Donna Summer had a big influence on my life – from the songs dancing to and they day that changed my life in September 1982.

I was turning the radio dial from 99.9 in Charleston, WV to 105.1 and in the middle was 102.7 that I never stopped at on the dial – and I heard, “Love Is In Control – Finger On The Trigger”. I stopped, sang along and at the end of the song was an announcement, “We are building a new radio station and looking for salespeople”. I wrote down the number, called and sat an appointment with the sales manager. I ended up getting the job, changed my life to being involved in the radio and music biz, promoters and all the times of my life.

Yea – Donna and “Finger On The Trigger – Love Is In Control” changed my life in addition to all the other songs she sang!

You can read an interview with Bruce Sudano, her husband who talks about their life and some of the stories behind the great songs including “Bad Girls”   at http://www.nashvillemuse.com/resources/interviews/interview-with-hit-songwriter-bruce-sudano

THANK YOU Donna Summer for the memories and influence on my life! Prayers and love to her family and friends!

As competitive as the songwriting/music-publishing game is (and, it gets more so every day), Nashville remains a place where songwriters can find real community. While continuing to develop his or her song craft, every tunesmith’s next job is to make friends. Whether or not your songs climb the charts will eventually depend on the relationships you develop now and maintain throughout your career.

So … Now that you’ve carted your axe and your chart-topping dreams to Music City from the cornfields of Iowa or the swamplands of the Sunshine State, where do you begin creating those all-important friendships and alliances?

For well over 100 consecutive months, between 50 and 200 songwriters, carrying guitar cases, covered dishes, homemade cookies, and six-packs of coke or PBR have converged on a modest brick house in West Nashville. “As the head of the Charlotte (NC) chapter of NSAI, I’d always heard that a peer network was important,” host Doak Turner explains, sitting at the computer desk where he sends out The Nashville Muse to more than 5,000 subscribers. Turner’s slogan for his weekly, online listing of local gigs: Friends don’t let friends play to empty rooms. “So, when I moved here, I decided to get the Class of ’03 together. About 30 writers showed up. It just happened to be on a third Sunday. We’ve been doing it every third Sunday since.” March 18,2012 marked the tradition’s ninth anniversary.

A big persona with an ever-present smile, Turner’s background in promotion and marketing (radio, NASCAR, professional tennis) equips him to act as matchmaker for his guests. Typically, four separate rooms are crammed with writers sharing their songs. During warmer months, a deck, the driveway, and the backyard provide more spots for song circles to form. Scottsburg, Indiana’s Holly Stewart was barely 16 when she first heard about Doak’s event. Soon, accompanied by her father, she was making regular three and a half hour treks down I-65, always planning her trips to include the third Sunday of each month. Now a 19-year-old sophomore at Belmont University, Holly recalls her favorite Third-Sunday memory. On spring break of her 11^th grade year, she asked the circle to chime in on her song, “Walking In The Clouds.” This singalong inspired everyone else to break out their chorusy tunes resulting in an instant-choir bonding experience for all.

Third Sunday devotees, however, are not all fledglings. Tunesmith Gary Hannan, from South Africa, first unveiled “Back When I Knew It All” at Turner’s house. That song went on to become a chart topper for Montgomery Gentry. Since then, Hannan has considered Third Sunday his good luck charm. A string of Hannan cuts have debuted at Turner’s house, including Joe Nichols’ #1, “Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off.”

During the first hour, the throng filters in, pals catch up, newbies get orientated, and everyone chows down on potluck and free fixin’s from event sponsor, Bojangles’ Famous Chicken ‘n Biscuits. The host can be found circulating, hugging old and new friends alike, and always making introductions. Music commences in one of two ways. A lone renegade will begin serenading the wallpaper, thus drawing others to gather round. Or, in a room crowded with folks too timid to kick off the afternoon’s hootenanny, one bold soul will just start belting out an opening number. So it was in a room on the lower level as a gregarious, 40-something fellow in dark shades pounded out a raspy, southern-rock-styled mid-tempo. After he had used the same three-chord pattern to accompany at least six, consecutive, musically identical verses, sidelong glances communicated the unspoken question: “Is this song ever gonna end?” Finally, the boisterous troubadour hammered his refrain four more times before finishing – to tepid, but respectful applause.

