So in the spring of 2008, I joined the Songwriter’s
Guild of America, which turned out to be one of the most beneficial
decisions of my music career. The reason I joined the Guild was,
in fact, because I introduced myself to Mark Saxon, head of the
New York office. I met him at one of the showcases at The Bagott
Inn, which, at the time was open and kicking in New York. Mark
then went on to introduce me to a number of individuals within
the Guild, which has allowed me to build up a wonderfully supportive
network. I took advantage of some of the professional
advice offered by the Guild through workshops and personal critiques for beginning
and developing songwriters and artists. I also traveled down to the The Write Key Songwriting Weekend in Orange Beach, Alabama,
which was an amazing experience, personally and professionally. I think it's really going to help my developing songwriting.
In my personal approach to songwriting, the melodic
aspect is my starting point. For me, music is about 'emotion'
and 'vibe'. I am also beginning to explore lyrical content more
in-depth and attempting to write from a 'story' angle, which I learned to
emphasize on my trip to Alabama. It's been very helpful in
my craft. I am now writing on the guitar, which gives much more
'color and movement' to my songwriting than solely writing to
'beats.'
Through meeting Mark and joining the SGA, I have had the chance
to work with Gail Vareilles, an eight-time award winning songwriter
and Tommy Faragher, a many-times Grammy-nominated songwriter and
producer of several top-10 hits. He has cumulative sales of
over 12 million units. Within a few months, I have had the honor
of working with Vareilles and Faragher and have successfully collaborated
on two songs ‘Shakedown of the Heart’ and ‘PlayerMan.’
I continue to push and promote my music in New York through popular
networking sites Myspace and Facebook and a ‘Girl’s Rock The
Night’ event, with friends like Kylie Edmond and other singer-songwriters
from the Guild. This particular event takes place once a month
(usually somewhere hip in the city!) and the reaction we get from
these 'shows' is... buzzing !
Now based in the musical capital of the world,
New York City, I have gone from strength to strength with my music
career, being a member of the SGA, BMI, and promoting my music
to the maximum so people can hear the songs I write from the heart."
