If my memory is correct, I wrote my first song in 1984 - and it was TERRIBLE. I continued to write dozens more terrible songs for the next 10 years . . . until one day it finally clicked. Within a year I had enough decent material for my first solo album. One night in 1995 I was sitting around and playing music with a small group of other local musicians and played one of my original compositions. When I was finished with my song the guy sitting next to me turned to look at me and simply said; 'You WROTE that? Wow! I'm going to record in Nashville in a couple of weeks, do you have anything I can use?' Needless to say, the songs never got recorded (as far as I know of) and songwriting fame didn't come knocking at my door . . . but the point of the while story is DON'T GIVE UP. For most of us writing songs is like learning to play your first instrument - it takes time, study, effort and a lot of horrible noise before you begin to see results.
35 years have passed since I put pen to paper on that first terrible song, but when I checked the BMI website this morning, it said that I have written and/or co-written nearly 90 published songs . . . not a bad accomplishment for a guy with no talent, but a lot of love for what he does. If a bum like me can do it, so can you!
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