It was clear that the next two young ladies were first timers. Earlier, I’d spied them schlepping gig bags and potluck items back and forth in front of the house, unsure if they’d found the right address. I soon learned that black-tressed Stephanie is a Vanderbilt student, while strawberry-blond Meaghan attends Belmont. Mercifully – compared to the opener – the girls’ songs were tidy and well-structured, while Meaghan’s sweet, high, breathy voice showed genuine promise. Most importantly, here were two co-ed pals encouraging and supporting each other in their tunesmithing aspirations.

Gathered in the upstairs living room were members of another class. Kurt Fortmeyer, a six-year Third Sunday vet, had the room entranced with a Dave Gibson co-write titled “The Box.” On one past Sunday afternoon, the red-bearded Fortmeyer hit a lick of good fortune when he played a tune in the presence of guitar guru Dave Isaacs, who recorded the song on his next CD. Most every regular recalls making important friends, meeting co-writers, and scoring gigs at Turner’s house. One couple became collaborators of a different kind. They got married.

“Is it my turn?” asked a lanky brunette, her left knee poking through a rip in her jeans. Hannah Aldridge, a tomboyishly beautiful, 24-year-old ’Bama girl, proceeded to wail a stunning, heart-rending country waltz. Poised and confident, Hannah commutes regularly between Music City and her hometown of Muscle Shoals, where she is recording an album with the help of her father, famed country songwriter Walt Aldridge. Much like previous stand-out, up-and-coming Third-Sunday attendees, like solo artists Frankie Ballard and Josh Thompson and Steel Magnolia’s Meghan Linsey, young Ms. Aldridge seems primed to move into the big leagues. Her “Stars Fell On Alabama” plates were not the only out-of-staters parked in the church lot cattycorner from Turner’s house either. Tags with “Live Free Or Die,” “Land Of Enchantment,” and “Famous Potatoes” have occupied those spots as well. And, on this particular, damp, chilly Sunday in February, Doak proudly tallied representatives from six foreign countries.

“You’re gonna hafta expand your house,” jibed a writer who couldn’t seem to locate a single free chair. While Turner admits to grandiose visions, i.e. building a heated shelter over his driveway and deck to facilitate more cold-weather rounds, I couldn’t help but wonder why other towns haven’t mimicked Doak’s initial dream of providing a monthly home where songwriters can create true community.

For more information on 3rd Sunday at 3:00 go to www.nashvillemuse.com/events and also a video on www.nashvillemuse.com/about

Peter Buffett recently released a book, Life Is What You Make It.  You may think with a last name like his, Peter Buffett has enjoyed a life of endless privilege. But the son of billionaire investor Warren Buffett says that the only real inheritance handed down from his parents was a philosophy: Forge your own path in life, It is a creed that has allowed him to follow his own passions, establish his own identity, and reap his own success.

Peter had a record deal, produced music for the early MTV years, performed the music for the fire scene for the movie, “Dances With Wolves” and offers insight on the music and life in the interview.

I hope you enjoy Peter’s interview and leave your comments on this blog! The site, www.musicstartshere.org launched March 2010 and contains 300+ video interviews with pros in the music business.

John Rich from The Tennessean article with Cindy Watts.

“For the majority of my time spent here in Nashville, since I was about 17, 18 years up until a few years ago, I was just struggling as hard as anybody could struggle. I would get a record deal, I’d get fired from a band. I’d get right to the edge of something great happening, and then it would just blow up and not work out. I would be considered damaged goods throughout town and nobody would return your call. I went from that to having a career and having a lot of opportunities where if you think of it, you can pretty much have a chance at doing it.

You can’t ever guarantee someone’s success, including yourself. But you can guarantee that you’re going to try”.

Read the last sentence of John’s quote a couple times and make a copy of it, put it on your fridge or on your mirror! Guarantee that you are going to TRY!

What quotes keep you motivated – please send them back in the comment section!

Yes that is the full title of the book by Randy Poe, the president of Leiber & Stoller Music Publishing since 1985 and who also was a big guy at the Songwriters Hall of Fame, former president of California Copyright Conference.

