Kevin,

Using the story of a pioneer going on an adventure as a starting place for a song, I would see what parallel experiences I have had. If you have started a new job, traveled and had challenges, experienced a vehicle breakdown, had to leave something behind, etc.; these are all experiences the pioneers faced and you can tap into the emotions you experienced and pour that into a song. That is one way to approach a topic you don't truly have experience with.

Hi Harriet,

I told someone words are my friends. Some words don't seem very friendly though. For instance, the word 'pander'. So I spent some time thinking about that in the context of the discussion. Songwriter is to pander as Music Industry is to pimps. Songwriters tend to pander because the music industry pimps songwriters and artists. I appreciate the challenge from you because it is good to go into any business/endeavor with eyes wide open.
Artistic integrity as an algebraic equation should look something like this: hc = A
Heart times Craft equals Art. As heart and craft increase the Art becomes greater. Money is not involved in this equation, rather it should foster opportunities for great art to be created. So, what is style?