Songwriter & vocalist

Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?

A: You can write a song. I promise.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Seeing the joy and emotion people experience when they're able to write the song they have always had in them.

Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?

A: A co-writer writes a song with you and shares credit and rights to the song with you. I prefer coaching people because I truly believe that everyone has at least one great song in them and I find it very rewarding to help people find it. As a coach, I help you write the best song you can write without taking any ownership of your song. You remain the sole writer, copyright holder, and publishing rights holder. I don’t write for you; I help you become the writer you want to be.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What's a song you wish you had written and why? How do you want people to feel when they hear your song? Which songwriting practices have been working well for you? Where do you tend to get 'stuck' on a song?

Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A: It's important to hire a songwriting coach whose writing you like, but even more important to hire someone you have great rapport with. You're sharing vulnerable stuff when you write a song, and you'll want to have a coach who listens to you, gets what you do, and supports you 100%.

Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?

A: I've been writing songs for more than 30 years, but my career really got started when Indigo Girl Amy Ray signed my Americana band, The Great Unknowns, to a record deal in 2004. I've written two albums with The Great Unknowns, three solo albums, and one album with the band The Reckless Electric. I also write with and for other artists, including Noel McKay, Brennen Leigh, and Della Mae.

Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?

A: My favorite thing is working with anyone who has never written a song. Those of us who get to write songs all the time know how profound it can be to distill our experiences or feelings into a beautiful piece of art that we can share with others, and I love helping people feel that for the first time. So it would be a dream come true to work with someone who has a lot of wisdom but no songwriting experience, like Steve Harvey, Gordon Ramsey, or Betty White.

Q: What type of music do you usually work on?

A: My own music is usually on the rock side of the Americana spectrum, but I love writing and singing in a variety of genres, including country, folk/singer-songwriter, rock, and pop.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Songwriting, empathy, listening ability, and enthusiasm for creative expression (that's 4, I know!)

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I'm proud to say that I have lots of songwriting awards and album cuts and nice quotes from Rolling Stone about my writing. But the main things I bring to my work as a coach are empathy, a good listening ear, and an unwavering belief that you can write a great song. Where I really shine is in my ability to understand quickly what you're aiming for as a writer so that I can offer you suggestions that will help get you there.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I coach songwriters over Zoom at an hourly rate of about $100/hour. If you've never written a song before, I recommend 4 hours of coaching time split over two sessions spaced about a week apart. At the end of those 4 hours, you'll have written a full song—lyrics, melody, and chords (even if you don't play an instrument!). I've worked with dozens of first-time writers and I've never had anyone fail to finish a song in 4 coaching hours. You can do it! I also work with experienced songwriters. You can hire me for a set number of hours if you want help finishing a song, improving your writing process, finding ideas, polishing lyrics—anything that will help you reach your songwriting goals. It generally takes about an hour of coaching time to talk through one song you feel stuck on and suggest some new ways to look at it. With two hours, I can help you think about a song from scratch, get you started on how to approach it, and coach you through a verse or a chorus. With three or four hours (depending on your experience), I can coach you the whole way through writing a song.

Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?

A: My two favorite songwriters are John Prine and Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. I love the way Prine says so much with just a few, perfectly-chosen words. And I love the way Wilson creates brilliantly inventive melodies and chord progressions. Some of my other favorite songwriters are Paul Simon, The Indigo Girls, Lucinda Williams, Darryl Hall, and Holland–Dozier–Holland.

Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.

A: I love working as a songwriting coach, helping people to write the best songs they can. I enjoy working with songwriters at every level. Maybe you’ve always wanted to write a song but don’t know where to begin. Maybe you have a big anniversary coming up and want to write a song for your partner. Maybe you’ve been writing for years but you’re stuck in a bit of a rut. I would love to help.

Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?

A: My guitar, my laptop, my Kindle (reading inspires a lot of my writing!), a huge battery (for the laptop and the Kindle) and an ocean of drinking water.