Mentors

Just Plain Folks Mentor Jason Blume delighted all of us during his keynote speech at the TAXI Road Rally in November. I plan to summarize his brilliant and educational pep talk once I am off the road for a future Just Plain Notes newsletter story, but until then, Jason was nice enough to type up a story for us on his way home from Los Angeles.

THE HUNGER

I'm writing this on the plane, returning from Los Angeles where I delivered the keynote speech to approximately a thousand songwriters at the Taxi Road Rally. For those who aren't aware of it, Taxi is an independent A&R agency that screens songs (for a fee) and forwards the best songs to those individuals and organizations who are looking for hits.

It seems like just a breath ago when I was living in a roach-infested room, eating cat food to survive, and dreaming that someday I would write a hit song. I attended every workshop and class available. Now, I could hardly believe I was "the expert" and was also included on a panel of "Hit Songwriters" next to Lamont Dozier, writer of the Motown hits that were part of the soundtrack of my childhood.

The introduction of each writer on the panel included the playing of snippets of their most successful songs. When Lamont's songs were played ("Heat Wave," "Where Did Our Love Go," etc.) the audience and other panelists erupted into a spontaneous standing ovation that moved Dozier to tears. It was an awesome demonstration of how music touches our lives.

Following my presentations, I spent a total of seven hours autographing copies of my book, 6 Steps to Songwriting Success (Billboard Books), and I had an opportunity to speak with many of the aspiring writers. Their hunger to achieve success was palpable. I recognized that hunger all too well.

From the time I moved to Los Angeles to become a successful songwriter until I could say that I earned a miserable living - - but I earned it as a songwriter -- eleven and a half years had passed. The, I invested five additional years learning my craft as a staffwriter, earning as little as $10,500 many of those years. During those years my songs were torn to shreds by my publisher. I'd rewrite and rewrite -- and then rewrite my rewrites.

Each time my publisher showed me where my songs were falling short I was initially frustrated and terribly disappointed that they weren't as good as I'd hoped and believed. However, each time that I grasped what was wrong and made it better, I incorporated elements that not only made this particular song better, but tools that would be incorporated into successful songs I'd write years later.

Getting my songs critiqued was a bit like being a pinball. When I'd hit a side bumper (i.e., being told my chorus melody wasn't strong enough) and then write a more memorable melody, I'd get pushed more towards the center -- where I could stay "in play," and have a shot at winning the game. The next time I might hit the other side bumper by writing a lyric that failed to communicate, or lacked fresh, detailed imagery. Again, I'd get pushed back into the center of the action when I worked hard to correct those areas that missed the mark.

As my skills improved, sometimes there wouldn't be anything "wrong" with my songs. There just wasn't anything exceptional or fresh enough about the idea, the melody, or the lyric to edge out the competition. In some ways, those were the most frustrating critiques to receive, yet the most helpful. They sent me back to the drawing board with increased determination to write a hit.

It was my hunger for success that kept me going in the face of the seemingly insurmountable odds and the crushing repeated rejections. It's that hunger that made it almost unbearable to work at the "day jobs" that kept me from devoting the time and energy I wanted to give to my music. It felt like torture to be kept eight hours per day from writing, and to be too exhausted to do my best work when I got home. "If only I didn't have to work, I could be a successful writer." I see that hunger burning behind the eyes of so many of my students and it hung heavy in the air at the Taxi Road Rally.

Although I didn't know it at the time, the truth was that I needed those years of miserable temp jobs to allow the lessons I was learning to sink in and to later emerge in my songs. I hated that hunger because I translated it into feeling that I was a failure. I was driven to achieve success and without a staffwriting deal or a hit song on the charts, I felt frustrated, deprived, and miserable much of the time.

Now I look back and I see that the hunger was my friend. It was the mentor that kept me trudging towards my goal, no matter how impossible that goal seemed to others. I only wish I had been kinder to myself along the way. The times when I felt like a failure were all a part of the journey to success. If I had never written a hit song, the journey would have still been worthwhile. Following a dream is just as important as having one come true - - and it was the hunger that kept me on the path.

More about Just Plain Folks Mentor Jason Blume:

JASON BLUME's songs are on albums that have sold more than 45 million copies in the past two years. One of only a few writers to ever have songs on Billboard's Pop, Country, and R&B charts - - all at the same time, Blume's songs have been recorded by pop superstars including the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears, as well as by country stars including Collin Raye, the Oak Ridge Boys, and John Berry. Author of the critically acclaimed 6 Steps to Songwriting Success: The Comprehensive Guide to Writing and Marketing Hit Songs (Billboard Books), Blume teaches songwriting workshops for BMI and NSAI throughout the US and internationally. His newly released CD, "The Way I Heard It," features his performances of songs he's written that have been recorded by other artists - - but the way the composer imagined them when he wrote the songs. For free monthly songwriting tips, as well as information about ordering 6 Steps to Songwriting Success (Billboard Books), or "The Way I Heard It" (CD) visit www.jasonblume.com.