NSAI Charlotte (NC)

Regional Workshop for Nashville Songwriters Association International

Archive for the ‘General Business’ Category

Join us for July’s Meeting!

Posted by zero360 on July 10, 2009

At this month’s Charlotte NSAI meeting this coming Tuesday night (July 14th), our main topic will be “Indie Music Success Stories,” presented by our good friend Brian Hartzog, a local indie artist with two solo CDs under his belt, and who has had great success in getting his music played worldwide. Brian’s presentation will include real-world case studies from traditional, Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 music publicity models. His interactive session will challenge your understanding of how the music business works and what you may be doing day-to-day that in fact could be holding you back — as well as inspire and inform you on how to use the new social media to create a vibrant online community of fans. Those of you who have heard Brian speak before know that he always covers a ton of useful information, and leaves you with lots to think about and do. Don’t miss it!

And of course, we’ll be critiquing each other’s songs, as usual, during the second half of our meeting.

See you Tuesday!

Steve, Fiona, and Angelo

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June Meeting Update

Posted by zero360 on June 8, 2009

At this month’s Charlotte NSAI meeting tomorrow night (Tuesday, June 9th), we’ll be watching the taped presentation Ralph Murphy made last month at NSAI Nashville’s Pro Teacher’s night. Ralph’s presentation is on “Business Basics for Songwriters. “

About Ralph Murphy

Born in England and raised in Canada, the well-traveled Ralph Murphy has worked extensively on both sides of the Atlantic during his music career. His first #1 song in Europe was “Call My Name” by James Royal (1966). After several years as an artist and producer, Ralph moved to New York in 1969 to produce the band April Wine (two gold albums; one platinum). In 1971, Ralph had his first Country hit in Nashville with “Good Enough To Be Your Wife,” #2 for Jeannie C. Riley. By 1976, Ralph and business partner Roger Cook opened Pic-A-Lic Music in Nashville. During the decade of its existence, the company prospered, more of Ralph’s songs became hits (”He Got You” for Ronnie Milsap; “Half The Way” for Crystal Gayle), and Ralph served as president of NSAI. Ralph is now Vice President for ASCAP Nashville.

Ralph is an interesting guy and a very entertaining speaker. It’ll be a great presentation!

And of course, we’ll be critiquing each other’s songs, as usual, during the second half of our meeting.

Steve, Fiona, and Angelo

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May Meeting Main Session

Posted by zero360 on May 5, 2009

During our May meeting we will be visited by this years winners of the CMT songwriting contest! David and Mary Beth have agreed to visit with us via the wonders of the Internet and Skype. They will share their story and advice on going from beginner to winner. They will also dissect their song and explain the challenges they overcame getting it radio and contest ready. Come and join us for some good practical advice and to celebrate with them on their success.

9th Annual NSAI Song Contest Winner: “Damn, I Miss You” by David Stewart/Mary Beth Stone

nsai-dave-89x85David Stewart is an award-winning songwriter whose songs have been published in Nashville, New York and Los Angeles. Previously, Stewart had four songs make it to the Top 5 status in the NSAI/CMT song contest and has been recognized by the Songwriter’s Guild of America with the Abe Olman scholarship. While most of his time is devoted to writing individual songs, he has been involved in numerous special music projects – ranging from playing with his band to composing and producing music for children’s storybooks/tapes, and writing songs for various indie films. Music is and will always be his first love. He is thrilled to be, along with Mary Beth, the winner of the grand prize this year.

nsai-mary-89x85Mary Beth Stone has enjoyed being a regional coordinator for NSAI since 1998. A finalist in the Lilith Fair songwriting contest, she has also placed in past CMT/NSAI song contests, the Billboard songwriting contest, the Austin Songwriters Group songwriting contest and the Song Door contest. Stone is an alumna of the ASCAP Advanced Songwriters Workshop and has been an annual recipient under the ASCAP Plus Awards program for the last decade. Recently she became a reviewer for democheck.com and is co-owner of Signature Tours, Inc., a company providing custom-created tours of New York City. As much as she loves it, she hopes to trade in her view of the Hudson for one of the Cumberland.

Members and vistors alike, you don’t want to miss this meeting!

