About Songwriting...
It took me a long time to admit this but...
I am a songwriter. And yes, I've always dreamed of writing "that song".
I know, it sounds like I should have to stand up and say it publicly amongst my peers within a "safe space". But I figure if you're reading this, it's probably safe. What I have come to realize is that throughout the many changes, detours and phases in my life, one thing has remained constant for me since I was a kid: Writing a song, or at least trying to. It's been my passion and my refuge, and it's been my greatest test. And like many of you out there out there, I've had to ask myself all those same soul-searching questions along the way like, "What's the point if practically no one listens" and "How much time and money am I gonna dump into this before I see any type of return" and of course, "Why do I freakin' suck so bad today?" But like most of us who love music and creating it, I just keep going and it keeps me going.
First song I wrote was at age 12. An upbeat knee slapper called "The Day is Happy". Then I followed that up with "Time Please Take Your Time". And I never stopped from there, despite the fact that both songs were pretty terrible. At 17 I was in the studio recording my latest songs with our original band. We had some local 'hits' that we performed on The John Sanders Show, a daily program which ran LIVE on Comcast Cable at the time. We played versions of "Hey Hitchhiker" and "I Caught Your Eye". Not great, but they really were 'catchy' tunes and several steps up from where I began.
Fast forward to the present and over time I have accumulated shoe boxes filled with cassette tapes, plus hours of digital recordings and now of course, lots of stuff on my iPhone, all of which contain either songs or ideas. So here we are years later and the goal remains the same as it was the moment after I penned "The Day is Happy". Just keep writing, keep discovering, keep improving and above all keep pursuing "that song". The one I've always dreamed of writing...