CJ Hughes I CJ-Hughes.com I Country Music Songwriter Online Journal

11-22-02 BACK TO TOP

Well I got packed up and got the hell out of hell last week, thank the Lord. OK, so I packed on Friday. Then on Saturday Thom Shepherd and I drove down to Florabama to catch the tail end of a gigantic songwriter festival they have in Gulf Shores, Alabama every year. It's about a 7 1/2 hour drive, one way. We mostly listened to music and talked about the business on the way down, Thom's great to talk to about that kinda thing, he's been here a while and has had a hit, so he knows how the wheels turn.

We got into Gulf Shores about 4:30pm or so. As of 9am that morning we didn't have any idea where we were gonna stay. Thom hadn't made any reservations. But he had a friend who knew someone who ran condos down there and gave them a call. They put us up in a two bedroom condo, kitchen, everything, for $56.00 not bad. To bad it was 50 degrees and windy. We still got a nice ocean view.

Well we headed out to a place called the Fish Net, Thom's friend and co-writer Wood Newton was playing there for the festival. We walk in and say hello, then he asks if we brought our guitars. Next thing I know I'm on stage with two hit songwriters belting out my little tunes that no one has every heard, except Thom, he's heard a few, and even requested one of my songs, "Corporal Hughes." Which I promised him was NOT a knock-off of "Private Malone."

The rest of the night was spent hop scotching around bars all over Gulf Shores. We got to see Billy Yates, Jeffery Steele and Anthony Smith. Thom's main reason for going was to try to meet a few of these hit writers, he figured having a hit would give him something in common to talk to them about. Bad thing was is that we kept leaving before their sets where through to go see someone else, so we never got to meet them. I had been looking forward to seeing Anthony Smith's show, I'm a BIG fan of his songwriting, so I told Thom, "Once we get to his show we are STAYING TILL THE END." Which we did, funny thing though Thom got nervous and wouldn't go talk to Anthony, even with a hit under his belt.

Any of you that know me well know that I will walk up on just about anybody and stick my hand out. Which I did, I basically walked up to Anthony and said, "Hey, my names CJ Hughes, I really like your stuff. Oh, by the way, see that guy over there in the cowboy hat, he wrote "Private Malone" with Wood Newton and wants to meet you." It was almost like setting up a date, lol. So they got together and the three of us talked for a while. Anthony is a really laid back guy, great singer, writer and even a good guitar player. As Thom said "Even his noodling on the guitar between his songs was enjoyable."

All in all a great trip, gave me a whole new outlook on my own songwriting. Made me realize that the current market is more geared towards, positive, story songs. Not the drinking, hook gladdened crap I'm shoveling.

So what else is new. Well, after I did the 18 hour driving in 48 hours thing with Thom, I came in and packed on Sunday night. On Monday I moved to my new place with the help of my bud Shawn. He actually made it fun. At my old place I lived on the second floor, so instead of carrying a bunch of junk downstairs I cut up a phone cord and used it as a rope to lower down stuff to him below. He called it "Redneck" and it was, but it worked, lol. We also opted for chunking the mattress over the balcony railing instead of carrying it down the stairs, next time I think we will carry it down, it won't be an easy thing to explain the grass stains to someone if they should ask.

We got the CD in of the live recording Thom, Gerald, Buddy, Shannon and I did at the Bellbuckle Cafe in Bellbuckle, TN. I'll be picking up a copy tonight when I go see Thom at Legends. He'll have some competition tonight, they put Buddy in the same time slot down at the back room at Tootsies, so I'll have to go back and forth to catch as much of both shows as possible.

I'll get some clips from that live CD up soon, just vocal and guitar but it's still some interesting stuff. Thanks to Sandy of the Songwriter Forums for spreading the word about my journal, I got a few emails from people asking me about my site and the business after she sent my link out to some friends and NSAI workshop members. Ahhh free publicity.

On a bit of a downer note, Lee and Debi, the two people that run the rounds at the Hall of Fame Lounge, are leaving the Hall and going back to doing the rounds at the Broken Spoke. Which means Camille and CJ, formally the hosts of the Broken Spoke, are out I guess. I haven't heard all of the details yet.

My last round at the Hall of Fame will be on the 30th of November. After that all of my booked HOF rounds will actually take place at the Broken Spoke, weird? Yes.

More Soon. I Country, CJ.

