TAXI RALLY IN NASHVILLE -please use this thread

[arkjack]

I'M SORRY!!!That picture does not tell me nearly enough!!! Like... Where y'at? What were you fishing for? Where's the blood? Wha'd ya catch?Michael, anytime you want to come east to Cape May you have a standing invitation for fishing on the ARK. Feel free to bring Craig, James, and Ralph.ArkJack

[hookstownbrown]

Quote:So the premise is that Forwards from Taxi are not "seriously" listened to by the people who receive them in Nashville because ML doesn't have an office there. And because, rather than listening to the music, the listing party checks the address of all Forwarded writers & declines to listen to anything that doesn't come from someone who lives in "TN". Just want to get this clear in my mind. No Vikki, you're putting words in my mouth here. The pure TRUTH -- not the premise -- is that if you are personally connected in Nashville, you generally have open doors and somewhat eager ears. If you are not a resident of that "small town", you are considered an outsider, for lack of a better term. You might get a verse/chorus, but if your song isn't seriously better than the local writers'... Forget it...Nobody in Nashville 'declines' to listen to a Taxi submission. Publishers are in the business of finding great songs. But, submissions come in by the hundreds from all over Nashville. If they like a song, they want to know if you live there, that you have cowriters there, that you help to market your songs by playing them in the clubs, that you are addicted to success... They want to know you personally.So, being an outside writer, you almost have to write a song that is better than anything you've heard on the radio in the last few years.There are so many thousands of songwriters in Nashville -- forty thousand, with two thousand being competitive... The suits can pick and choose from the local pool. Living there means everything. A constant presence puts you on even ground with those who struggle... Those who sacrifice and go to the clubs every night to meet others who know others who know others...My thoughts are that every advantage helps our cause. Every detail that gains some competitive edge, however insignificant that detail might appear...After reading Michael's post, I can see, once again, that he is on top of and well aware of the issue. I'm very impressed to find out that he expends serious time, energy and money in trying to get us inside that culture to become a part of the community. Now, I hope you see just how competitive it really is in that town...Chits, don't worry, I'm not a people person either. But I make friends with all those other non-people persons who can write like nobody's business! Heh! There's a lot of us!

[arkjack]

Key West?

[Casey H]

Quote: There are so many thousands of songwriters in Nashville -- forty thousand, with two thousand being competitive... The suits can pick and choose from the local pool. Living there means everything. A constant presence puts you on even ground with those who struggle... Those who sacrifice and go to the clubs every night to meet others who know others who know others...I don't think anyone at TAXI or elsewhere is denying living there, sacrificing, going the clubs, and making personal contacts is the best way. This is true for most things in the industry-- for film/TV, living in LA and building personal relationships with music supervisors gives you a big edge too. TAXI always advertises that they are the SECOND best way to get a deal.If someone is truly, 100% with all their heart and soul, dedicated and committed to becoming a Nashville writer, they really should move to Nashville. However, if that just isn't possible, they should do the absolute best they can-- work on making the songs bullet-proof and pitching them every way possible.The other problem is that the odds of a cut are so astronomically small, it is hard to draw absolute conclusions. I also wonder how many people out there who would like to see a Nashville office, have had forwards to high bar Nashville listings. It does start with a great song, and without that all the offices in the world don't matter. This is not true for you, Hooks, but I'm sure many out there focus on the Nashville presence, ignoring the songwriting as the issue.Some may recall there was a thread a few months back whereby a member was bitching up a storm about TAXI not forwarding his 'great' country songs. ML contacted him and offered, at his own expense, to personally take him to publishers on The Row to present some songs and see how the publishers reacted. It included a generous cash offer if any publisher thought a song was good enough to sign. That tells me that ML knows these people well and has high confidence in his knowledge of what type of song will get these folks excited.Anyway, 'nuff rambling Casey

[jchitty]

