Archive for February, 2011

Lyle Lovett
“There’s a feeling when I’m on to an idea and making something up that’s almost a momentum that carries me and I find pushes me into the next verse. It’s not really a matter of doing an outline. And you know in school we were always taught to do an outline, and I never did […]

Annie Lennox
“You’re never quite sure where the song is going, because you might not find the word to rhyme with the end of the line. You have to find associative meaning to get you there. So it’s rather like doing a crossword puzzle backwards. A kind of strange, three-dimensional, abstract crossword puzzle.” Performing Songwriter Issue 91 […]

Brian McKnight
There are two different kinds of songwriters: the songwriter who writes strictly for the joy of being a writer and doesn’t care anything about the monetary aspects of it; and then you have the other guy who has this as his career. This is his job. This is his livelihood. And I’m somewhere in the […]

Alicia Keys
“Songwriting is never the same process, ever. That’s the humbling part. It’s magic—one minute it’s not there, and the next minute it’s there. That said, it begins with some type of inspiration. There has to be something that affects me in a way that’s strong enough to make me want to say something about it. […]

Drew Holcomb & the Neighbors: “Chasing Someday”
Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors offer a pitch perfect blend of pop, rock & soul on “Chasing Someday.”

Loretta Lynn
I never thought I could sing. Doo would come in from working and catch me rocking my babies to sleep. And I would be singing, “I’m dreaming of a White Christmas …” (laughs). That was the only song that I could sing to them that would make them go to sleep. He came in one […]

We Miss You, Eva Cassidy
People never forget the first time they heard Eva Cassidy: where they were, what they were doing, or the fact that this amazing voice made them stop everything, listen, cry, find out who the singer was, and seek out her music. A voice so pure, strong and full of emotion that it connects with everyone […]

Randy Newman
“I’d like to believe, whether it’s true or not, that I’m getting better—or at least that I’m not getting worse. Music is so complicated that it’s something you can always get better at. I don’t understand the fact that most singer-songwriters in pop music do their best work at a young age. If I thought […]

Amy Correia
Amy’s honeyed-voice tales of love, loss and hope for redemption are delivered with infectious syncopation and have even inspired fans to fund her first self-release. She reunites with old friend Richard Julian over fried chicken and pie at Pies ‘N’ Thighs and gets to the naked truth about the promise and perils of following (and […]

Joan Armatrading
When I am writing a song, say, a blues song, it’s not up to me to try to make it a reggae song. Because the songs tell you, “I am a blues song. I am not a reggae song.” Maybe when it’s finished and it’s in its pure form, somebody else could take it and […]