11-13-02     BACK TO TOP

Something that I was unprepared for when I moved to town was the general lack of support among songwriters. It's understandable I guess, people have lives and are busy but you would think that on occasion you could get some people to come out and see you, even if you suck. Of all the people I asked to come out to my shows in the last 2 months, and it's been dozens of people, 2 have showed up, 2.

And I think its an all around thing, I had Gerlad Smith in my round last night, the man has written hits and had stuff cut by George Jones and George Strait,. Yet we played for about 10 people. It's really baffling to me. I do my best to get out and see everyone that asks me to come out, even when their shows have a cover, I go, and bring friends besides.

If your planning on moving to town and are looking to play in the writers rounds, just be prepared to sing for bartenders and waitresses, and be thankful when they actually stop to listen. Just one of the grim realities I've learned while being here.

That being said I would like to thank my good friend Shawn Harnett for coming out to my round last night. I wish the Lord would have made about 20 of him. This post isn't directed at anyone in general, it's just something that I have noticed.    I will say that it won't deter me from going to see people when they ask me to come out, I'm not going to stop supporting songwriters out of spite.

I've made a lot of friends in this town and have been fortunate enough to be able to write with some really great writers. That's what I remember when I'm singing to a crowd of 5. "Ok, they didn't come to see me but we are writing, or I can call them when I need to talk, or they help me out when I ask." To expect people to come out every time you play is too much. Just remember when you move here that people have lives, something I neglected to consider.

The good news is, is that if you happen to make it, perfect strangers will flock in droves to stand in line and pay to see you sing. So the playing for next to no one is what is called, "Paying your dues." Personally, I'll go and play to any number of people, I just like to get out and play. If one person listens and gets ANYTHING out of ANYTHING I do, I feel like I've done something. And I have yet to do a show that at least one person didn't come up and say, "I enjoyed your stuff." So every time I go out, regardless of who does or doesn't show up, it's worth it.

More Later, I Country. CJ

FOR MORE INFO ON THIS SUBJECT SEE CJ's SONGWRITER REALITY CHECK.

10-28-02 BACK TO TOP

My mom and brother Robert, as well as Rob's girlfriend Shannon, came in over the weekend. They got into town on Friday afternoon. We had made plans to meet at a Shell station on the West side as they where coming into Nashville. They gave me a call when they got to the predetermined spot and I told them I would be there in 20 minutes. However I had forgotten about rush hour, since I work out of my apartment I hardly EVER have to fight traffic. Adding to my complications where a jumper on one of the freeway bridges, which tends to slow things down, as well as an overturned Nissan in the center lane. I asked the same question, "How the heck did they turn that thing over?" I don't know.

So I was 1 1/2 hours late getting to the meeting spot. I don't own a cell phone. I get there and they wheren't there. The first thing that pops in to my morbid head, ok they've been kidnapped and left in the woods somewhere. So I truck it back to the apartment and a waiting message from my mom who is "worried about me." As I'm checking it the phone rings again. It's mom. They got tired of waiting and decided to "Drive around Nashville" and see if they could find my place. I'll admit that Nashville is no New York City but there are some places you just don't want to accidentally wind up around here. So they bought a map at the convenience store, as they are pawing over it in the parking lot a "Drunk Guy" offers to show them how to get to my street. So what do they do? Well they follow the drunk guy into town of course. So when I get the phone call they are following him down Nolensville Pike, the old lush has actually steered them in the right direction, they where only 2 miles from my place. So I directed them on in.

After all the excitement settled I took them to the Cracker Barrel to eat with my friend and fellow songwriter Shawn Harnett and his wife Lisa, and daughter Shannon. I know what your thinking, woo hoo, the Cracker Barrel. Well it would have been the Longhorn if not for the Jumper and the Nissan and the drunk guy and, you get the picture. Then I took them over to the Hall of Fame Lounge. They have both heard me talk about songwriter rounds but neither one actually knew what they where, and since I didn't have any rounds scheduled for the weekend I decided to just take them to a random one. It so happens a guy I kinda know, Jamie Johnson was there. He sang a couple of songs I remembered, "Treasure In A Trailer" being one of his best. So they got a good jest of just what a Nashville songwriter round is, a lot of drinking, some picking, and some guys on stage singing, occasionally intoxicated.

