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06/20/04 I mentioned a while back that I saw Shawn Camp at a Tin Pan South Songwriter's Festival show here in Nashville a while back. Shawn is one of my favorite writers. He did a song I had never heard him do called "Off to join the World." It's about a young man that leaves home to join the circus and falls in love with a trapeze artist, which isn't exactly your normal country music fare, which is why I think I like it so much. What really got me were the great lines in the song. When the guy goes to see his new girl, who's just broken up with a clown, he knocks on her trailer door. When she opens it the next line is: "And I knew when I saw the clown standing behind her, in front of her there stood one too." I just think that's great writing, a very well told story. A good songwriter can take almost any situation and turn it into a good story. I told my friend Wayland Patton about the song the next week at a writing appointment we had. He said he had never heard it but would ask Shawn about it, they were writing together soon. He called the day after the appointment to tell me Shawn had played the song for him and that it's on his new CD, which I didn't know. So I went to Shawn's website to check it out. The CD is called Lucky Silver Dollar and it is one of my new favorite CDs, I play it all the way through all the time. I ordered it off the site and when I did I dropped a note to Shawn telling him how much I liked the song, that I was a songwriter from Arkansas like he is, and that I really dug his writing. I got a hand-written letter back in the mail telling me thanks for the nods and then he told me the story of where the song came from. I am always enthralled with the stories behind songs, and this one was a doozy. I don't think Shawn would mind if I shared it with you, so here it is in his own words: I never would have guessed that this song was been based on a real event, sometimes real life is stranger than fiction. If you would like to hear the song and a bunch of other awesome tunes visit Shawn's site: www.ShawnCamp.com and order his new CD. And a little something else. I decided to pitch my song "God Fearin', Family Lovin', Hard Workin' man" to George Jones. Someone over at his website gave me a PO box in Franklin to send it to. Not the best way to get a pitch to someone, it's better if you know their producer, or can put it in their hands personally. I figured it would just get lost in a heap of mail he probably gets to this PO box every day. So I decided to dress my envelope up a little. I'm kind of known for doing things like this, and its at least gotten my material listened to in the past. A few years back, before I even moved to Nashville, I mailed one of the worst demos they have probably ever heard to Dreamworks. But here's the kicker, they listened to it. None other than James Stroud, head of the label popped in my tape and gave it a spin. He quickly told me no thanks, but the point is he listened. I would guess that he did so after hearing about the 4 boxes that arrived at the label that held a cheap Wal-Mart tape player complete with headphones in each. I sent one to him, the director of A&R and two other names I pulled out of Music Row magazine for Dreamworks. I had heard that the hardest part of getting your material heard by the labels when you mailed it in, was getting them to put it in the player and push play. So I just made it easier for them. And as far as getting my music heard, it worked. I just wished the music had been on par with what I am doing now, then it was total crap and I can't believe they bothered to respond to it. But they did, they sent me a nice letter and gave me a phone call. Then they sent all of my tape recorders back to me. And paid the postage besides. I said all this as a reminder to people trying to get their material heard. Think of it as advertising your wares. Sometimes it takes a little something extra or flash to get noticed by people that see hundreds of standard manila envelopes a week. Martina McBride got her deal after dropping her demo in a hot pink envelope and sending it to a record label. It stood out from the crowd, and when they listened they were blown away, who wouldn't be, and signed her. A little creativity can get you places in this business. You'd think more songwriters would think of this, being the creative folks they are. I'll let you know if anything comes of the George Jones pitch. More soon, I Country. CJ BACK TO THE TOP |
06/11/04 I got a message from my email buddy Bobby Braddock last week. It was actually a CC of an email he had sent to the director of a Canadian documentary on heartbreak songs in country music. They flew into town this week to interview Bobby. When they asked him if he knew of a young songwriter that they could interview as a contrast to his role as the established songwriter he thought of me and gave them my contact information. They called early this week and we met. I thought we were just meeting to see if I would be good for their film, the next thing I know I'm wearing a wireless mic pack and giving them a tour of Lower Broadway. We spent an hour or two trolling the bars, taking shots of me walking through the crowds, interacting with musicians, etc... That afternoon we met back up and did