Interesting Chris Wallin Post

[cameron]

I found this gem on the Internet. For those who don't know, Chris Wallin is one of the most successful songwriters in Nashville. In 2007 he posted lyrics to a song on an Internet forum under the name of "Lester", initially without telling anyone who he was. He waited for everyone to tear it up before he let on who he was. The song was the soon-to-be released Kenny Chesney #1 hit, "Don't Blink". When he finally fessed up, he took a dig at some of the "know-it-alls" who had criticized the lyrics (that post is on page 3 of the thread).http://www.tunesmith.net/forums/showthr ... ?t=3404His post reminds me of rule #1 of Cowboy Jack Clements 10 songwriting tips (http://www.cowboyjackclement.com/philosophy/tips/) which is : "Remember that experts are often wrong." Something to remember when you get your next return.Cam

[matthoggard]

That was pretty good. I thought some of the posts were rather arrogant. All those Nashville guys acting like they are the shit.Great writing but I hate the song.M~

[cameron]

Yeah, the thread kind if disintegrated into a free for all later on. Some of those guys just need to meet somewhere and duke it outCam.

[matthoggard]

Agreed.The last thing we need to see is a bunch of successful writers acting like idiots on a forum andtalking down to writers who are still learning.M~

[davekershaw]

Interesting post Cam.And Matt: it's good to see one of Warren's philosophical gems being quoted!

[Mark Kaufman]

The tone changed considerably over there after that incident. The blowhards disappeared into their own legendary egos, and now it's a nice place to get a thoughtful critique and discuss music.

[erandall]

I found that whole discussion upsetting. I don't know what "lesson" he was teaching, but all it did to me was make me not want to put the time and energy into critiquing somebody's song. I'm no expert, but I do take critiquing seriously. And I believe that in the end it's up to the writer to choose what suggestions to take, so it doesn't matter if some are off the mark. Plus, just because this song may be commercially successful, doesn't automatically mean it's great writing. The song didn't say much to me, well-written or not. I'm with Matt on this. I think the whole thing was disengenuous and may end up discouraging people like me from participating in forums like these. Why would a succesful writer want to do that, anyway? I don't get that. Ellen

[cameron]

I felt that he was overly harsh on people who were just offering valid criticism. Sounds like he must have had an axe to grind from some stinging review he received when he was struggling like the rest of us. I did agree with his sentiments not to rewrite your song just because somebody says they don't like it, and it's notable that even a top songwriter like him was told he would never make it as a songwriter.Cam

[ncc1701]

I pulled a similar stunt once ... when I was just starting out recording my own stuff and was contributing regularly to Songfight... my very mainstream, commercial (albeit incredibly cheesy and MIDI) pop songs were getting ripped to shreds by the other Songfighters who all sounded like they were recording their alt/emo "masterpieces" in their bedroom with their computer sound card's mic.So my partner and I decided to write the WORST song possible and submit it under an alias. I couldn't keep it to less than four chords, and neither of us played guitar, so we borrowed her dad's acoustic and he showed her the fingerings for those four chords. But she couldn't make the changes fast enough, so we ended up recording it with both of us sitting on the floor, her holding the mic over the strings and strumming, and me using both hands on the neck to finger the chords! We had my husband do the vocal so it wouldn't be recognized. It was horrible.It didn't win the fight that week (which would have meant a triumph for us and we probably never would have submitted again), but it didn't lose either!!!Kathleen

[Mark Kaufman]

Well, I guess success and fame doesn't necessarily lead to wisdom or kindness. That whole thread also put me off when I first encountered it quite awhile ago. In fact, I had a sour opinion of the place. HOWEVER...I have since gotten to know a lot of people there as well as on that thread, and I'll say it again: there are some very good people over there who will give serious and thoughtful critiques, and the vast majority of people who post are very good-hearted.Actually, "Lester" probably did that board a favor...before that incident things were pretty harsh, trial by fire for a lot of songwriters...since then, I think people tend to exercise their best judgment.