So then I decided to take them out to the Opryland hotel and the WSM 650 radio booth out there. I met the host of the late Friday show "Opry Star Spotlight" a few weeks earlier after Buddy asked me to sing on the show with him. We had our noses pressed to the window in the lobby looking into the station booth, Matthew Gillian, the host, recognized me, even remembered my name, and waived us inside. So mom and Rob got to see a live show going on from inside the studio, which was cool. We wondered around the hotel a bit before calling it a night.

So on Saturday we had to wait around for the Fed Ex guy. I had planned a party with Buddy and his girlfriend Shannon for Sunday, a guitar pull, the family had no idea what one of these was either. Anyway I was providing the meat for the party and it came by way of Maine, www.LobsterAnywhere.com and the FedEx guy. Joe Bowab came through once again, he sent down 4 pounds of gargantuan cocktail shrimp, 6 strip steaks and 6 filets. So after putting the shrimp on ice and the meat in the fridge we headed off to the Parthenon.

No not the one in Greece, the exact replica in Nashville, Tennessee of all places. I found it once while getting lost in West End. It's a very strange experience to wonder upon a Greek monument in the middle of Tennessee. The original was built out of plaster near the turn of the century during Tennessee's centennial celebration. Nashville had been compared to Greece because of it's many colleges, so they built a bunch of Greek buildings in Centennial park out of Plaster. They where all razed except for the Parthenon after the celebration ended. Twenty years down the road the temporary building was falling apart, so they rebuilt it out of stone and TADA! The perfect place to take your family when they come into town. It has a decent art gallery underneath the building, a Winslow Homer painting being the standout work for me.

The icing on the cake however would be the gigantic statue of Athena that's in the middle of this building. It's freaking' huge! There are also castings of the original statues that adorned the original Parthenon in Greece. Little is left of the original today. If you read the history of the Parthenon on the tour you find that at one time it was used to house gunpowder. That is until a mortar came in and ignited the stash, blowing away most of the building.

So we took the tour, took some pictures and walked through the park. Fed the ducks, there should be a warning at the pond, they get testy when you run out of bread and chase you. Once duck chasing you doesn't seem like a big deal, but try thirty or so. After the Parthenon we headed over to the Opryland hotel. This is an amazing place! They have these HUGE indoor gardens. It's like a little planet in there. The Opryland Hotel is the largest hotel in the world under one roof. You could live in that thing. One of the greenhouse type sections is 4.5 acres in size with huge glass domed ceilings. So naturally we took pictures of everything, including ourselves. After wondering around for 3 hours we grabbed a bite to eat and then headed over the Opry Mills Mall.

I've used HUGE a lot in this post. There are just several HUGE things in Nashville. Another would be the freaking' HUGE Opry Mills Mall. This thing sits on the entire grounds of what used to be the Oprlyland theme park. This motha' is crazy. We walked for two hours and never got to the end. The apple store was a highlight, did you know they make chips out of Apples? I also bought a cast iron skillet. Word to the wise, do all your gawking and shopping, THEN come back and buy your skillet. The opposite is a pain in the ass. Oh and you MUST try the vibrating massage chairs in the middle of the mall. I feed one $5 while mom shopped at Old Navy. Since our visit I've almost driven out there a few times just to use one of those chairs.

So we where so dang wore out from the day that we went home and played cards. On Sunday we carted are shrimp and meat over to Shannon and Buddy's house. In all about 15 or so friends, pickers and songwriters showed up. Included in the pack was Don Derby, the Yodeling Champion of the World in 2000 no less, he's in my round at the Hall of Fame Lounge on the 6th of this month. Also in attendance was my buddy Thom Shepherd and his wife Misty and their daughter Coty, Nate and Aubry, and several others. Nate took over the grilling duties and did a wonderful job. After a great meal we sat on the porch for nearly an hour digesting. Then we headed to Buddy's little music room for some picking. The whole plan had been for my mom and brother to see what a Pickin' party was. They only got to stay for a few songs however, they had to drive back to Arkansas, but I think they still had a good time. I was so glad they got to come, it's the first time any of my family has come to see me since my move.

This post was really for my family, sorry to anyone trying to glean some songwriter info from it, lol. There's not much here. I will say that making good friends in this town is one of the most important things you can do. When this crazy business kicks you around it's good to have friends to fall back on. I've got a great group of people that support me, that I can depend when I need someone to talk to, write with, or when I need a bigger house than my own to throw a party to show off for my momma.