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Next Monthly Meeting April 14th

Posted by zero360 on April 5, 2009

Hi… quick reminder our next meeting is on Tuesday, April 14th, which might seem out of sync, but March 31st was on Tuesday, blame it on the moon or something.

In our annual planning meeting in February, y’all indicated that you would like to dedicate one of our monthly meetings to learning how to record demos.  Well, you spoke and we listened!   While Fiona was in Nashville last week, she made arrangements to bring us a special speaker for this month’s meeting!  The speaker for our April 14th Charlotte NSAI meeting will be artist/producer/ songwriter Kim Copeland, of Kim Copeland Productions, Nashville (www.kimcopelandproductions.com).  Kim will be talking about how to record demos, how to prepare for a demo recording session, and the ten most common mistakes people make in recording demos and how to avoid them, and she’ll be answering your questions about the whole demo process.  Kim will be talking to us by way of Skype over the Internet, the way Hugh Prestwood did at our January meeting.  It’s a meeting you won’t want to miss!

BTW, we just posted Fiona’s document on critiques, and added a FAQ entry on the subject for the sake of posterity. We’d like to ask everyone to download a copy and get familiar with its content. The goal is to ensure we come prepared to participate in each meeting’s critique session, both as writers as well as providers of feedback. As usual, please don’t hesitate to contact one of our coordinators with questions, comments, or concerns.

Link to — Welcome to the NSAI Charlotte Critique Session

FYI, did you know NSAI has Flex Pay options? Yes, you can pay $50 3-times a years to minimize the impact of the cost of your membership. Please go to the main NSAI page for more information.

That’s all for now… we’ll have an agenda out by end of this week, hope everyone enjoyed the beautiful weekend weather!

“A song is like a dream, and you try to make it come true.” — Bob Dylan

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Song Finishers Tomorrow Night!

Posted by zero360 on March 23, 2009

Song Finishers co-writing as usual, from 7 to 10 PM on Tuesday, March 24th at The Well. Gather to play the new songs to each other AND share some of our favorites from the past. If you were at the NSAI meeting this month and did not get a chance to present your song, come on out and play it for us in a less formal environment.

People who want to co-write and or find someone to set their lyrics to music or find lyrics for their music will have the usual opportunity to make contacts and create new songs that would not have been done without Song Finishers. AND folks who have some favorite songs from the past can also spend an hour or so swapping songs and getting comments.

You can come out at 7:00 for the whole experience or stop by at 8 or 9 PM to swap songs. As always, we’re trying to find the right combination to serve the most songwriters the best way possible. Your feedback is encouraged and welcome.

See you Tuesday!

Bruce Johnson

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Blast Off!

Posted by zero360 on January 14, 2009

Wow, what a great start for NSAI Charlotte’s 2009! Thanks to Fiona for getting Hugh to us, to Bruce and Greg for the techincal support, and to all our members, new and old for showing up in force and making it a great meeting!

Information for the Craig Bickhardt workshop will be posted later tonight or tomorrow, please check back!

Also, a quick note about a new member site link, The Cloers have a blog chock full of information on taking your songs and artistry to market. They have some great pictures posted of last night’s workshop (I know, I’m a slacker) and links to just about everything you need to get serious as an independent artist.

Welcome new members, hope this site is useful, don’t hesitate to send suggestions by comment on posts or email to zero360music@yahoo.com.

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Virtual Workshop with Hugh Prestwood

Posted by zero360 on January 9, 2009

Please don’t miss this month’s NSAI Charlotte meeting! Fiona has arranged something really special for us this month. Our guest speaker, talking to us from his home in New York by way of Internet magic, will be Hugh Prestwood. Hugh is an absolutely amazing songwriter. He wrote “Ghost in This House,” recorded by Alison Krause, “The Song Remembers When,” recorded by Trisha Yearwood, “Hard Rock Bottom of Your Heart,” recorded by Randy Travis, and tons of other great songs, some of which are listed in his bio below, and on his website at www.hughprestwood.com.

