Barry,

WE are all going through that. I'm writing at this moment with a 23 year old female artists, but we are writing about her 102 year old GREAT GRANDMOTHER, who just passed away. She was still dancing, partying, and DRINKING BEER at her 100th birthday party. It is a real hoot.

THAT is what I care about. Helping someone else get to their dreams, emotions and their experiences. I really don't care about the industry. If I do what I do well, they rise within the industry.

If you hear the greats in this business, people like Tom Douglas and Alan Rhody, who wrote something like HOUSE THAT BUILT ME, you find these exact types of stories. They just connected with Miranda Lambert, who lived the exact same thing.

That is my challenge. If I was "SONGWRITER OF THE WORLD' that is what I would try to get everyone to do and experience. I would never get too caught up in the industry outside of knowing what is going on, realaizing trends, knowing what to stay away from. But going for REAL LIFE for me, and finding a different way to present it is everything for me. It's all in the challenge for me.

It's not the destination, it's the road that gets you there.
Yeah. I wrote that too. LOL!
And yes, "It is what it is."
Wrote that one too.
Can't help myself.

MAB