More soon, I country. CJ

10-23-02 BACK TO TOP

I am still sick, what kind of hell's curse is this? Today marks the 9th of this cold, might need to get it checked out. If my ears would just pop so I could hear myself in the monitors again I would be fine.
Last Saturday was the "1st Annual Songwriter Forums Nashville Pickin' Party Extravaganza!" And what an extravaganza it was. Wayland Patton's songwriter forums was represented admirably by several members. I invited a new songwriter friend of mine, Shawn Harnett along. We where an hour late getting there so everyone was eating when we walked in. The shrimp I brought from www.LobsterAnywhere.com was much pawed over, I brought 4 pounds in and took 0 out. Thanks to Joe Bowab for the great shrimp! Those things where HUGE!
So everyone gets through eating, there's tons of folks there from the forums, Ms Em, Wayland's wife, Carrie Chater, he's had about 100 cuts(songwriter), even the gentlemen that wrote "You could've heard a heartbreak." I was impressed. So it's time to rip out the guitars and go to twangin'. I wonder off lookin' for my guitar, they had stowed it in the extra bedroom for fear of me actually trying to play it I'm sure. So then I'm standing in the dining room tuning when Ms. Em starts yelling my name and insists that I come into the room where everyone else is. So they sit me down in the middle of the room and Donna goes into this speech, it was the craziest thing. She tells everyone that Wayland wasn't able to make it so he had done something special for me. Me? Yep. So she hits the CD player and over the speakers comes Wayland Patton singing a song called "The Ballad of CJ Hughes" done to the tune of the Beverly Hillbilly's theme song. It was the greatest thing in the world. I guess I've managed to impress a few folks with the little bit of headway I've made since I've been here, cause after the song was over Emily hands me a trophy. It's from the Songwriter Forums and is for special achievement. I was totally not expecting any of this, It was really something though. You couldn't find a better bunch of friends and writers than on the Songwriter Forums.
The rest of the night we jammed, doing a lot of originals and even a few covers. Including Ms. Em's favorite, "You Never Even Call Me Be My Name" she did the cutest little dance. My friend Sheldon Lee Sweeney also came out, he played one of his songs which everyone thought was just great, he has an awesome voice and is a very talented writer. We have a round together on the 9th of November at the Broken Spoke here in Nashville. The only thing missing from the whole shin dig was Wayland, he was on the road in Arizona with Eric Heatherly, missed you man. Thanks to everyone that had anything to do with my award and thanks to Wayland and Em for the song and for being such great friends. I've honestly made more friends in Nashville in 8 months than I ever had in my hometown.

Much to my dismay Crucial Smith has put my project that I was so hoping to get out by Christmas on the back burner. The original plan was to go in in November and record 10 of my original songs with them, live in studio. However they are going through some things within the band and are unable to commit to a date for the recordings right now. I will let everyone know when that is back on track. Regardless I will have guitar/ vocal demos of a lot of my songs on the site soon, people are already asking.

Tonite(10-23) I'm in the round with Thom Shepherd(Riding With Private Malone) and Gerald Smith(What Part of No.) We are at the Hall of Fame Lounge at 8:30. Come on out and root for the only guy in the round without a hit song to his credit, (that would be me.) Then Thursday Thom, Buddy Owens and I are caravanning to Bell Buckle, Tennessee for a gig at the Bellbuckle Cafe. Someone mentioned free food for the performers, so I'm there.

My mom and brother are coming in for their first visit to Nashville this weekend, should be a lot of fun.

More Soon. I Country, CJ

10-15-02     BACK TO TOP

I've been sick as an old dog since Sunday, think I picked up a bug from the microphones at the Hall of Fame Lounge. Even so when Buddy called last night at 10:30, two hours after I had gone to bed, and asked me to come out and do a radio show with him I jumped at the chance! We performed on WSM 880 AM's Opry Star Spotlight with Matthew Gillian as host. Also there was Shannon Lillie and our friend Gerald Smith. We had a great time! We sang from 12-3am and managed to do all original material! We really had a lot of fun and should be going back in the next few months. I wasn't able to give any friends notice of the show this time, it all happened so fast, but hopefully next time I'll be able to send out an email so everyone can get a chance to listen in. The show is broadcasted all over the United States and all over the world through the internet. Speaking of, for those of you that have cable modems you can listen to a taping of the show off of WSM's website, www.WSMOnline.com Look under the archives for "Opry Start Spotlight." The date was October 14-15th.
     Tomorrow night is my round with Alan Layman at the Hall of Fame Lounge. Should be a lot of fun, might even have a few friends show up! Coming up soon is the Songwriter Forums Pickin' Party, (Saturday.) Next week I'm attending a Music Business seminar at ASCAP. I am not yet affiliated with ASCAP or BMI but will make a decision soon. The seminar is open to the public, but I believe all slots have been filled. It's titled "Music Business 101" and should be very informing. I am also going to talk with someone soon at NSAI(Nashville Songwriter's Association International) and will join up if I like what they have to say.

