For Who You Are

When I lived in Nashville last year, I had a songwriting publishing deal for about 6 months with Word Entertainment. I quickly found out that the "sit in a room 3x a week and write hits" approach to songwriting really wasn't my style. I am very thankful for the opportunity that I had to work with some great people and learn a lot about the "right" way to write a song, but it just wasn't me. I really didn't enjoy trying to fit into the box that I was forced to write in. Some would say that a good writer can fit into any box that you place upon him. I get that and I met many writers like that. Perhaps I was just not that great of a writer, and I am fine with that reality.

Anyway, all that to say, a couple of the songs that I co-wrote did see the light of day and one of them just got released on the latest Women of Faith CD. The song is called "For Who You Are". You can find it here (iTunes, double click to hear sample) or here (Amazon).

When I lived in Nashville for those two short years, I never would have thought that I would have gotten cuts on a Women of Faith CD and a Point of Grace CD (I co-wrote a song that made it on their upcoming record). No offense to these artists, but to be most honest, this style of music is not my preference, but when you are hired to write songs for a record label and publishing company, you have to try and create what sells. This style of music is, generally speaking, the dominate seller in the Christian market. Thus you have to do what you have to do to get paid. Herein lies the classic clash between art and commerce.

Am I a musical prostitute or a sell-out? A mercenary? Maybe, but whatever the case may be, I learned a lot from it and am grateful for having had the experience in Nashville that I did. Thought you might want to hear a bit of it...