Randy looks at songplugging from every angle: how and why it began, how some hits of the past came about through efforts of song pluggers, and how songwriters can pitch songs they have written, It is an up-close look into the real music business from someone that has been there for decades.

Throughout the book, Randy is on a mission to get a song to Willie Nelson – a song in the Lieber & Stoller catalog that Frank Sinatra cut years earlier – traveled 8,000 miles to play the song for Willie after a series of events,  and contacts to make that happen with planes, a ferry, taxi cabs and rental cars to pitch the song on Willie’s bus.

Randy has great stories about the music business with lessons highlighted in the book to show you what to do and not do do in the music business, how networking is everything, when to and not to plug your songs when meeting the people, how one thing leads to another in the music business.

Randy Poe was a DJ in Alabama, moved to NYC, was great typist, which led him to a job with a publishing company, which led him to meeting people in the business, that led him to his next couple of jobs to the Leiber & Stoller Publishing Company.

Randy is also the man that started the collection of songs on CDs such as the Rhino and K-Tel collections, box sets and other innovative ways to get songs on CDs – after observing how CDs were replacing albums in a local record store in LA. Read that story and all the other music history in his book – which is the hippest, longest-titled how-to book you’ll read this year!

to see a book trailer, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EabLEIlItEY

Order the book today or buy locally from Parnassus Books in Green Hills.  I know you will love reading it and once you start, will not want to stop reading the book!

Great shows, networking and songs in each venue! Support the venues by having dinner and your favorite beverages – most venues serve food perhaps check before going to the show.

Friday and Saturday NSAI hosts Spring Training – EVERY Songwriters that does not live here that is serious about their songwriting should be signed up for that incredible songwriting opportunity! I will be there Friday for lunch and hope to see YOU!

My first was in 1996 and I did not miss one while making the 6 hour trip from Charlotte as I was the local NSAI coordinator and looked forward to seeing the other coordinators from around the country, exchanging ideas, catching up, learning during the day with the seminars and training and up most of the night watching the hit songwriters and staying out late with each other!

The drive home Sunday was always tough but on a natural high for a week after Tin Pan South Week! There is still time to book your trip, sign up for Spring Training! The TPS Fast Passes are sold – out, but you can pay at the door of the venues – last minute trips are fun if ya do not live in Nashville!

THANKS to NSAI, the songwriters that are playing, venues, those of you coming to Nashville from out of town and everyone in advance for a great Tin Pan South Week! By the way, Nashville Muse and Music Starts Here.org are proud sponsors of Tin Pan South Week!

Perhaps write a TPS memory or two in this blog!

To see comments on the event go to www.nashvillemuse.com/events to read what some people have shared about the event and some of the songwriters and artists that have attended over the past 9 years.

3rd Sunday at 3:00 started in March of 2003 as I heard about someone in Greenwhich Village that invited songwriters to stop by his house every Monday for pasta – and they had to sing a new song they’d written to earn the pasta. I did not want to have people stop by every week, but that Sunday after noon I started thinking, I miss Sunday dinner with my family (who are back home in  St. Albans, WV and a sister in Cincy). March 16, 2003 was the first Sunday that I invited about 30 songwriters that were new to town ( I’d moved October 15, 2002) for a covered dish dinner and to play songs – the very beginning of 3rd Sunday at 3:00.  that is how it all began with no idea of how long the event would go over the years.

Many great memories, friends made and songs played. I just got an e-mail today that someone told me a couple met here last year and recently got married. I know another couple I introduced in the driveway about 2 years ago that got married that year too! This is NOT a dating service, however I guess people’s love of songs – with that in common can lead to other important things in life! Music – the connector!

Hit songwriters that were new to town, new just arrived to town a couple years ago artists that now have deals and lost deals over the years. Songwriters new to town and visit from out of town – some drive 3 hours each month to attend to those that live 5 minutes from the house – all levels of songwriters. Most important – the friends that are made at 3rd Sundays at 3 that we will never know what happens from the event – that is what I am most proud of from 3rd Sunday at 3:00 – the friends made at 3rd Sunday.

Food and music bring us together! Speaking of food – THANKS to BOJANGLES for the great chicken and fixens they provide each month – go by and say THANKS to the great people at Bojangles on Charlotte Pike – over by the Wal Mart shopping center.  NSAI gives away a one-year membership at each event – THANKS  NSAI!

