Songplugger/The Cuts & The Bruises

[watksco]

Jun 2, 2009, 11:21am, mojobone wrote:May 31, 2009, 7:07pm, ottlukk wrote: Several things struck me about this book. First, was the emphasis on the quality of your songs. But the underlying attitude was that if you weren't in Nashville doing your stuff, well, there's no way you'd ever measure up. That twenty writers in Nashville get 75% of the cuts, and the rest of them . . . well, good luck . . . and if you're trying to get a song heard from out of town, wake up and smell the roses . . . or something else. Another major theme was the fact that all these songwriters/artists/producers/songpluggers in Nashville have had relationships that go back many years -- and all of them help each other out. Why consider an outsider, when there's so many insiders? The book had interviews with 27 industry insiders, and is worth it just for their views. But I got the impression from the vast majority of these interviews that you'd already better be connected before they'll listen to your stuff. It felt like "Catch-22": we'll listen to your stuff if you've already got a cut, but if you haven't got a cut, why listen to your stuff? (was that a lyric?) That jibes perfectly with everything I've ever read or researched about Nashville. There's this song called, "Don't Call Us, We'll Call You" that comes to mind...but, according to the 80/20 rule, the majority of the competition is crap, either not really serious, not really good or flat-out delusional-I'd say 80/20 is being very generous, most days. Then there's a bunch that have what it takes except for the stamina, they'll give up soon enough, and , before long, your one-in-a-million shot starts to look more like one in two thousand, that's two and three zeroes. I'll take them odds. More wisdom and clear thinking from Mojo...Keeeeep it coming.Scott