from Dan Young of This Providence:
Hey everyone. What’s going on? I’ve been working hard recently, and by that I mean, working hard on my work ethic. In a moment of inspiration, a few months earlier, I mentioned in a blog that I had fallen head-over-heels for the morning calm. And while I still feel that way, another side of me relishes in staying up late watching TV on Hulu. It’s a battle, but I’m learning how to be a grown up…slowly…sort-of.
Aside from tackling my sleeping habits, I’ve also been developing a deeper understanding for the craft of song-writing. Currently I am working on songs for the next record which will be our 4th full-length and I still feel like such an amateur. This time round I’m learning just how much work it really takes to write a song. A good song, that is. When you’re young you walk into song-writing like it’s this lofty, magical sort of art that seems to be a whole lot of luck. And I do still believe half of it is chance, or providence, or whatever you choose to call it, but the other half is a whole lot of hard work, and patience. Mostly, I’ve had to be patient with myself. I’m not a quick learner, or reader, so I’ve had to invest a lot of time purely into learning and researching the craft of writing.
Next week we’re all headed to San Diego to take over a friends house near the beach and work through a bunch of the songs we have written so far. It’s going to be a great trip and I think we’ll walk away from it with the framework for the next record. I’m so excited!
In other news, I just bought some new jeans from eBay for my first time. Thank the good Lord, they fit like a dream! The kind of dream that you wish you had more of.
Thanks for reading,
DanP.S. If you’re interested in writing songs I have been reading the following books, I suggest you do the same:
The War Of Art by Steven Pressfield
This book is written from the perspective of an author, but is relevant to all writers and artists. It’s a REALLY easy read and has drastically changed my perspective on my profession.The Song Writers Idea Book by Sheila Davis
This book is just as much an examination of song-writing as it is an “idea” book. Really helpful, I read this one while writing “Who Are You Now?”Tunesmith by Jimmy Webb
Written by the world-class song writer, Jimmy Webb who is the only artist to have ever received Grammy awards for music, lyrics and orchestration. I’m about a quarter of the way into this one and only wish I’d read it sooner. This is by far the most in-depth look at song-writing I’ve read.