THANK YOU for attending the 3rd Sunday at 3:00 over the years – YOU have enriched my life and those that you have made friends, written songs, played your songs in the rooms and outside and you made people feel special as you listened to each others songs.  LOVE and SUCCESS to YOU!

Music Starts Here.org idea was an idea from an idea in the Nashville Chamber of Commerce board meeting room when Will and I met with Ron Samuels and Ralph Schultz as Will was new to Nashville. Will joined the Chamber of Commerce for his financial business, moved to Nashville a couple months earlier and in a previous meeting with Ron and Ralph, mentioned he wanted to be part of the music business in Nashville, but felt like he was in Las Vegas and could not find a slot machine or a felt table, or in Orlando and could not find that big mouse! Will just did not know the proper way to be part of the Nashville music scene.

Will had contacted me a couple weeks earlier, finding me on line because of the Nashville Muse. After we spoke, he asked me to go to the meeting with him, Ron and Ralph. The Chamber said they do not know what to tell visitors and people on the phone calls when they inquired about the Nashville Music Scene, and Music Row does not have time to train new people to Nashville. Will said, “What we need is to buy the red brick building across from ASCAP, put up a sign above the door that says, “Music Starts Here” . We have not bought any building, however Will’s experience in building websites brought the idea to build a website with that name was born.

In the next several months, we continued to meet with Ralph Schulz in developing the site. December of 2009 we interviewed our first pros giving their advice in the office of Suzanne Skinner in the Off Broadway building.  Byron Hill, Rory Bourke, Rich Redmond, Rob Byus, Liz Hengber, Luis Espaillat, Doug Waterman, Peter Cooper, Bob Paxman, Justin Levinson, Ralph Murphy, David Preston, Rusty Gadston and John Mullins, Ron Cox were the first interviews, along with Ralph Schultz, who we interviewed in his office a week earlier in his office. Every pro that has been interviewed for the site says, “I wish this site had been here when I moved to Nashville”.

The launch party was March 2nd, 2010 as in, “3,2,10 Launch!” an idea from a meeting with our first major sponsor, Avenue Bank. Close to 300 people attended the launch party at Red Rooster on Demonbreun with all the pros in attendance and sharing their thoughts on the site.

The day after the launch party, I received an e-mail from Michael Lovett, a songwriter in Delaware telling me Rich Redmond mentioned the site on Twitter, which sent Michael to the site.

After reading his e-mail, I gave Michael my # and he told me we planned on moving to either Austin, LA, NYC or Nashville for the music business and his songwriting. As a result of watching the videos on Music Starts Here.org he decided that day to move to Nashville. Michael followed through and has a very successful website company, songwriter and produced a project, opened an account at Avenue Bank and has contributed to our community.

We receive e-mails from songwriters and artists from around the world, Canada, South Africa, Switzerland, England and songwriters/artists from several states along with people new to town that have been advised to watch the videos on the site.

You never know how you will affect someone with an idea. THANKS very much to everyone who contributed interviews, told people about the site, sponsored the site and special THANK YOU to the Nashville Chamber of Commerce – Ralph Schultz and his great staff – Valerie who answers the phone at the Chamber, the great people at Avenue Bank – Ron Samuels, Ron Cox  and everyone that supported the site and to my business partner, Will Carter – everyone’s efforts to make the site a success.

Please leave your comments on the site and how we can help make Music Starts Here.org the best resource possible for YOU!

From Ralph Murphy:

The “Murphys Laws of Songwriting” info every year is not a “how to write hits” column. It is a “what to pitch” article about what (1) what listeners seem to want at drive time, and (2) what artists care to sing about, the issues, and the structures that work for them.
It comes under the heading of “knowledge is power”! Take it and use it.

The Billboard Country #1s of 2011:Who Made It And How!

The one thing that you can count on in the Music Business as in life, is change. And change was certainly the theme for 2011! The number of songs reaching #1 was at an all time high of 34 and the number of writers matched that all time high in climbing to 80. Again this year, 50% of the singles that reached #1 (17) were written in whole or in part by the artist.