more of the same. Then the next day they decided to come over to the house. They set up their cameras and lighting in my living room. I had gotten a song idea while I was cleaning the house for their visit and had written it down on a piece of scrap paper. The director then decided that it might be cool for the shoot for me to explain my writing process. Which turned into me writing the song on camera. I thought this was going to be a really hard thing to do with two strangers in the room, but I just kind of blocked them out and went at it, and came up with what I think is a good song. It's a heartbreak song so it fits right in with their documentary. Here are the lyrics: EVEN (C) 2004, CJ Hughes Find a lonely place, without a soul around then cut out your heart, and throw it on the ground expose it to the cold, without a ray of hope used and bleeding, then we'd almost be even Tell it, it can't have, the only thing it wants give it a glimpse of light, then forsake it to the dark Say the cruelest words, the worst you've ever heard drive them home with conviction, really make them burn then linger in the shadows, as it fights a desperate battle struggling to survive barely beating, then we'd almost be even Plant the seed of doubt, way down deep inside lead it to believe, you don't care if it lives or dies then just before you walk away, as it's cryin' out in pain grind your heel back and forth, and crush it all to pieces Then we'd be even On a funny note, I had an allergy fit just as we were shooting, so I'm sitting there writing this sad country song, watery eyed, nose running, sniffling. If they cut it up right it will look like I am just tore up over some woman that I'm writing this song about. It was a very unique experience to introduce my songwriting process to the public, and to just be on film for that matter. I'm not sure when the documentary will be complete, the director left me a message today to thank me for my part. He also said that they would probably be back in Nashville soon to try and interview George Jones. They had attempted to do so this week but he was too busy with FanFair. Wouldn't that be something though? My favorite songwriter, my favorite singer and me all in the same documentary? Just the thought of it boggles my mind. More soon, I Country. CJ BACK TO THE TOP |
06-07-04 So its Fan Fair week here in Nashville. Add 150,000 extra people to highway construction in every direction in and out of Nashville and what do you get? I guess we will find out. I think I am going to set up camp beneath the Musica statue down off the row and see how many wrecks I can catch as the tourists wing around the round about, one eye on the cobblestones and one on the giant bronze genitalia looming overhead. It's Musica's first Fan Fair. Still working on getting a gig down on Lower Broadway, It would be a great way to get used to playing with a band. I can already get up and sing with me and my guitar, I lost my stage fright years ago. Doing 3-4 songwriter nights a week for a year or so will do that to you. I sent some cold pitches out last week, haven't heard back from anyone. Although Lib Hatcher, Randy Travis's wife and manager, was nice enough to send hers back unopened. It's a "no unsolicited materials" town you know. I have a meeting with Jim & Joe tomorrow, they are song pluggers on the row. Just trying to find ways to get in some doors. I seem to be stalling. I have a great studio that's willing to help fray the cost of some demos to get me started, we've got a few good ones in the can, so now its time to get those things heard. My friends Buddy Owens and Shannon Lillie got married over the weekend. I was in the wedding, it was fabulous and went off without a hitch. It went so well in fact that they thought they were home free as they drove away with the old tin cans in tow. The driver spot checked the cans in the rear view mirror and failed to see the dog jaywalking in front of them. Somehow he managed to thread his way under the front of the SUV and out the rear without a scratch. They stopped to check on him and his owner said he was fine. We ended the night at a reception at the Loew's Vanderbilt hotel and then went down to the Honky Tonks. Shannon wore her dress and we wore our tuxes in the bars, it was a hoot. I always feel like James Bond in a tuxedo, I'm only missing the English accent, Walther P-38, Jag, Gadgets and the girl. On a music note: My round with Ron Kauffman and John Pennell at the Top Of The Barrell in Bellvue went very well, after we re-gained our hearing from a mishap provided by the sound guy. He gave the word "feedback" a whole new meaning, imagine banshees on fire. Oh and then I lost my car. No really, I lost that thing in one of the parking lots. That damn mall is friggin' huge! Ron had to drive me around until we found it. Thanks Ron for the round and for helping me find my car. More soon, I Country. CJ BACK TO THE TOP |