     I've had a few people interested in how I became webmaster for www.JoyLynnWhite.com basically I originally set up the site as a tribute to my favorite female singer. I didn't know her at the time. However she contacted me just a few weeks after the site was live and asked if we could turn it into her official site, to which I agreed. So now I run her site, it's a very nice one I think. She keeps me updated with info and pics so it stays pretty current. Joy is currently portraying Maybelle Carter in the live stage production of "Keep on the Sunny Side" the songs and story of the Carter Family. It's currently running in Roanoke, VA. She's been out there for a few months so I haven't seen her in forever, but she emails often. Great lady, check out her site and be sure and get your copy of her limited CD relase. JLW, Demos 2002. It's available ONLY on her website or at live venues.

I sat up front to keep her company while Buddy snoozed in the backseat. We got in at 11 and I was beat, but I got a song idea as I was coming in the door, so I stayed up another hour to get it written. So I crash at 12. At 5pm my phone rings, it's Harley Allen, yes, THE Harley Allen, the man that wrote "The Little Girl" for John Michael Montgomery, "Everything I Love Is Killing Me" for Alan Jackson, etc.. he's also had about 17 Alan Jackson cuts. I met him at the Bluebird last week in a round with Karen Staley.
     Anyway Harley just called me out of the blue and asked me to go to dinner with him, then a songwriter jam at his house. So I got up on five hours of sleep and headed to Brentwood. Had a blast during dinner, met a great new songwriter and a new friend, Shawn Harnett. (We played the open mic at the Hall of Fame Lounge last night.) So we ended up at Harley's house, he invites 15-20 songwriters and we have a original song jam around his kitchen table. It was great, got to get some feedback from other writers on my material. Learned one thing fast, I play the guitar to damn loud, lol. That was exactly what Harley said, he said "You ain't got nothin' if you can't hear the lyrics." So I've started toning it down some.
     Harley is a great guy and from what I can tell he has a way with nurturing new songwriters. It's great to see an established writer who will take the time to talk to us "newbies" teach us a thing or two and actually listen to and critique our songs. Hope he invites me back, I had a blast.

As I said Shawn Harnett and I played the open mic at the Hall of Fame Lounge last night. My friend Alan Layman was up there hanging out. I mentioned that I hadn't been in a regular round there yet, so he invited me to be in his this coming Wednesday. Thought that was nice of him. I have a round of my own coming up on November 12th at the Boardwalk, Also doing a thing with Thom Shepherd and Buddy Owens in Bellbuckle, Tennessee on the 24th, I'll post all the dates and times here as I get them. Buddy will be on the Opry Star Spotlight on WSM 880, broadcast all over the US to about 3 million people, sometime this week, check out wsmonline.com they will probably have the day and time up there shortly.

Well, I'm trying to post every week. I'm getting several emails a week from songwriters who are interested to know what it's like to function in Twang Town, they are encouraging me to write here often, if they learn just one thing it will all be worth it, this town really is a lot of fun. If you want the opportunity to go out and play your original material almost every night, this is the place to be.

Coming up next week is the "1st Annual Songwriter Forums Guitar Pull Nashville Pickin' Party Extravaganza" at the Stanley's. It's a semi-private affair, mostly for members of Wayland Patton's Songwriter Forums. I will post a review of the night here after it's all said ad done, should be a great time. there where 30-40 people at the last one.

