Last year, I was interviewed by an online magazine and they asked me what “advice” I had to give aspiring songwriters. My first thought was, ‘how on earth am I qualified to give ADVICE?!’ I’m so glad I was asked this question, because it gave me the opportunity to consider what I’ve learned throughout my experience thus far. After all, if you MUST get older, you might as well get wiser too. Otherwise, you’re running the risk of becoming Wooderson in Dazed and Confused, minus the Chavelle. So, here is my hitchhiker’s guide to the songwriting universe, for travelers first and foremost seeking happiness…and maybe a pit-stop into critical acclaim somewhere along the way.
1) Dare to suck.
Adopt the “dare to suck” approach to songwriting. What I mean by this is don’t let your fear of “what if this isn’t good enough?” stop you from doing something you love. Its really scary to share a song you’ve written with others, because, lets face it, music is subjective and they may not like it! Accept that not everything you write will be amazing, or even good! Don’t let this stop you from writing. The more you write, the more you will be able to fine-tune your craft. Allow yourself the freedom to “suck” and keep right along writing, recording, and sharing your music with others.
2) Find an advocate.
Every artist needs an advocate, a person who will encourage you and won’t let you be anything less than your best. This does not have to be a fellow writer, just someone whose musical opinion you respect and trust. When you drift off into your “dramatic writer cloud” (which we all do!) and feel like giving up, they can esteem you and bring you back to reality.
3) Refuse to compete.
Don’t engage in competition with other writers. Let me say this again: DO. NOT. COMPETE. Boy, have I had a hard time learning this one! So many young musicians (and, unfortunately, older ones too) spend a lot of fruitless time and energy “jockeying for position”. This is a trap! Comparison truly is the thief of joy. You are not competing with anyone but yourself. Try to be the best writer than YOU can be and strive to continually improve. Let the last thing you wrote be your measuring stick, not the resumes of other writers or performers. You will be SO much more happy and fulfilled in your art if you refuse to compete. I am still preaching this one to myself!
I am honored to be featured in this month’s issue of Memphis Downtowner Magazine. The piece is on local musicians balancing their music careers with their full-time professional jobs. Thanks to Terre Gorman, Devin Greaney, and all the folks at Memphis Downtowner for including me in this great article!
This song has been a blessing to me in the last couple of weeks. It is written by one of my favorite artists Sandra McCracken. In it, she talks about God’s provision in all stages of life – for the harvest feast and the fallow ground. On Father’s Day, my husband’s father suffered a stroke and is still in ICU in a Memphis hospital. Sandra has reminded me of God’s enduring promises, which are our only comfort when faced with the grim reality of suffering and uncertainty. I hope it encourages you as it has encouraged me.
Just got finished filming my new music video for “You Can’t Hold It”, which is up on my YouTube channel today! (Subscribe if you haven’t already) I gotta say, I’m pretty excited about how this one turned out, and was happy to take a backseat to the video’s star McKayla Rawlinson, making her on-screen debut at the seasoned age of 3 and a half
…..and the winner is Wayne Robinson! **recordscratch** Sorry, folks, I didn’t get enough votes to win the Lennon Award and make it through to the final round in the JLSC this year, despite your valiant efforts. That honor goes to Wayne Robinson, and a hearty congratulations to him for his winning song “I Believe”. Also, shout out to fellow Memphian Lauren Strange for taking home the Lennon Award in the County category this year!
….and I am one of them! “Christmas Lights” took home the gold in the Holiday Song category. What an honor! The IMA director sent me the handy-dandy seal thingee to your left, which I think is the extent of my prize package, but I’ll take it! Click here for a full list of this year’s winners
UPDATE! I posted last week that “Christmas Lights” was named a Grand Prize Winner in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest and was eligible for the Lennon Award, to be determined by fan voting. Well, the voting site is now up and running and open to the public! You can vote for “Christmas Lights” once a day though April 26, 2011. Here’s how you do it:
1) go to JLSC.COM/VOTE
2) scroll down and click on the last category cube “GOSPEL/INSPIRATIONAL”
3) enter your birthdate and email address and click CONTINUE
4) JLSC will send a verification email to the address you just entered. Open your email and click on the verification link.
5) A short voter information form will appear. The only required field is the first drop-down box, so you can skip the rest. Un-check the box at the bottom asking if you’d like to receive special JLSC offers and whatnot, and then click CONTINUE
6) select “Myla Smith – Christmas Lights” on the two-song voting ballot and click CAST YOUR VOTE
7) DONE!
PLEASE NOTE: Steps 4-5 (i.e. the more annoying ones) only have to be completed ONCE for each email address. Every time you vote after that, it will take you straight to the voting ballot