05/24/04 Just a note to let everyone know I'm not dead. Not much going on, on the music side, keeping busy developing logos and websites. I've been doing a few CD design projects, finished three over the last four weeks. Nothing much else doing. Dani, that runs the studio I do all my recording at has been out of town on vacation for the last three weeks, so recording has kind of stopped. I hope to get in soon, I've probably got 20 songs I would like to get a guitar vocal on. I would really like to make the rounds to some publishers soon, just to see what they say about my material. I got booed on stage for the first time last week, THAT was fun. My friend Lair Morgan and I did a round at the Boardwalk Cafe just down the street from my house and some drunk at the bar decided he had heard enough and began screaming "GET OFF THE STAGE!" Between every song. Being the way we are Lair and I took it in stride and just kept playing until the host told us to stop. I'm playing in a round with John Pennell at the end of the month with my friend Ron Kauffman. He invited me out to do a round at a new venue in the Bellvue mall called Top Of The Barrel, should be fun. I always enjoy being around John, not only is he an awesome writer (about 15 Allison Krauss cuts) he's also just a great guy. I haven't seen much of him since he got hitched. Speaking of hitched my best friend Buddy Owens is getting married on the 5th of June. One of his cousins wasn't able to come so I get to be in the wedding. Tomorrow night is his bachelor party. Instead of the strip club route we are going out in the country to Gerald Smith's house to cook out, drink, pick and camp. Should be fun. Buddy's song that he co-wrote with Billy Yates is still on hold for George Strait. Would be a cool wedding gift to get a George Strait cut. Well that's about it. Sorry it wasn't too interesting this go round. More soon, I Country. CJ BACK TO THE TOP |
04/20/04 A good friend brought it to my attention that lately my journal had turned into a smear fest against those who I believe are taking advantage of songwriters in this town. To the extent that it was making me look bad. And I agreed with him. That's not what I wanted this thing to be about when I started it, I want it to be about my music, my friend's music and how they are progressing as artists and writers. There are a lot of jerks in this town but if you are a decent person you are going to be able to spot them, so I'm going to stop pointing them out. To that extent I've edited this site for negativity, hey its mine I can, I am going to try and keep things as positive as possible from here on out. And to start things off on that note, my friend Buddy Owens called yesterday to tell me that a song that he and Billy Yates wrote was put on hold for George Strait. They finished writing the thing about two weeks ago, did a demo and then pitched it for the first time yesterday, after which MCA put it on hold for George. Good luck Buddy, I hope you get a big ol' cut, single and #1. More soon, I Country.. CJ BACK TO THE TOP |
04/16/04 My friend Jeff Batson called me yesterday afternoon to let me know he was doing a round at Douglas Corner with Wayland Patton And Dave Gibson . I wrote with Wayland the day before and he made NO MENTION of this, kind of the way he is. Anyway I went on out and had a great time. Douglas is a very intimate room, they set up the writers in the round in the middle of the room, similar to the Bluebird without the "shhh" policy, they are a little more laid back. Jeff did a great job, he did several songs I know, we write together so I have heard a few over the course of our get-togethers. I'm also helping him with his website, should be up in the next few weeks. Wayland is a good friend, we write a lot, he did the song that we wrote together about my car wreck in '01. It got a great response and garnered great sympathy for yours truly from the crowd, people started buying me beer after he played it. Thanks Way. I've seen Dave at some music row functions, Wynn Varble's #1 party for "Have you forgotten" comes to mind, but I had never been introduced to him. He's a really nice guy and come to find out we are from the same part of the world. He's from Foreman, Arkansas which is just down the road from where I grew up, Monticello, Arkansas. So we had some common ground to walk over. Dave had some success in the early 90's with the Gibson Miller band. He's also written some monster hits including "Daddy never was the Cadillac kind" for Confederate Railroad and "Ships That Don't Come In" for Joe Diffie. Just being a fellow Arkansan makes him OK in my book. Nice to meet you Dave, hope you like the book. Blake Shelton is done cutting and there WILL NOT be A CJ Hughes song on the album, not for lack of trying though. It's bound to be a good one with a Harley Allen cut as the first single and Bobby Braddock producing. No news on "Arkansas Dirt" I know Mosaic is pitching the hell out of it so maybe we will get lucky yet. I heard from Thom Shepherd, his new baby boy is doing fine. Came a couple of months early so he has to spend a month or so in the hospital but Thom says he is gaining weight and progressing well. Say a prayer for Wyatt Shepherd. That's a country music singer name if I ever heard one. More soon, I Country. CJ BACK TO THE TOP |