Also new. I just put up a website for hit songwriter Gerald Smith. www.GeorgiaQuacker.com Some of you may remember "hearing" Gerald on HeeHaw, even if you never saw him, though he did appear in person a few times. Gerald is the "Georgia Quacker" in-between the sets on HeeHaw, that duck noise? That's Gerald, and when the duck walks out with the signs, that's Gerald. Gerald has appeared on HeeHaw, the Grand Ole Opry and Nashville Now. Being the Georgia Quacker isn't his only claim to fame, he's also managed to write 2 number 1 songs. "What Part of No" for Lorrie Morgan and "Every Second" for Collin Raye. Both of which won "Million Air" awards from BMI for being played in excess of 1 million time on country music radio. After we finished up the site Gerald even asked if I would like to write with him, I said I would love to, If we come up with something good I will post it once the new site goes live.

Also check out www.ThomShepherd.com and www.CrucialSmith.com I designed these sites as well.
The new website is coming along, after I get the basic core up and running I will start recording songs to put on it. It will have about 20 of my originals on it to start, not including the songs that will appear on my first CD. I'm hoping to license some of my material to persons looking for original country songs for independent album projects, should be a lot of fun, and a great way to get my songs heard.

More soon, I Country. CJ

6-6-02 BACK TO TOP

Hi to all of my friends and family. Sorry the site has been down, I've been busy meeting new contacts and making friends in my new town, Nashville, Tennessee! It's really a great place once you figure out the 20 or so freeways that circle downtown.

I've had an exciting first five weeks. As some of you know I went to a lot of trouble to meet some people within the music business online before I came to town, while recovering from my accident. These have turned into some great friendships and contacts.

I've made a good friend in Wayland Patton, www.WaylandPatton.com, he has taught me a lot in a very short period of time, he's a great songwriter and has a song on Eric Heatherly's Dreamworks album, to be released in September. The song is entitled, "Shake the Ache" and is very good. Wayland was in a writer's round at the legendary Bluebird cafe recently with Neal Coty(writer of "She Was" by Mark Chesnutt), Bill Lloyd, (half of the eighties rockin' country duo Foster & Lloyd), and Eric. Eric perfromed "Shake the Ache", it's great and I hope it's a single and a big hit for Way.

I've been getting out and meeting writers, performers, and people within the industry. I made a good friend in Thom Shepherd(writer of "Private Malone" for David Ball") and through a great deal of chance, circumstance and luck aided him in having a song recorded by Blake Shelton("Austin") Just this past week. The song is called "Life Ain't Fair." It has a very good chance of making Blake's sophmore album due out soon.

I have had a chance to meet some great heros of mine. My first week in town I was invited to the BMI party for Toby Keith's 5 week #1 "I wanna talk about me." Written by my hero Bobby Braddock. I had the opportunity to meet Bobby through email after I put up www.BobbyBraddock.com as a tribute to him. Bobby is a great guy and one hell of a song writer. Through him I was able to help Thom get the Blake Shelton cut, Bobby discovered and produces Blake.

Also met an be-friended an up-and-coming singer songwriter names Buddy Owens. He is around my age and has been here about 4 years. He is in writer's round on a regular basis and has made some good friends here, as well as a good name for himself as a singer and songwriter. We have plans to co-write together soon.

I've been singing out some, mostly cover songs at local night clubs. I've been singing weekly at the Nashville Palace, where Ricky Van Shelton and Randy Travis where discovered. They have a great band, they ahve been generous enough to allow me to perform with them on several occasions. I started going out to the Palace to see another friend I met online, Augusta Purvis, www.AugustaPurivis.com She has had the Sunday night showcase at the palace for about two years. She is an awesome entertainer and just a great person to be around.

My business is also doing well, www.Arkansasartist.com May marked my best month since I started my logo and web design business after my wreck in 2001. It affords me the opportunity to work when I want to and go out and meet people and play when I want/ need to. The whole reason I started the business was to be able to move to Nashville and do things on my own terms.

Things are going well and I'm surprised at the headway I've made in 5 weeks. This is the start of my journal which will be on the site once the new pages are up, which should be soon. I'm getting some pics taken for the site. A CD of original material should not be too far off. And Dragonfly Summers (My collection of short stories) should be available from the site just before Christmas, it will make a great stocking stuffer!!!!

More soon. I Country, CJ.

BACK TO TOP

So why so long since I've written here? Truthfully my business has been doing great! On some days it's too much for me too keep up with but I'm trying.

The Thom Shepherd Story-

In my last post I mentioned that I helped my friend Thom Shepherd, co-writer of the David Ball hit "Riding With Private Malone" get a song recorded by Blake Shelton for his upcoming album. Several have asked so I thought I would lay it out for you here, exactly how that went down that is.