Hugh spends hours and hours crafting each of his songs, to make sure that each word is the perfect word to express the exact feeling that he’s after. Read these lyrics and you’ll see what I mean:

“Ghost In This House“

I don’t pick up the mail
I don’t pick up the phone
I don’t answer the door
I’d just as soon be alone
I don’t keep this place up
I just keep the lights down
I don’t live in these rooms
I just rattle around

I’m just a ghost in this house
I’m just a shadow upon these walls
As quietly as a mouse I haunt these halls
I’m just a whisper of smoke
I’m all that’s left of two hearts on fire
That once burned out of control
You took my body and soul
I’m just a ghost in this house

I don’t care if it rains
I don’t care if it’s clear
I don’t mind staying in
There’s another ghost here
He sits down in your chair
And he shines with your light
And he lays down his head
On your pillow at night

I’m just a ghost in this house
I’m just a shadow upon these walls
I’m living proof of the damage
Heartbreak does
I’m just a whisper of smoke
I’m all that’s left of two hearts on fire
That once burned out of control
And took my body and soul
I’m just a ghost in this house
Oh, I’m just a ghost in this house

Absolutely amazing lyrics! Hugh will be talking to us about finding ways to write fresh, believable lyrics.

Here’s more information about Hugh, taken from his website bio:

Hugh Prestwood has been writing hits for two decades. He was discovered in 1978 by Judy Collins, who gave him his first hit (Hard Times For Lovers), and subsequently recorded five more of his songs.

A staff songwriter for BMG music, Prestwood has penned #1 hits for Randy Travis (”Hard Rock Bottom Of Your Heart”), Trisha Yearwood (”The Song Remembers When”), Michael Johnson (”The Moon Is Still Over Her Shoulder”), Shenandoah (”Ghost In This House”), Crystal Gayle (”The Sound Of Goodbye”), and Collin Raye (”On The Verge”). He has also composed hits for Highway 101 (”Bing Bang Boom”), Anne Murray (”Feed This Fire”), Michael Johnson (”That’s That”), Ty England (”Smoke In Her Eyes”), and Kathy Mattea (”Asking Us To Dance”). Other artists who have recorded his songs include Conway Twitty, Lee Greenwood, Don Williams, Jackie De Shannon, Verne Gosdin, Maura O’Connell, Tanya Tucker, and The Judds.

In 1991 Prestwood was honored at the annual BMI Awards with the 23rd Robert J. Burton Song Of The Year award for “Hard Rock Bottom Of Your Heart”. He was also picked by Billboard Magazine as the #2 country songwriter of that year. Billboard currently lists “Hard Rock Bottom Of Your Heart” as the 5th biggest country hit of this decade.

In 1997 his song “On The Verge” was listed by Billboard magazine as the 4th biggest country hit of the year.

Three of Prestwood’s songs have been nominated for Grammys in the “best performance” category:
“Sound Of Goodbye” performed by Crystal Gayle.
“Hard Rock Bottom Of Your Heart” performed by Randy Travis.
“Ghost In This House” performed by Shenandoah.

Born and raised in El Paso, and a graduate of the University Of Texas At El Paso, Prestwood currently resides on Long Island, New York. Since 1982 he has taught advanced songwriting at The New School in Manhattan. Additionally, each year Prestwood teaches songwriting workshops for the NSAI in various locations throughout the country.

Enough said. Don’t miss it!

The agenda/newsletter is pasted below. Don’t forget to bring a song for the critique session. Hugh will not be critiquing our songs, we will have our own song critique session, as usual, after we log off with Hugh.

Normally there would be a fee to attend a session like this, but thanks to Linda and Bruce Johnson and the other NSAI members who raise money for us by volunteering to work concessions at the Tosco Music Parties, it’s being provided to you free of charge!

See you Tuesday!

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October Meeting Wrap

Posted by zero360 on October 22, 2008

It’s been more than a week since our meeting and I thought I’d take a few [belated] moments to post a some thoughts on our theory discussion and a couple of other key items.

  • Thanks to Bruce Johnson for moving to have NSAI Charlotte spread some cheer back to the Tosco Music Party (TMP), a not for profit organization like NSAI, which has made it possible for our group to build fiscal resources used to benefit NSAI members. The group agreed to make a donation to TMP.
  • Fiona has arranged another Skype virtual workshop for us in January, this one is with Hugh Prestwood. You don’t want to miss this meeting!
  • The group decided on having Craig Bickhardt in for a workshop in February 2009. Right now, we’re penciled in for a songwriting workshop with Craig on Saturday, February 28th. Standby for lots more detail in the coming weeks.