04/04/04 My second 30 minute set at Hobo Joe's went very well. It was last minute so I didn't expect anyone to come out, but a few did. No matter the room was full of songwriters from Wayland Patton's www.SongwriterForums.com who were in town for TinPan south week, as well as the Second Annual Songwriter Forums Show, held this year at Hobo's. It was a great show, good to see all those guys. Friday I went down to take photos of Buddy on Broadway, and on stage. He has someone pitching him to a label and they wanted some good photos, we will see if they turn out. Also took some pics of my buddy Gerald Smith, he needed some promo shots for shows he wants to book. Then, I had a few beers. Then I got up to sing with Buddy's band, then some guy from Arkansas that heard Buddy say that "I" was from Arkansas started buying the group Tequila shots. Then I met a cute girl from Chicago. It was all up or down hill from there, depending on your ideals of "good" and "bad." I will say this, Hangovers are hell sent and I had to pick my keys up from the bar the next morning. Rarely do I have this much "fun." But give me a break, I have to have something good to talk about when I get old. Buddy let me borrow a book called "Guitar Pull" last week. I'ts interviews with some of the biggest country music songwriters from the last 40 years. Braddock is in there and so is Harlan Howard. It was written five or so years ago. In Harlan's interview he states that songwriter's don't go out and "hang" anymore down at the honky tonks and that's part of the reason country music has lost it's edge, it's realism. I wish Harlan was still around, 'cause there's still some hell raisers in this town. Saturday I went out to see a TinPan show. Harley Allen and Shawn Camp were in it. It amazes me that Shawn never became a bigger singer. He has an awesome voice. He had a few hits in the 90's and then got dropped. I guess he started concentrating on songwriting after that because he's written some awesome stuff. He did "That ain't the grandpa that I know." If you've never heard that song get Joe Diffie album "In Another World", it's the last song on there, and it is one of the best written songs I have ever heard. He also did one that was all about this guy that was in the circus who is dating a trapeze artist. Then she cheats on him with a clown. My two favorite lines were #1: The guy goes to his girlfriend's trailer and the clown is there, the line is: "And when I saw that clown behind her, I knew there was one in front of her too." Damn that rocks. #2 Then the last line is something to the effect of: "Goodbye cruel circus, I'm off to join the world." Shawn Camp is freaking fantastic. Harley did two or three that I had never heard. One was a song about raising a child, at first though it almost seems like he's talking about a woman. There is a line in the chorus that says, "Then she says yes and I say no and she storms off to her room." That's when I got that it's a mother and a father telling a daughter two different things and her getting mad. Very good song. He also did, "When somebody knows you that well" which is Blake Shelton's new single. He closed with "The Baby" which got a big response from the crowd. The show was at the Trap, I wish they had cranked the sound up, it was hard to hear them over the crowd, which was a large one. My friend Thom Shepherd's wife had her baby TWO MONTHS EARLY! He is doing well though, Thom sent me a picture. They named him Wyatt Thomas Shepherd. On a songwriter related note: Thom informed me last week that the song we wrote and did a demo on "Arkansas Dirt" was pitched over to MCA records. Someone over there liked it enough to forward it to George Strait. That's a big deal. It's not on hold yet but to get ANYONE interested in one of your songs at a label enough to get them to send it to one of their artists is a big deal. Especially someone as huge as George Strait. We will see if anything comes of it. The world keeps turning, try and fight it, and it will turn on you. More soon, I country. CJ Hughes BACK TO THE TOP |
03/20/04 What an awesome, if busy week. For starters business is good, lots of websites and logos. Plus things are picking up with my writing and recording. As I noted in my last journal entry Mosaic Music Group (publishing company) decided to pick up a song that Thom Shepherd and I wrote and pitch it. Which means they are going to try and get it recorded by a major artist. That was a thrill in itself, but it got better when they asked that I sing on the demo, after hearing me on the work tape. But first things first. Monday night I went to the Bluegrass Inn on Broadway and saw my friend Shannon Lillie play. She always puts on a great show. She packed the house that night, there was an asphalt layers convention in town and they jammed into that bar to hear and see Shannon and her fiddle player/ back-up singer Amber Dawn Carter. On Tuesday I went out to Douglas Corner to see Thom play in the annual Mosaic Music Writers Night, they filled up the house and did a great set. Got to meet a fantastic writer, Bobby Pinson, and got to catch up with some old friends as well. Wednesday we went in the studio to do the demo for the song Mosaic picked up, Arkansas Dirt. Thom was great about letting me provide as much input as I wanted. That afternoon I recorded the vocal. For my first time in a "music row" studio I think it went very, very well. Can't wait to start pitching the song. Wednesday night I went to see my Friend Alan Layman play a round at the Bluebird, then after his show I hopped over to the Sutler to see Matt Ramsey and the Takers. You can hear Matt on the music page, he is singing the backup vocals on "God Must Like Country Boys." Yes