I met Thom online while still in Arkansas before the "Big Move." We emailed back and forth and he said to be sure and stop by Legends on Broadway when I got in. Legends is a bar downtown Nashville, on the famous Broadway strip of bars, which is also home to Tootsie's and Robert's Western Wear.

Well when I got to town I started going down to the strip where I met Thom face to face. At the time he had been doing the Thursday and Friday shows at Legends for several years. I also met one of my best friends in town, Buddy Owens, at Legends as well. After making eyes at a pretty lady behind the bar, only to discover that her boyfriend, Buddy, was sitting right beside me.

After about two months or so I was at Legends on a Thursday night when Thom decided to do A song he and a friend just wrote. The band hadn't learned it yet so he accompanied himself on guitar, it was called "Life Ain't Fair." It stuck in my head after hearing it just that one time. The next weekend I was there again, this time Thom had worked it up with the band. After he finishedI I walked up to him and told him that that song should be pitched to Blake Shelton. To which he replied, "I pitched it to his producer yesterday." Weird I thought. Then I told him that I knew Blake's producer, the legendary Bobby Braddock, and that I would send him an email about the song and how the crowd had reacted to it, it was requested 3 or so times that night. Thom gave me one of those "Yea sure, you know Bobby Braddock looks." And went about his business.

I did and do know Bobby. Those of you that have visited BobbyBraddock.com know that I started the site as a tribute to him in January or so of 2002. Well Bobby heard about the site and contacted me. Which led to us exchanging emails now and again. Well I sent an email to Bobby that night and told him that I had heard this great song by Thom Shepherd and that it had been pitched to Blake's people and that he, Bobby, might want to give it a good listen. Bobby emailed me back the next day, agreed that it was a great song and also told me that the writer should thank me if Blake cuts it because I had helped Bobby make up his mind to let Blake hear it with my story.

The rest happened fast! They say Nashville moves so slow but it really booked those two to three weeks! That's right, from the time it was pitched to the time I came into the picture on to the time Blake actually went into the studio and recorded "Life Ain't Fair" took all of three weeks!

I mentioned this story to a few friends at the time, simply in awe that I had anything to do with it, and they began to tell others. Before I knew it I was down at the Hall of Fame Lounge, and someone was trying to tell ME the story!! Not knowing I was part of it! My friend Wayland Patton also posted the story on his Songwriter Forums after hearing it. From there some of the members of the site picked up on it and began retelling the story at NSAI meetings, (Nashville Songwriter's Association International.) Then things got really crazy. To explain here is a message that was posted on Wayland's Songwriter Forums by an NSAI member.

POST:
"This is a follow-up to Wayland's original thread here titled " C.J Hughes sets a good example."
Yesterday, (sat. 9-14-02) I was attending the local (Indianapolis) NSAI meeting/workshop with Jerry Vandiver, and Gracie Hollombe doing their "Your First Cut" book and workshop.....Which I highly recommend by the way. During which, to illustrate how important relationships are
in the songwriting biz, Jerry started telling this story about how Blake Shelton cut a song called "life ain't fair" after Bobby Braddock was contacted by, QUOTE: "some new writer in town" that had just heard the songs writer; Thom Shepherd play "Life Ain't Fair" in a club on Broadway. Of course everyone oohed and awwed about this now "flagship" of
"connection" stories. I asked Jerry if he remembered the name of the so called "new writer in town".....and he thought for a moment....and he said that it was right on the tip of his tongue.....it was like two initials... something.............and I called back...was it "C.J Hughes?" "YES!" Jerry shouts, thank you for reminding me...I should know his name since I've been telling that story all over the country at these workshops." Audience
laughs..... He then asked me if I knew C.J....to which I said "of course....ol' C.J and I go way back!".<<<<<<joking.
Actually I said that while I don't know him personally, I did have the pleasure of learning about the story from C. J. himself. Way to go C.J...first few months in Nashville and your already a legend. Keep up the good work! "

Amazing?? Yes!! There where even several responses to this post from other NSAI members who said that they had heard the same story, with my name attached! How awesome is that? And to think this all came simply from hearing a great song, and having an avenue that helped it get it heard. Just shows that it's not always about money, I won't make a dime from this song. But I'll get to tell the story of how it got cut for the rest of my life! Not bad for a few months in twang town!!!

