A Songwriter's Dilemma

...and so it begins...

On the urging of my son, Rama Gottfried & daughter-in-law, Celeste Sunderland Gottfried, I have begun this blog in the hopes that sharing thoughts & experiences will enable me to get through life a little bit more easily when dealing with my passion for songwriting.

I was commiserating with Rama one day with head in hands in my project recording studio at home asking 'why do I bother doing this?'  Why do I continue to write songs, record them, arrange them, mix them, master them, design the cover art & text for the CD, send them to the usually non-responsive publisher and then pray for redemption & some financial return?

I will always be grateful for how Rama replied: 'Pop...why did you start doing this in the first place?'

The answer: 'Because I love it.'  'Right', he replied, 'so, remember that.'

Wiser words I've never heard.  Those are the words that keep me going when the music business periodically drags me through the mud.

So, to fill you all in, I'm a 59 year old songwriter who's been writing my entire life.  You can hear some of my songs at my home site . I do love it...but it does get frustrating in the financial aspect of the music industry.  Nothing new...artists have been in this predicament forever.  I just never saw myself sitting at a desk from 9 - 5 in order to pay the bills & have a relatively comfortable life.  I fought it off for a long time, too.  It wasn't till I was 49 that I finally took a full time job...one that I can live with, at least. I guess I have a relatively high geek factor, so learning about web site creation, database management, SQL queries, etc. was kind of fun for this 'musician in real life'.  It's been almost 10 years now.  I'm still playing out with a 6 piece band of wonderful people & musicians, but we're not performing any original material.  It's not that kind of band or at least the places & events we play don't really want original material.  But, that's okay.  I've accepted that at this point in my career, I'd rather provide the songs for other people to use i.e. other artists needing material, movies and/or TV soundtracks, than to be the artist/performer myself.

So, I continue to write & produce CD's & do what I can with them.  Website presence, Taxi submissions, etc., copies for my friends & family.

Well, that's enough history.  I think I'd like to use this blog to describe what I'm thinking & feeling while in the process of song writing & production.  Perhaps describe new production techniques I discover (new for me, anyway), new gear, new song ideas, etc.  Maybe complain a wee bit after critiques come back saying my songs sound dated. Hopefully, this will be a cleansing & therapeutic process for me & anyone potentially interested in reading this blog.

See ya's