that's him doing the talking part as well. My mom came in to town for a visit on Thursday, she got here around 6PM and we headed straight out for my solo set at Hobo Joe's in east Nashville. I had been begging people to come out for a month, and it paid off. About 20 people showed up just to see me, which is awesome. I went on at 7:15 and got to sing six or seven songs and got an awesome response. Several people told me that I had improved a lot since the last time they saw or heard me, so that's good. Thanks to everyone that came out, and double thanks to those that brought out friends. Thanks Natalie & friends, Buddy & friends, Erin, Wayland, Matt, Sarah, Mikey Mike, Roxie, Jamie, Sheldon, Gerald, James, Susan, Dani, Melissa and my momma for coming out to see me! I had a blast, lets do it again in a few months! Big thanks to our host for the night, Lair Morgan, you rock. After my set we hopped downtown to catch the end of Shannon's Thursday night show at the Second Fiddle, she plays every Thursday from 6-10. Then we jumped across the street to Nashville Crossroads to catch Jamie Prosser and Roxie Randall's round. Lee Rascone is hosting the rounds there now. Jamie and Roxie both did an outstanding job. I met several new writers fresh to town including Michelle Titian who is visiting from Canada and looking for a deal, as well as Tobi Vos, also fresh off the proverbial Greyhound Bus. We caught the tail end of Tobi's round before Jamie and Roxie went on, she has an awesome voice, and is easy on the eyes to boot. Then I took mom to the Sunset Grille in Hillsboro Village, great late night menu, and affordable besides. Friday I took mom down the studio were we cut the demo, Thom asked me to come down while they were adding the background vocals and harmonies, so I could tell the singer if there was anything specific I heard that I wanted him to do. After that we went to lunch at the new Irish Pub on Demonbruen and then shopped the antique stores in Franklin all afternoon. Finally we wound down with dinner at the Cracker Barrel with Shawn Harnett & family. Mom was flat wore out so I dropped her off at the house and then headed back to the studio to hear the final mix of Arkansas Dirt. Turns out of the 5 Thom recorded, they mixed that one last, so it was a long wait, but well worth it. I got home at 2am with a copy of the song in its final form and it really does sound terrific. Thanks to the guys at House of David for doing a bang up job recording and mixing. Thanks again to everyone that came to my solo set, you guys made that an unforgettable night. Sheldon and mom took pictures, between them I might have a few next week to post on the site. The Arkansas Dirt demo has been posted to the music page. Cross your fingers for a big old cut, single release and hit. More soon, I Country. CJ BACK TO TOP |
02/21/04 So its been two weeks since I've written in my journal and people are starting to call and make sure I am not dead. To quote Twain, "The rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated." Not much has happened as far as music, just like any other career, not much happens in the span of a few weeks. I am however writing every day, I've hit a heavy writing streak lately, probably something to do with a woman, it usually is. At any rate I'm averaging one or two songs a day. Not that these are great songs have you, just thoughts. I spend 90% of my time in my apartment alone, and I'm not a big phone person, so songs are one of my outlets. So what else is going on? Well I gave up drinking in bars and Diet Mountain Dew again. First time for the bar thing, about the hundredth on the dew, that stuff is addictive. I got off the dew to help with my insomnia. I got off the beer when I figured out I could afford health insurance if I stopped paying $4 a bottle for Corona down town. It's cheaper to buy half a case and drink it with a friend or two at the house. Play a few tunes, listen to CDs, eat, etc... all for a grand total of about $15.00 as opposed to the $60.00 or so a week I was spending on beer downtown. My mom is probably having a cow, but $60 does not much booze buy in a bar. Probably 10 drinks and then there is parking and tipping the bands, etc... So I'm cutting back to once a week down on Broadway and not drinking while I'm there. May not last long but I am going to try hard. It's really easy once you've been here for a year or two to get really lazy. You record a few of your songs, see a few publishers and if nothing really kicks in, you start wondering what in the hell you are supposed to do. I thought I had a publisher interested in me, and then they folded last month. Truthfully they were the only publisher I've ever talked to in town. So now I'm trying to get 5 or 6 good demos together, and go make the rounds. Hopefully I will fair better than most of the guys stepping off the bus, if only because I have met a ton of people and they might be able to get me in some doors. As I've said before it does not do any good to record your stuff and then sit on it. Nobody is going to go door to door asking folks if they have any radio friendly songs they would like to have recorded by a major star. I finally got a copy of Marshall Chapman's new book, "Goodbye Little Rock And Roller." I've been stranded at my apartment with my car in the shop for