So what else is new with me?

I spent the first few months here just going out and listening to other songwriters, I wanted to get a feel for what was happening in the songwriter shows that are going on every night of the week here in Nashville. This month, September, I really stared making an effort to get out an play open mics(an open mic is where you sign up to play after the scheduled acts.) Last week I played 3 of these, one of which led to me getting my first scheduled songwriter round. Which means I get to pick who I want to play with me. It will be at the Boardwalk Cafe on the 12th of November. Buddy Owens will be joining me, the other songwriter is currently TBA. Last week I played Douglas Corner, not really my crowd. Out of 30 people playing I would say there where maybe 2 other guys doing the type of music I do, real country. I also played the Boardwalk two nights which led to the round.

Tonight, September 23rd, I played the open mic at The Hall of Fame Lounge. Which was very cool. There where a lot of people to sing to and they left us on stage for a long time, I think I did 6-7 songs. What's really cool about getting out and doing these open mics is that you meet the people that are in the rounds, they hear you sing, etc.. Basically the more people you know, the more you get asked to sing somewhere with them. You could literally play out every night of the year if you knew enough people. And exposure is always good for songwriting.

Besides going to writer's nights and open mics I've also gotten to see some great shows! I visited the Grand Ole Opry for the second time on September 7th. I just had to go, my idol George Jones was going to be there, and it was his birthday. Also on the bill where Alan Jackson. Lee Ann Womack and the great songwriter Jim Lauderdale. It was truly a great show! I really got a kick out of being there.

I've also had the chance to see several great shows at the Bluebird Cafe. Including two-three with my bud Wayland Patton. He puts some great rounds together and is a an awesome songwriter. His friend Neal Coty is a laugh riot and is also a certified hit writer with his "She Was" recorded by Mark Chestnutt favoring well on the country charts. Last Saturday marked a big day for me as well. Wayland was in the round at the Bluebird with Karen Staley(Just what I need/ Trick Pony), Wayland(Turn it on, turn it up, turn me loose), Harley Allen(The Little Girl) and newcomer, Wendy Newcomer, who is also a senior staff writer for Country Weekly magazine. The show was riveting with Harley and Wayland verbally, but jokingly, sparring in between songs. It's hard to put into words what Harley is like in person, I would say Hard edged but playful. Karen calls it "Profound and Profane" whatever it is it works. Harley has had several, several hits. After the show I was fortunate enough to get to sit around with the writers and talk with them. Harley is really a great guy and Karen is as sweet as she can be.
And remember the name Wendy Newcomer, she has a voice like an angel, gorgeous besides. Another thrill of the Bluebird show was that Wayland played a song during the set that he and I wrote together!!! It was awesome. He actually stopped before the song and singled me out, then
told the crowd that the song was a true story about me and the "incident" that proceeded my move to twang town. It was really something, the song went over very well and I got to meet a bunch of new folks that appreciated it's positive message, which basically says, you know, I'm going to turn this this bad situation into something positive. Truthfully I consider my wreck, which the song is about, to be my second re-birth, my first being when I became a Christian. It really was an awaking for me. And that "wake-up call" from the Lord above is the only reason I made it to Nashville. It gave me six longs months to think about my life, which was when I decided to start my own business and move to Nashville.

Crucial Smith.
Crucial Smith is a spectacular bluegrass band based out of Nashville. I met the lead singer, Kyle Woods, through my friend Joy Lynn White. That led to me doing Crucial's latest CD cover. Which has now led to me doing their official website: www.CrucialSmith.com I was able to pull some strings thanks to the band, basically I'm designing their site and they are going to back me up on my first studio album! It will be a "Live Studio Album" which means we will all be in there at the same time, me singing and them playing all at once, should be great. It will contain at least 10 of my original songs and is tentatively titled, "Mockingbird" after one of my songs of the same name. Should be a lot of fun. I will be getting full cds made up and they will be for sale on the site, family can expect one in their stocking come Christmas!

Well as you can see, I've been busy!! My business grows all the time and I am having a blast here in Nashville. I meet someone new in the business almost every day and make a new friend dang near every day as well. I will make an effort to make my posting here more frequent. The site will also be totally redone for the new CD with new pictures, sound clips and links to pages
of all the friends I have made in town. Check back soon!

I Country, CJ.