This is good news for the publishers who are investing their money and efforts in Artist/writers, not so good for “stand alone” writers and their publishers. In speaking to publishers about what they look for in a writer, the “artist” tag seems to carry a lot of weight in today’s Music Business climate apparently justifiably so.

The only down side to what happened last year (2011) is that although more writers had a song go to number one, more writers and publishers will have to share the yearly performance money, or “split the blanket”, to quote my old pal Harlan Howard. The financial reward may probably not be as great in some cases, but you had a number one record.

Among the songs that raced to the top, the pack leader was Blake Sheldon with “Honey Bee” which made it from zero to #1 in ten weeks. About 1/3 (11) records sprinted up the charts in 11 to 15 weeks. 50% (17) took the 16 to 25 week trip and with only five that lasted into the thirty plus week trip, “A Little Bit Stronger”, Sara Evans, 33 weeks,

“Country Must Be Country Wide” Brantley Gilbert 33 weeks, “Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not”, Thompson Square, 36 weeks, and “Crazy Girl”‘ Eli Young band, 38 weeks, the 800 pound gorilla was Chris Young with “Voices” that took 51 weeks to get there and made it over a year (53 weeks) on the charts!

What is interesting to note is that back in 2009 Chris Young held the title for longest trip to the get to the “Ball” with “Getting You Home” (The Little Black Dress song) at only 35 weeks. As you would expect, because of the number of #1s, 21 of the 34, only had one week at number one. “Honey Bee”‘ Blake Shelton’ and “Keep Me In Mind” Zac Brown Band, both had 4 weeks at the top with “Felt Good On My Lips” Tim McGraw, “Somewhere With You”, Kenny Chesney, “Don’t You Wanna Stay”, Jason Aldean with Kelly Clarkson, “God Gave Me You”, Blake Shelton, and “We Owned The Night” Lady Antebellum staying at number one for 3 weeks.

Residency on the charts after leaving #1 was in general confined to 0 to 3 weeks. The exceptions were Blake Shelton, (4 weeks), “Dirt Road Anthem”, Jason Aldean (6 weeks) and “Take A Back Road” Rodney Atkins (8 weeks).

Artist/Writers

At 50% (17) of the 34 records, it may seem that the artist/writer is the [business] way to go, but the balance that a “stand alone” writer brings to the equation cannot be overemphasized. The need of the artist to put forward a personal view is generally well tempered by the “stand alone writer”. The “stand alone writer” has a different perspective on songs because he/she is not the performer, and doesn’t necessarily shape the song in his/her image.

In looking at the gender of the writers you find that 7 of the 80 writers (about 11%) involved in creating the #1’s for 2011, were women. They wrote songs for the 9 records that had female artists involved.

Tempo

About 2/3 of the #1 records were under 100 B.P.M. (Beats Per Minute) The bulk were 70-90 B.P.M.’s (19) and only 3 were under 70 B.P.M (less than 10%). Although all of last years (2010) #1’s were 4/4, this year the waltz waltzed in! The Eli Young Band found favor at drive time and waltzed all the way to one of Billboard’s most played country songs.

Intros

Although Kenny Chesney’s “Live A Little” had a 56-second intro and “Old Alabama” (Brad Paisley) came in second with 33 seconds, if you average all the intros of all the #1’s together you get 17 seconds. However, if you take out Kenny’s 56-second intro the average falls to 15 seconds, the same as 2010. I guess country radio finds that intro length handy.

Pronouns

You can love them, hate them, be indifferent to them, but don’t ignore them. They define the situational perception of the listener.Me, you, us, etc. – the first person ruled at #1.

Twenty of the 34 were first person (me, you), which means they were conversations between the artist and their audience or an individual on a one-on-one basis. Illustrations of this are “so listen Romeo, when you’re feelin’ kinda lonely, let me tell you where to go” (Reba), “Who are you when I’m not around” (Blake Shelton) and Billy Currington saying he’s “right on the edge of giving into you” (Let Me Down Easy).

The third person (him/her/them) allowed Justin Moore to talk about his “long lost cousin John” and tell him about his daughter” and that “she’s a doctor and he’d be proud”. Toby Keith got to talk about his dad buying “nothin’ he can’t fix with WD-40 and a craftsman wrench” so those pronouns did their job!