the past four days, so I had some time to read. Actually started on it Friday in the afternoon and finished it in the wee hours of Saturday. It's probably one of the best books I've read in my life. It sucks you in and all you want to do is keep reading. Marshall has had several cuts and made some money in the music business, most notably from Sawyer Brown's first hit, "Betty's Being Bad." What's great about the book is that basically each chapter is themed around a song she's written. Then she branches out in to anything and everything. My favorite parts are when she is running around Nashville doing the songwriter thing. You know staying out late and mingling with the big writers who are just out at a club having a good time. They say that is dead in this town, but "they" must not get out much. We may be young and uncut but there are mobs of songwriters hanging out in the bars and clubs and learning together, how to make it, or not make it, in the songwriting business. And on occasion we'll have a brush with grace. My most recent was running into Billy Yates at a Gene Watson concert at a club called the Trap, which is co-owned by George Straits manager Erv Woolsey. We chatted about the biz, it was great. Buddy met him that night as well and they have even been writing some. A few months before that we were downtown bar hopping and ran smack into Jim Lauderdale, who was celebrating the closing of the play "Stand By Your Man" the Tammy Wynette story at the Ryman, in which he played George Jones. He offered to buy us a drink at Robert's down on lower Broadway. Kid Rock has been making the rounds on Broadway as well, he did an hour set with the house band a few months back. There is a journal entry from a few weeks back with a run in with Daryl Singletary, before he had his recent run in with the Nashville PD for carrying a handgun in his truck. So, it may not be as crazy as the speed and coke days of the sixties, but its still happening, you just have to know where to look, and where not to look. My mom is coming in for a few days in March, should be fun. Going to take her to one of my songwriting rounds and then up to Franklin. My friend Shawn and his family took me to Franklin to see a movie a few weeks back and I thought it was the coolest place. They have an old downtown square, historic shops, etc... They biggest kick I got though was at the movie house itself. They serve beer and wings! How crazy is that? Well no real ranting this week, no I’m not sick. Except for the $700 I’ve had to drop on my car, its been a good month. There is something in the way of a calm blanket that is over me, even through the car trouble and wondering what the hell I’m supposed to do next I feel calm. I’m not sure what that means, with my luck its the first sign that you are going crazy. More soon, I Country. CJ BACK TO THE TOP |
02/27/04 When you're a songwriter people that aren't often ask you where the ideas come from. "Where in the world did you get the idea for that?" A friend will say. Often times I honestly don't remember where a song idea came from, probably because I get wrapped up in the writing and recording process. But sometimes the way a song comes about has such a unique twist to it that I hold on to the "where." For instance. One night last year, probably in October, I was over at my friend Buddy's house. We had been down town bar hoping so I was probably a little loopy. Buddy has this large open room on the side of his house that we play music in. I headed back there to pick up a guitar when I spotted an empty bottle of Arizona Iced Tea laying on the floor. For some reason, probably the alcohol, the idea for a song called "Arizona in a bottle" popped in to my head. I wrote it down and stuck it in my pocket for later. The next day I found the scrawl I had left for myself. At the time I decided that it sounded too much like "Georgia In A Jug" which was written by Bobby Braddock and was on Blake Shelton's last CD. So I got to thinking about another way to word it. First I had to think about a story. What part did the bottle play in the story? I decided through some strange chain of reasoning that the bottle held dirt. Dirt from a farm. So that gave me a good starting point. Then I got to thinking, Arizona really isn't known for farming, so maybe I should pick another state. Initially I thought of Mississippi, because I was thinking that maybe the dirt could be from a cotton farm. Then I started to remember a couple of songs that have been on the radio in the last couple of years with the word "Mississippi" in the title. I also remembered that they hadn't fared that well on the charts. So Mississippi was out. My next logical choice was Arkansas, since I am from there. Arkansas is known as a cotton, soy bean, rice, watermelon producing state. So it was a natural fit. So now I had "Arkansas in a bottle." Figuring that as long as the story was different, the relation to "Georgia in a Jug" would be nominal. I had also decided that the story was going to be told from the perspective of an old man sitting in a retirement home with this bottle of Arkansas dirt. Not being able to come up with much on my own I started pitching this idea to every person that I co-write with, or most of them. I would say "Hey how about a song about a farmer called Arkansas in a