Thursday the 28th at 10:30 I’ll be appearing at the ASCAP Songwriters Expo. I’m looking forward to this, as much for the questions as the answers. I appeared on an Expo panel one other time a few years back and it was very interesting, although one of the surprises was how much the questions focus on hope. The attendees often ask questions that could be paraphrased loosely as: can you give me a little hope about my lonely and unheralded practice of songwriting?
I think that’s really a hard thing to do in a panel discussion, though maybe not impossible. I guess my hope is that I won’t shatter anyone’s hopes with a glib or ill-conceived answer. One of the reasons it’s hard to give people hope from up there on the expert panel, is that just like anywhere else, hope is sometimes hard to muster even while sitting on the panel. Songwriters as a group might be the most insecure and worried people in the world. A group of songwriters sitting on a panel of experts might be in nearly as desperate need of reassurance and hope as anybody. So when the Expo attendee steps up to the Q&A microphone and asks: “How do I get my songs into the right hands? I feel like I am just as good as any of the writers with songs on the radio, I just can’t seem to find the right person to give my demos to. Is it all about who you know? It’s just not fair!” – the panelists may well be wondering how the heck they managed to get their own songs heard, and how long that precious state of affairs may last.
It’s even possible that the people on the panel will not consider themselves experts at all, except in that somehow their own songs, by some magical set of coincidences and good fortune, have managed to worm their way past a world of obstacles, opinions and gatekeepers, and somehow reach the wider public.
Maybe a good question to ask the panelists would be: “How in the world did you get so lucky?”
11:16 am on 4/27/11
Hi Dan,
Let me just start by saying that you are one of my favorite writers of all time. Your songs are amazing and your collaborations are flawless. I attended the ASCAP expo in 2009 when you first appeared on the panels and I thought you were inspirational. Your live acoustic performance for the “I Create Music” showcase, particularly “Easy Silence,” gave me chills. I am so looking forward to seeing and hearing you on the panel this year.
Just your presence on the panels, telling us your stories of luck (yes) and success, gives us hope. When you tell us how and why you wrote “Closing Time” and then insert personal commentary while playing it, we feel connected to you and your music. This in turn gives us hope and motivation. I think deep down most of the people that get up and ask for you all to give them hope are really just asking you to listen to their music. We attend to learn from professionals and connect with other musicians, but mostly to network in hopes of being “discovered.” I suppose I shouldn’t speak for everyone but this is what I have gathered from past experiences.
Anyways, I am so grateful that I get to hear and see you again this year. I really do appreciate that you are a panelist at the ASCAP expo. Thank you for the inspiration and the incredible music that you write. I look forward to hopefully seeing you soon.
xoxox,
Alana Stone
http://www.alanastonemusic.com
8:32 am on 5/1/11
Dan,
It was such a pleasure to be in the audience at your Hitmakers Cookbook panel on 4/28 at the ASCAP Expo 2011. Be assured that not only did you inspire us (well 4 of us anyway), but your candor and shares helped us to know that we too can rise up out of nowhere. I think the “if-he-can-do-it-I-can-do-it” is more powerful than any of us realize.
Thank you for also sharing the insides of your songwriting process with us. I love the “lying under the piano while someone plays it” approach that inspires your writing.. woke up this morning thinking about trying that
.
I’ll conclude with saying that the world is a much better place with you and your awesome songs in it. Can’t wait to hear the next jewels that spill out and in the meanwhile I’ll fill my ears with such gems as “Someone Like You” and “Closing Time” (among the favorites) and continue to learn from you. Thanks again for sharing you and your process with us.
xoxo
Cari Cole
http://www.caricole.com