Then we moved into our discussion on basic music theory. With the wide variance in knowledge of theory within our group, I began with my perspectives on what elements of theory songwriters should invest time and energy into learning. Sure, many of us depend on our ears and intuition to craft the music side of our songs. But music, as defined by Wikipedia, “is and art form in which the medium is sound organized in time”, and it behooves us as songwriters to learn how to “speak” music as a language. Again, perhaps not as theorists or composers, but to enable us to be effective at co-writing and in rewriting.

The foundation for our discussion was a handout titled Music Theory Survival Guide for Songwriters by Danny Arena. While we had several excellent interactive viewpoints on how to interpret and apply the relationship between the linear scale degrees of a tonal center (or key) and the vertical triads built on each scale degree, the handout covers this information well, and is worth keeping handy.

Steve Simpson also graciously provided notes from a theory session he attended this year at Swannanoa, plus a table he developed for building triads off scale degrees (key of C) that folks seemed to latch onto. There was at least one other artifact copied and passed around, and at the end of our discussion it seemed that most had gotten something worthwhile out of the session.

Developing our theory “chops” isn’t much different than learning an instrument, it takes practice. There’s a lot to learn, but as songwriters, being well versed in fundamentals goes a long way and doesn’t have to be a daunting regimen. I’ll share one site I found that appears to have a well rounded practical approach to theory, it’s simply www.musictheory.net.

Now, this whole idea for a theory discussion started at the recent Steve Seskin workshop in late September when Steve heartily commented on the value of basic theory for songwriters. While we only scratched the surface during our discussion, I enjoyed it, and hope you did, too.

I’ll leave you with a couple of tips for practicing music theory:

  1. Ear Training: learn to sing and identify intervals and chords
  2. Learn other peoples songs and analyze the chord structure and melody
  3. Chart your own material, either using conventional chord symbols or the Nashville Number System
  4. Learn to play the melody to your songs on your instrument

By the way, Fiona, who wasn’t at our last meeting (missed ya’), also has an excellent handout she’s developed for use when teaching theory at dulcimer workshops that you may want to get from her. Lastly, please feel free to comment and add your personal ideas and favorite resources relative to basic music theory for all of us to enjoy and add to our songwriting toolkit.!

Cheers — angelo

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Song Finishers is Back!

Posted by zero360 on September 22, 2008

Time to say goodbye to the hot weather and hello to Song Finishers again.  We will restart this Tuesday 9/23 at 7:00PM at The Well in Pineville.

I’ve talked to several people anxiously awaiting the restart of our co-writing sessions.  People who liked or experimental Song Finisher’s Song Circle have also commented favorably about that format.  So… How about this – we do the traditional Song Finishers co-writing from 7 to 9 PM then gather to play the new songs to each other  – AND also share some of our favorites from the past.

This may be the best of both worlds.  People who want to co-write and or find someone to set their lyrics to music or find lyrics for their music will have the usual opportunity to make contacts and create new songs that would not have been done without Song Finishers.  AND folks who have some favorite songs from the past can also spend an hour or so swapping songs and getting comments.  See box below about our May experiment.

So you can come out at 7:00 for the whole experience or stop by at 8 or 9 PM to swap songs. As always, we’re trying to find the right combination to serve the most songwriters the best way possible.

Your feedback is encouraged and welcome. See you Tuesday!

FYI: Posted from email sent by Bruce Johnson

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Site Migration in Progress

Posted by nsaicharlotte on July 5, 2008

Thanks to Greg Baker/Second Wind Music for his years of service in maintaining the NSAI Charlotte website. Greg’s growing scope of business and volunteer activities require that he transition site maintenance responsibilities back to the chapter.

In order to preserve the current level of functionality with minimal impact to user base or chapter coordinators, the plan is to migrate the site as follows:

  1. Develop WordPress blog to include current key functional elements by 8/15/08
  2. Pilot new build to a limited audience, revise and add content by 9/9/08
  3. Expanded pilot complete by 9/23/08
  4. Site release by 10/1/08

We hope a blog format will increase interaction and broaden the scope of information we can make available to current and potential members.

– The Management

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