I'd love for TAXI to have an office in Nashville, but as my grandmother used to say, 'wanting ain't getting.' I never expected TAXI to move their operations there. I know that would be an unbelievably daunting task. But as far as a Rally in Nashville goes (what this thread was originally about anyway) I think that would be a wonderful starting point for TAXI. Of course, Michael's very first post also explained the difficulties of pulling that off as well, so if TAXI decided to do a Nashville Rally, I know that would be way off in the future. It could take years to do that, and it may never happen.Michael once again explained all the topics discussed on this particular thread are nothing new to him, that he indeed has been pondering these ideas for a long time, and that he's worked very hard to get our music on the desks of people's he's connected with.If nothing else, this thread keeps the Nashville Rally idea alive....I'm sure this is always discussed behind the scenes, but this thread allows us to bring it out in the open and hope for possibilities down the line. It's really hard being a country songwriter....you can really lose hope sometimes...I have days I'd like to just give up, and I've only been doing this two years. I can imagine what people who've been doing this for twenty years feel like. That's why I like the fact that this thread came to life again.

[Casey H]

Quote:It's really hard being a country songwriter....you can really lose hope sometimes...I have days I'd like to just give up, and I've only been doing this two years. Hey ChitsDon't give up hope... ever... But learn the realities and the obstacles and keep tackling them. First one, is figure out how to write songs that are so impressive that screeners and anyone else who listens for Nashville pitches goes "Wow!"... HA! As if that was easy... But truth is, that is probably the biggest hurdle for most. I think your idea of attending Nashville workshops is a great one. Use workshops, books, pro-critique services out of Nashville, TAXI reviews, etc. to keep honing your skills. You are fortunate in that you are further along that road than many. Casey

[jchitty]

Quote:Quote:It's really hard being a country songwriter....you can really lose hope sometimes...I have days I'd like to just give up, and I've only been doing this two years. Hey ChitsDon't give up hope... ever... But learn the realities and the obstacles and keep tackling them. First one, is figure out how to write songs that are so impressive that screeners and anyone else who listens for Nashville pitches goes "Wow!"... HA! As if that was easy... But truth is, that is probably the biggest hurdle for most. I think your idea of attending Nashville workshops is a great one. Use workshops, books, pro-critique services out of Nashville, TAXI reviews, etc. to keep honing your skills. You are fortunate in that you are further along that road than many. CaseyThanks, Case, for your very nice words of encouragement here. Yeah, I agree, boy it's tough to write a really impressive song that would stand out.....if there was an easy way to do that, then everyone would have a hit song on the radio I know I'm facing really stiff competition, and winning a lottery is easier than writing a hit song.

[edteja]

No Chits, winning a lottery is perhaps more probable (statistically) but can't influence the odds. Your persistence and willingness to keep learning increases your probability of writing a hit song, and persistence, in particular, increases the odds of it getting to the person who can have a hit with it. Of course, as one of my cowriters remarked after we recently mixed a future monster hit: "All we have to do now is wait until the other 24,386 songwriters who have this kind of demo are all at Starbucks."

[jchitty]

Quote:No Chits, winning a lottery is perhaps more probable (statistically) but can't influence the odds. Your persistence and willingness to keep learning increases your probability of writing a hit song, and persistence, in particular, increases the odds of it getting to the person who can have a hit with it. Of course, as one of my cowriters remarked after we recently mixed a future monster hit: "All we have to do now is wait until the other 24,386 songwriters who have this kind of demo are all at Starbucks."LOL, Ed...I like the Starbucks story. Thanks for the advice. I'm prolific if nothing else...that may not equate to quality, but I also work to hone my craft through TAXI critiques, etc.I've always thought that success is like a dart board....you just have to keep throwing (and creating) those darts.....maybe one of them will eventually hit the target.Songwriting really isn't that much different from peddling wares on a cart in the street.....if you have something everyone wants, they're gonna stop to make a purchase. And if your products aren't selling on the cart, you have to find a product that will.I have my down times, but it's nothing that a Snickers bar can't fix. Plus, I find writing all the time helps me 'coz it gives me hope, and I don't focus on my losses so much.

[arkjack]

Well, seeing how there seems to be a lot of great Nashville people in Key West, maybe a Taxi event invitation can be arranged. Then we could get some serious Dot fishing time and margarita tiki bar lounge stuff going.....ArkJack