bottle." I got nowhere. No one wanted to help me with it. The only person that showed any interest was Thom Shepherd. I told him about it and he suggested that the title of the song be "Arkansas Dirt" instead of "Arkansas in a bottle." I didn't like this idea at first, it just sounded strange to me to have a song called "Arkansas Dirt." I wound up dropping the idea for a while, and then a few weeks ago it came back on me. Sometimes I can put an idea away, let it mature in my mind a little, and then come back to it. Which is what happened here. One of the first things I do every morning is pick up my guitar. Since I don't have television its kind of what I do to get awake in the morning. I have a cup of hot chocolate and play my guitar. Of course I always play the same songs over and over, so I never really get any better at guitar, but that's another story. At any rate I was sitting on my couch playing my guitar when I started playing this funky little thing in E. Just a simple little melody with a bent note in it, but it was catchy. I kept playing it over and over, sometimes when I do this a line will come out. And it did. The line that came out was, "In a cane back chair in a corner all alone, he stares out the window at the shady rest nursing home." I instantly realized that this was the farmer song, this was "Arkansas In A Bottle." I got a few more lines down but had to leave to meet Thom for a writing appointment. We were working on another song, but I took out what I had written down about an hour before and tried to play it for him. For some reason it didn't catch with him, so I quietly put it away and we continued working on our other song. That same week I added more and more to the song, I got a chorus and a couple of verses and the story was starting to come together. I had decided that the old man had a mason jar of dirt from his farm, that his dad had died and left him to take care of his family, and that he was successful at raising a crop and keeping them out of the poor house. I had also decided that Thom's suggestion of calling the song "Arkansas Dirt" was a good one. Mainly because "dirt" rhymes were easier to come by than "bottle" rhymes. What I couldn't get to meld right was the hook. I've told the audience he has this jar but I haven't told them what's in it, so the last couple of lines needs to do that, tell them that its "Arkansas Dirt" in the jar, really bring it home. I couldn't come up with what I wanted, but I finished the song to a point, where it was singable, but the story still wasn't complete. At my next writing session with Thom I played him the song. He really liked it. I told him that I wasn't happy with it and that I thought it needed more story, and that if he wanted we could work on it. He agreed. It was probably the best thing that could have happened to the song, a fresh perspective on the story really got it in shape. Thom also changed my weak chord progression in the chorus which made it much more dynamic as well as writing a last verse, which brought home the point of the story, and writing a new chorus for the end of the song. We also went back and made changes throughout the song to make it stronger. Early on I had the jar sitting on a window sill, it was Thom's idea to put the jar in the man's hands. You wouldn't think that was a big deal, but it made it more real, more tangible and visual. I could now see this old man at the window of his nursing home room clutching this mason jar of dirt. We "finished" the song that day and he played it for his publisher. They liked it, but suggested some changes. Basically they just switched a few lines around to make the story flow better, which strengthened the song even more. Thom played it for them again today, and they have decided to demo it. This may not seem like that big of a deal but it really kind of is. Thom is signed with a well known publisher, they have had a lot of songs hit the charts, so to have them pitching this song is a big deal. Even better, after hearing me sing on the work tape they asked that I also sing on the demo. Finally a step forward. Not only will this get some of my music bouncing up and down music row, it will also get my voice heard, which can't be a bad thing. The more exposure the better I say. It's a big deal to me that a well respected publisher on music row has decided that a song I have co-written is good enough for them to stamp their name on and play it for people. We will see what happens. Cross your fingers for a big ol' hit. I will put a guitar vocal up on the site as soon as I get one recorded with the final lyrics. In the mean time you can at least read it on the lyrics page. More soon, I Country. CJ BACK TO THE TOP |
06/27/04 I pestered Dave down at Legend's until he finally gave me some gigs. I've been getting up to sing with people on Broadway for over a year, mostly with my friend Buddy and his band. Anyway Dave's heard me sing a bunch of times so that was a plus. For the most part I will be using Buddy's band. Hopefully it will turn into me getting a regular gig at Legend's. Which would be great, its my favorite bar in town. The dates are: Tuesday, July 6th 2004 ~ 6:15PM-10:15PM Tuesday, July 20th 2004 ~ 10:15PM - 2:15AM Come on out and honky tonk with us if you get the chance. More Soon, I Country. CJ BACK TO THE TOP |