Themes

Romantic Love

Was everywhere at drive time! From Thompson Square demanding “are you gonna kiss me or not?” to Jason Aldean with Kelly Clarkson trying to “wanna make love last” as they each try to make the other “stay here a little while”.

Love of Family

Chris Young’s “Voices” make sure mama, daddy, grandma, and grandpa were remembered for their “words of wisdom” and Justin Moore’s “If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away” told about his grandpa, kids, his “long lost cousin John”, and John’s daughter the “doctor” and even his “bird dog Bo”.

Love of Country

Toby Keith as usual set the standard for “Country” with “Made In America”. From the opening line “My old man’s that old man”, “dirty hands and a clean soul”, who’s “got the red, white, and blue flying high on the farm” we all know that “he’s just made in America”.

Love Lost

Luke Bryan looked around and there was “Someone Else Calling You Baby” and “a tear in your eye says I should have been listening”! Kenny Chesney pined for being “Somewhere With You” being “out by the pier”, or sitting “outside your house waiting for the lights to go out”.

Love Found

Taylor Swift found someone “like a full on rainstorm” who made “Sparks Fly” whenever he smiled. Billy Currington found his girl and begged her to “Let me Down Easy” when he found he was “on the edge of giving in to you” and making her promise, “if I leave my heart with you tonight” she’s gonna “treat it right”.

Good Time Party

The most obvious example of this is “Barefoot Blue Jean Night” (Jake Owen) where the “girls are always hot and the beer is always cold” and “we were comin’ alive, caught up in a Southern summer barefoot blue jean night”. Kenny Chesney got “a wake up call” to “live a little, love a lot” and “take some time and waste it on number one” in “Live A Little”. Dierks Bentley kicks pretty well in “Am I The Only One” as well.

Revenge/Satisfaction

Reba cuts to the chase about the man’s “no good, two timin’ lies coming outta your mouth” and tells him to “try to call, twitter me, text until your fingers bleed”. She really tells him where to go…. “Turn On The Radio”.

Life Lessons

Chris Young got “words of wisdom” from his whole family in “Voices”. Dad tells him to work hard but “don’t work your life away” and Mama, Grandma, and Grandpa are all handing out “life lessons”.

Morality

I could refer back to Chris Young “Voices” again but Brantley Gilbert also speaks to core values when he says, “we weren’t raised to take, we were raised to give” in “Country Must Be Countrywide”. Blake Shelton celebrates that “God Gave Me You” for those “days of doubt” when he “lost my way”.

Song Length

Bearing in mind that the “on-air personality” can use as much or as little of this year’s sometimes very long fades as he/she needs to stretch to the break, 23 records settled comfortably in the three minutes and [change] length. Eight were over four minutes, two were under three minutes, and only one broke the five-minute barrier.

Song Forms/Shapes/Structures

These are outlines of the way listeners seem to prefer to receive their information at “worst time of day possible”. If you want to find out more about them there is a chapter on them in “Murphy’s Laws of Songwriting” The Book.

Second Form

Verse (Verse Optional), Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Instrumental, Chorus.

In the spirit of “don’t bore us, get to the chorus” this structure was used effectively four times at #1. Billy Currington’s “Let Me Down Easy” and Jake Owen’s “Barefoot, Blue Jean Night” are good examples.

Third Form

Verse (Verse Optional), Chorus, Verse, Chorus, (Bridge Middle Chorus (with an instrumental before or after the chorus).

This old reliable took the trip to #1, 15 times! Chris Young’s “Tomorrow” and Lady A’s “We Owned The Night” showed this off well.

Fourth Form

I use the word ‘Lift’ in this section. It can also mean Pre-Chorus, Climb, Channel, Ramp, etc.).

Verse, Lift, Chorus, Verse, Lift, Chorus, (Bridge Optional) Lift, Chorus out.

This structure is used almost exclusively at #1 on the “Pop” Billboard Charts and did the job for Taylor Swift’s “Sparks Fly” and “Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not” (Thompson Square) for a total of 10 uses on the country charts.

Fifth Form

Verse, Verse, Bridge, Verse (It is also called the AABA).

Although it was only used three times, this is a good story telling vehicle. Tim McGraw showed that you could add an extra verse and bridge and it still works well in “Felt Good On My Lips”.

