From The Blog Series… 365 Blogs To Finding Pinocchio A Home  

So, a few months back, I took a songwriting course at Gotham Writer’s Workshop with Jody Gray. What a learning process! In that time, I practiced the “art” of songwriting, using the specific rules and tools given in each class. I was reminded of what humility and willingness truly means. I also found the courage to put aside my already learned techniques and self taught ways so that I could allow other songwriting methods in. I am so grateful I did. It has allowed yet another door to open to get me closer and closer to being a full time singer, songwriter, composer and performer.

If I had to summarize the 10 week course into two sentence, here is what I would say. 1. Learn all the rules to the game so well that you never have to think about what to do again to craft a “GREAT” song, one that is universal and authentic! 2. Editing is everything. (Sure, the first draft is a great start, but that’s all it is! Once the first edit is in, that’s when the real fun begins!)

What I found great about this class was the dicipline I had to attain throughout the 10 weeks, as I was given weekly assignments. For one assignment, I had to create the melody and lyrics to a musical track already created. For two other assignments, I got to collaborate with two of my classmates creating two new songs. It was a great experience in so many ways. I forced myself to put aside how I was writing and stick to the tools and rules Jody gave the class and use them fully with every assignment.

I found a new respect for the “art” of songwriting. I got to practice having “deadlines” for each project. The goal was not to get it right and perfect the first time around. The goal was to attempt to do the task the best I could and just bring that in. What I loved the most was at the end of each class, two students, who had signed up the week before, were able to “booth” a song of their own. That just means to present a song to the class and sit silent afterwards listening to each person give their feedback in a very healthy and helpful manner. It gave me a chance to work on a few songs that I had truly thought were “done”! Is a song ever really done? Not really. But, there does come a point where it is as done as it can be for that moment and you kinda have nothing else that really needs changing. The song makes sense, it’s got a great hook, great lyrics, a memorable melody, a universal theme and is pretty much just ready to be shared with everyone. So, I made sure to booth as many times as I could and I chose to be 100% open to what everyone had to say and it allowed me to “Get Out Of My Own Way” and get each song I brought in to be the best it could be!

You know, at the beginning of my songwriting career, it was a challenge to hear feedback without getting defensive. But now, many years later, as time has passed and my goal is simply to write “GREAT” songs, it’s like I feed off of the feedback. My ears couldn’t be any more open. I am not saying that initially that little voice won’t come in and say, “Are you kidding me! The song IS done! What do you mean you don’t understand that line?” Yup…that good old ego chimes right in! And then, I rememeber the main goal, to write “GREAT” songs and be a full time songwriter! That makes me see clearly that I am writing for others, not  just for myself! And that, that is making all the difference in the way I am now writing. I am doing this to be of service to others. So, with that in mind, I have a responsibility to craft a great song that is relatable to as many people as possible. All the rules and tools I have learned can be used in so many different ways to create so many different songs and the goal is to create “GREAT” tunes that stick around!

So, in those 10 weeks I “boothed” 6 times with two of my strongest songs that I felt were ready to be recorded. One of them was, “Get Out Of My Own Way”, which is now being placed in a new movie called, “Sleeping With The Fishes” by Nicole Gomez Fisher, which I spoke about in Blog #19. I was actually able to present, to Nicole, the NEW VERSION and she agreed, it was much better! The other song I brought in to be “boothed” was a song that I had already recorded professionally, and, was getting ready to put out as my next single, when the time was right. Any idea which song that was? YUP… “I Wanna Be Pinocchio”. Even though I felt very confident about both these songs, I took a risk and brought them in, three times each! And what happened from that experience? I had to go back to the drawing board and rewite the songs until everyone, or almost everyone, was like, “Ok, that’s it!” I would get out of class on those nights my songs were being “boothed” and head to the  subway and on my way home to The Bronx, I found this surge of energy come out of me, willing to apply the feedback I was just given while finding the humility inside myself not to make others wrong and to just sit down and do another rewite of the song. That process gave me the ability to find the right lyric, the best phrasing, the most powerful hook, the most universal theme!

The picture with Pinocchio above shows the rewites I did for “I Wanna Be Pinocchio”. Now… you might be wondering what that new song sounds like. You know what the original sounds like. I just released the it on July 4th! But, hint… hint.. THAT VERSION WAS NOT THE  REWRITE . The rewrite… from class… it’s simmering and waiting patiently for me to get back in the studio to record it. What does this mean? It means there is gonna be a battle between the two Pinocchio’s. So stay tuned….

 And yes, we are yet another day closer to finding Pinocchio a home!