasting on my Arkansas driver's license and tags for about 10 months, I think it's time to switch over. I've been here long enough to get my name in the phone book, mine as well dive all the way in.

More Soon, I Country. CJ

01-25-03 BACK TO TOP

We got 6" of snow here in Nashville last week. As they say back home, "Dang that's almost half a foot!" It was something else. Pretty to look at but it froze up everything for a few days. That much snow takes a while to melt. The roads where bad for two to three days. But then in cleared up on Saturday or so, then this Tuesday it happened all over again, except we only got an inch or so this time. But the ice was terrible, it warms up a little during the day and it melts, then it gets in the teens at night and freezes it on the roads. I got two writer's nights cancelled last week due to snow. Cabin fever set in hard over the weekend, but I did manage to get some songwriting time out of it.

My friend Don Derby from Oklahoma was in town over the weekend to go to a cousin's wedding. Don is a great songwriter and a real go-getter, he has had meetings with all of the major publishers in town. On Monday he met with Chris Dubios over at Seagale. Chris wrote "19 Something'" for Mark Wills. I expect Don will have a staff writer job at one of the publishing companies in town very soon. He is moving here in March. We got together to write on Monday, didn't come up with much but I think we will write well together in the future.

I had a writing appointment with my friend Wayland Patton on Wednesday. He told me that he had just visited with Label head Doug Johnson and that he was looking for material for Traditional artist Kevin Denny. So we worked on a traditional country song. It came out very well, it's called "This House Must Be Cryin '" I am very happy with it. Wayland took a copy to Doug yesterday so we will see what happens.

No word on "12 Fluid Ounces" David Ball's producer Wood Newton has had a copy of it for a while. Would love to see it make it on David's new album.

Gerald Smith recorded the song that he, Buddy Owens & I wrote last month, "You Look Just Like Someone I'd Like To Know." He is planning on pitching it to George Strait. I will put it online for everyone to download once I get a copy of it.

Since I am doing so many rounds, about 2 a week, I am about to get serious about getting a CD together. Probably just guitar and vocals for now, but I have people asking and I don't have anything. And something would be better than nothing.

Well, it's going well here in town. I'm getting into the songwriter habits, writing on appointment about twice a week. I really enjoy co-writing, it's nice to pick someone else brain for a change. Supposed to be writing with Thom Shepherd (Private Malone Fame) soon, I hope we can come up with a great one. He is an awesome writer and entertainer.

More Soon. I Country, CJ.

01-12-03 BACK TO TOP

Debi Champion does the writer's nights at the Broken Spoke here in town. She has been very encouraging to me as a writer and a singer. She's said more than once that she likes that I come out to do her rounds because she loves to hear me sing, this means a lot to me coming from someone who has heard hundreds of writers, sometimes 25 in just one night. I did my best to return her support by going to her round at the Bluebird tonight, it was a lot of fun, she, Tony Lane and Tom Fedora put on a great round, there was a fourth but his name escapes me, his music was good though.

Shawn and I played the new writer's night at the Gibson Bluegrass Showcase at the Mall. It was open to all music styles, its still new so everything is a little rusty. The crowd is mostly older folks, straight off the tour buses, it was hard to get much reaction out of them, but an interesting experience none the less.

Wood Newton has one of my songs, he heard me do one called "12 Fluid Ounces" in Florida during the Florabama songwriter festival and then asked for a copy of it. I called and asked him about it last week and he said to let him hold onto it for a few weeks to see what he could do with it. Wood is currently producing David Ball's new album. I think it would be a great song for David, especially if the new album is going to be geared heavily towards strong country music.

Heard a bad rumor that Jerry Vandiver lost his single release on Phil Vasser. He had been told that Phil's next single would be a song he wrote called "Athens Grease." From what I hear they passed on it in favor for a new one that Phil wrote. I heard they even re-pressed the new CD to include the new song, no word yet on whether or not Jerry's song will be an album cut. (Album cuts are the songs on CDs that are not released to radio.)

My petition to get Bobby Braddock is still going strong 300+ signatures and counting. Please visit www.BobbyBraddock.com if you have not signed the petition yet, If anyone deserves to be in the Country Music Hall of Fame, Bobby Braddock Does. Speaking of Bobby he produced Blake Shelton's new CD, including it's first single the awesome "The Baby." Which continues its storm up the charts at #6 on the billboard this week. It got stalled however due to Mark Wills' great song "19 somethin'" remaining in the #1 spot for the second week in a row. "The Baby" was written by Harley Allen.

Remember the name Danni Carroll, and the fact that I told you to remember it. One of the best vocal talents I've ever heard, I have never seen someone put so much emotion in a song. She plays around town, catch her if you can and be sure and buy one of her cds, they are great I bought one the first time I saw her perform.

