“Great means incredibly well crafted, easily memorable, with a universally relatable sentiment and a sense of authenticity—“from the heart” as they say. Iconic means touching a cultural nerve, standing the test of time and instantly recognizable by many people - that holds true even if it’s not widely considered… Read more...
I was recently asked how the tools and techniques I teach today differ from those I have taught in the past. Have I noticed any recent changes in successful songs and in the processes of writing them? I looked back over the thirty years that I have been teaching songwriting,… Read more...
At a songwriting conference I attended, GRAMMY winning singer/songwriter Colbie Caillat shared some comments that her father, record producer and engineer Ken Caillat (Fleetwood Mac, Frank Sinatra, the Beach Boys) had made regarding bridges in songs. He had stated that bridges are crucial elements because they are typically the final… Read more...
Since its inception in 1991, the New York Songwriters Circle has been an important platform to advance music careers via a monthly live showcase held in the heart of New York City’s thriving Greenwich Village. From the stage of the legendary Bitter End club on Bleecker Street, many top artists… Read more...
BMI provided the musical entertainment for the annual Association of Independent Metropolitan Radio Stations (AIMS) conference held recently (3/1-3/3) at the Omni Hotel in Nashville. Host Tony Richards of Federated Media was intent on bringing the music of Music City to all of the conference events, so BMI songwriters were… Read more...
It’s that time of year again for sun, sand and songwriters. The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association’s 19th Annual Key West Songwriters Festival kicks off Wednesday, May 7, and continues through Sunday, May 11. The lineup this year is stronger than ever with Sara Evans, Anders Osborne, Kacey Musgraves, Robert… Read more...
BMI is partnering with KXLY Radio Group, Idavend Broadcasting, Inland Northwest Broadcasting and the Coeur d’Alene Resort to present The Coeur d’Alene Songwriters Festival—two days of music and stories by some of the most successful country songwriters of all time—from May 25 to May 26 in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Over… Read more...
BMI will host the Monday, May 2 installment of New York Song Circle. Staged at the Bitter End (147 Bleecker Street, between Thompson and LaGuardia), the intimate acoustic showcase will pair the venerable BMI hit-maker Hugh Prestwood with a hand-picked selection of auspicious up-and-comers including Nashville-based roots singer/songwriter Bonnie Bishop;… Read more...
Presented by BMI, Perennial Favorite Slated for April 27-May 1 The Better Angels Music Key West Songwriters Festival, presented by BMI, is exploding, surpassing even the biggest dreams of its founders and longtime supporters. The 2011 lineup is unprecedentedly deeper: genre-hopping singer/songwriters Raul Malo, Marshall Chapman, and Robert Earl Keen;… Read more...
One week every spring for the past 15 years, Key West has transformed itself into the nation’s best listening room. The Better Angels Music Key West Songwriters Festival brings top songwriters and thousands of fans from around the world to this southernmost tip of the continental United States, where once… Read more...
Captured at BMI Country Awards 2006