Sixth Form

Traditionally this would have been Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Instrumental, Bridge/Middle 8, Chorus Out and was called rondeau or rondo (to quote W.O. Smith in his book “Sideman”). There are only two records that featured songs that were close to this structure. I always refer to “Good Morning Beautiful” by Steve Holy as the perfect rondeau. Blake Shelton’s record of “Who Are You When I’m Not Looking” which was chorus, verse, chorus, verse, verse, chorus, almost did it. Jason Aldean’s record of “Dirt Road Anthem” starts with the chorus, raps out four small verses, goes back to the chorus, then raps three small verses and goes on to chorus after chorus. So many elements of this record are similar to Billboard #1 pop songs.

Repetition

One of the major differences between pop and country chart toppers is the number of repetitions of the title. Country has a lot less. Five #1’s had only three uses of title, setting the minimum standard for repetition.

The maximum number of repetition of title (19) was “Remind Me” (Brad Paisley & Carrie Underwood). I guess they really needed reminding. All the rest fell between 3 and 13 repetitions.

Because the country listener “listens into” a song, multiple repetitions over a 3 to 6 month period would have a high “burn factor” and the listener at first attracted by repetition might find it tiresome after a few weeks, so less is more I guess.

Humor/Irony/Detail

If you’re looking for humor, check out Dierks Bentley’s “Am I The Only One” where he calls “wild, man Willy” “but Idol was on TV” and went to a “joint looking like a morgue”. Irony is such a large part of country. One of many examples is Luke Bryan’s “Somebody Else Calling You Baby” when he tells her “you wanted your time and you wanted your space” what every woman on the planet knows is code for “I’m really seeing someone else” and him not recognizing that “someone else is calling you baby”.

Details showed up everything and set up some great stories. From “blow the speakers out your Chevy truck”, “paint your toes cause you bite your nails”, “he reminded me of Chris LeDoux and that Copenhagen smile”, detail ruled.

Story/Conversation

The story songs like “Colder Weather” (Zac Brown Band), “Felt Good On My Lips” (Tim McGraw), “Barefoot Blue Jean Night” (Jake Owen), etc. were stories in content but most were very conversational. About 15 of the 34 #1’s were more story than conversational.

Advice/Best Bets

Writing this part of the yearly analysis is always the hardest part about doing these “perspectives” on the previous year.

Aside from the “write with the Artist” approach, it is worth noting that every year, two or three “Artist/writers” actually write #1′s for other “Artist/writers”. Does this mean that “Artist/writers” are better than “stand alone” or non-performing writers?

No, it means that they are really “Writer/artists”! This may come as a (pleasant) surprise to some of you whose publisher has mandated that you write with “the Artist”.

In the best scenario, the Writer/artist leaves the “artist” at the door and concentrates on making the song a living, breathing piece of work with a beginning, middle, and an end.

A Thing with at least any two of the “big three” (humor, irony, detail). Sometimes all three!

A Thing that invites the listener in by creating an expectation (opening lines) and then fulfills that expectation (title) in 60 seconds.

A Thing that tells a story about a situation or place we’re all familiar with, with a slightly different perspective or insight that we find engaging for months of constant repetition.

A Thing that when it does really well and everyone accepts it as a “Big Thing”, becomes

a #1 Hit Song.

This article would not be possible without the wonderful assistance of Anna Maki and her research team of Mercedes Davis, Blake Ferguson, Lincoln Faulkner, Gracie Leathers, Lauren Perry, Chelsey Reardon, Rusty Redden, Georgie Sillem, Cami Steger, Kristen Tribble, Renee Urbanc, Kristen Westerbeck and Tania Yegelwel.

Check out the site as it contains 300 video segments of interviews with artists, songwriters,musicians, entertainment attorney, vocal coach, image coach, PROs, banker and other industry people giving advice to those visiting Nashville and also those of you that are new to Nashville for the music business.

Beth has a great blog for the Nashville Music and Arts Scene. Check out her other blogs and interviews in the Music Chatter section of her site. She did a nice story on someone that you know a week or two ago in that section.

Get involved in your music community and find a way to contribute as Beth and others do that shares information and events, get involved in events, benefits and charities that make a difference to your local music community!