Well nothing much to complain about this week, go figure. I've started getting in the co-write groove, I've got 6 or so appointments in the next few weeks. I'm also going to meetings with ASCAP and BMI so I can decide who I want to be affiliated with. ASCAP and BMI are songwriter rights groups, there who keeps tabs of album sales and how many times a song gets played on the radio, then they pay the publishers and the writers their due from the album sales, etc... Joining one of these groups is a great way to meet new songwriters, on occasion they will hook a new writer up with a publisher or two as well, if they like what they do. Also planning on becoming a member of the Nashville Songwriter's Association International, a lot of members read this journal so I thought it would be cool to start going to some of their workshops here in town. Someone sent out the link to my site to all of the coordinators for the workshops across the country, and they in turn told their members about it, so a lot of people are reading this thing. I hope I can keep their attention and provide some incite and maybe a little humor to boot.

More Soon, I Country. CJ

12-30-02 BACK TO TOP

My friend Buddy Owens was booked to play Tootsies last night, Sunday. He called and asked me to come out so I did. Well the first two hours of his gig went great, the place was packed and everyone was having a damn good time. I was very proud to see all the Arkansas fans in town to support their team, GO HOGS!!!. Anyway at about 12:00 or so the manager, Steve, tells Buddy to get a guy named Chris on the stage to sing a "couple." Chris is a regular at Tootsies. So he gets up there and does 3 songs, then he does 3 more, and 3 more, he's not getting off the stage. Mean time Buddy is outside just mad as all get out. This guy has taken over his gig. Turns out Steve was telling him to keep playing from behind the bar. Apparently Steve thought the crowd preferred the 5 songs Chris kept playing over and over again to Buddy's "Real Deal" traditional country music.

After an hour and a half Buddy gets fed up and decides he's packing it up and going home. Only deal is Chris is playing Buddy's guitar and singing on Buddy's mic. So finally Buddy told them he was leaving, I had to ask the guy for the guitar, Buddy got his gear off the stage and walked outside. I told him to stay outside and calm down and I would get his mics. About that time Chris gets off the stage, Steve the owner had been telling him to stay up all this time so he did. So then the bass player jumps on the mic and tries to keep everything flowing smoothly. I let him get through one song and then I ask him for the mic. He gives me this dumb look and won't give it up. So I jumped up on stage and pulled the mic from the stand. When I went to get the mic cord this dumb @$$ actually tried to push me off the stage. He tried twice. finally I got the cord and Buddy's guitar case and we got the hell out of there. But not before Shannon, Buddy's girlfriend, took the tip jars. She had to split the tips up outside. Mean while the manager gives Buddy the bird, they exchange some heated words, Shannon got in a couple of good ones of her own.

It took them a good thirty minutes to find another mic and someone got another guitar for Chris across the street. But after they went to all of that trouble the drummer quit after seeing everything that went down and after Steve basically treated him like crap in front of a bunch of people, telling him that if he wanted to get paid he needed to get his @$$ back on stage.

Tootsies may be world famous and all but its run by a guy that cares nothing for music or musicians, all he cares about is money. If your coming to Nashville go to Legends. You'll see some great bands, get waited on by friendly people, and have a better time.

Oh, Nashvegas.

I Country, CJ.

12-22-02 BACK TO TOP

Been a while since I have written here, but with very good reason. Nashville about shuts down in December. I didn't have many writers appointments to begin with, and several of the ones I did have where cancelled. Just too much on everyone's plate with the shopping, etc... I did manage to get a song written with one of my favorite writers, Gerald Smith and my good friend Buddy Owens. It's a great little tune that we hammered out over at Gerald's house after about three hours. Buddy and Gerald have a different writing style than I do, the concentrate really hard on every line, and don't go on to the next line until they have the one before it. I write the opposite, I spill everything on the page really quickly to get the idea down, and then I go back and clean it up. At any rate it was a fun experience and I can't wait to do it again.

I met Richard Fagan at the Office Max by my house. Richard wrote "Sold, The Grundy County Auction Incident" as well as "Be My Baby Tonight", both hits for John Michael Montgomery. We met while in line and continued the conversation in the parking lot. Richard is a great guy, very laid back, told me a lot about himself in a short amount of time. I'm hoping to get out to see one of his shows soon. He's a hard one to catch, doesn't play out often.

Looks like I will be building a website for hit songwriter Wood Newton. He wrote "20 Years Ago" for Kenny Rogers and co-wrote "Riding With Private Malone" with my buddy Thom Shepherd. And speaking of Thom, I've taken over webmaster duties on his website as well at www.ThomShepherd.com

Thanks to my buddy Shawn for filling in for me on the 18th of December at the Broken Spoke.
I missed that round due to a family emergency. I'm sure it was a great one.

My friends Buddy and Shannon stopped by my mom's house to see me tonight, they where on their way to Oklahoma to spend Christmas with Buddy's family. It was good to see them both.

Well as I said before, Nashville grinds to a halt on the business side in December, but it's a great place to catch a Christmas show or 20. I recommend the Family show that Linda Davis is putting on at the Opryland Hotel.

More Soon. I Country, CJ.