Cooperation

My mother was a spoiled woman. Before she died in 1997, she never filled a gas tank or opened a door for herself, that's because my dad made sure of it!

When I attempt to open a door for a lady at the grocery store, for example, sometimes I get a dirty look, like I'm showing they are the weaker gender. I personally believe men are weaker because we don't endure childbirth and the greatest share of child-rearing like they do. Also, the challenge of dealing with the atrocious behavior of a great number of males should prove that women are superior! My opening doors for women is simply an extension of my personal respect for them.

So, if I am to show respect to women, it takes cooperation on their part. The same is true with my spiritual life. It behooves me to cooperate with God when, in His Word, He says He wants to help me; He wants to open doors of blessing in my life. By rushing through life without honoring God--not waiting for Him, and not trusting in his lead--we, in effect, miss-out on the benefit of His favor. It takes faith to cooperate. When we hang back and let Him open the doors, we partake in the great things He has for us on the other side.

Through cooperation, mom practiced a spiritual principle, whether she knew it or not.

My Summer of '82 Rock and Roll Adventure

Me and Trent Pollack on the bus, somewhere in Turkey, '82

It's hard to believe that thirty years ago next summer, Trent Pollack and I--along with four others, including my brother, Jon--were riding on a bus across Turkey, having a ridiculously great time. We were able to see ancient sites that were visited by the Apostle Paul and places where civilizations once thrived, now deserted and cluttered with decaying stone pillars.

The summer of '82 was also filled with music: the soundtrack to our dusty journey, bumping over the Mediterranean landscape, included the newly released Asia and Toto 4 albums (whenever I hear those songs today, I'm instantly transported back there). How many 22-23 year-old kids get to play rock and roll next to the Black Sea, or lay in the sun on a Greek or an Italian island, between gigs?

The most indelible memory is from the first day of our USO tour, just after we landed in Turkey and settled into our hotel. Staying in a small town, close to the main square, Jon and Trent--ready to party at the drop of a suitcase--made their way to the outdoor market to peruse the local ladies, and grab a snack before dinner. Ignoring the USO lecture we received back at the hotel, warning us to wash raw fruit before eating it, the guys were up for scoring anything remotely edible. While buying a few "harmless" pieces of fruit, Jon and Trent--draped in long, blond tresses, donning gaudy Hawaiian shirts and brightly-colored Spandex pants--created quite a stir with the local young ladies and soon in their digestive systems.

After the guys arrived back to the hotel, they told me where they had been. As the manager of this motley crew, I was trying to recover from the long day of travel and didn't really care where anyone with the band went as long as they made call-time. Jon and Trent then proceeded to tell me about the unwashed fruit they just purchased and consumed. Needless to say, they quickly began to feel the rumblings of their error, deep within their bowels. It took a few days, but the two were soon back in commission,  frequent bathroom visits notwithstanding!

All in all, we had an unforgettable time. We saw Naples, the Isle of Capri, the Vatican, the Trevi Fountain, the Colosseum,  Pompeii and Sorrento in Italy;  Istanbul and cities mentioned in the Bible such as Ephesus while in Turkey;  Zaragoza and Madrid in Spain; Athens and the Acropolis in Greece--just to name a few. We even had time to play concerts for the American soldiers stationed in these areas!

Wow, it seems like yesterday--I actually wore Spandex pants back then, tied my sparkly-red shirt-tail around my waist and primped my 80s hair-band blonde mane. No wonder the soldiers made fun of me as I walked around the base on my off-time. I would, too, if I saw a clown like me back then. But, oh, what a summer that was!

All I Really Need To Know in Life, I Learned In A Band

Well, now that I see the title, the subject really seems a little provocative. I didn't mean for that to happen, but if you have have been reading this so far, maybe it was worth the miscommunication. Of course, not "all of life" is contained here, but it's a good start.

I spent six years, non-stop, on the road. All during that time I never unpacked my suitcase completely. Even when I went to my parent's home on a break, I kept everything in my familiar traveling box. The tough thing about traveling in a band are the tight quarters and lack of privacy. Because of this challenge, I learned the art of getting along with people--all kinds of people. To survive, I had to surrender and give up my way to make way for the group. Yes, I had to compromise. I want to humbly share a few nuggets of wisdom I learned while rolling down the endless highway and traversing the airways around the globe, playing in a band.

1. Be kind

Understanding, grace, forgiveness and patience, among other virtues, all come to mind while living close to others. Most days in a band are cool. But when it's your turn to have a bad day, you want others to show you kindness. Honor the personal space of others.

2. Go the extra mile

Help carry the luggage for the girls in your band; open doors for them. Keep extras in your gear box for when others are in a fix, like extra picks, strings, batteries, etc. Volunteer to do the dirty work like stacking gear in the equipment truck and loading luggage under the bus.


3. Be on-time

The chronically late disrespect others with their behavior. They lose trust and it impacts relationships. Show the rest of the band how important they are by respecting the call-time. Be early!

4. Always tune-up

I think I spend more time tuning than playing. In life it's important to always be tuning-up our relationships (be aware of my surroundings and the people in them). My relationship to God is most important. If everyone tunes to the same pitch, life is so much better in a band!

5. Hang out with the crew

The crew is your greatest ally; they can make or break you in performance. The best friendships I ever made on the road were with behind-the-scenes people. After a show, ride the bus with the crew. It'll be hilarious and you'll always have folks watching out for you. Dis the crew and you'll soon be out of the band!


6. Be the person others want on their team

Be a person others are grateful for--thankful for the excellence you bring with regard to playing, singing and performing.  You help take the band to the next level and you're a joy to be around.

7. Know your limits but always strive for improvement

Don't drag the band down by promising what you can't deliver in performance. Always be learning new things (listening to new sounds, styles, gear, etc.), Don't settle into stagnation, Grow, grow, grow!

8. Learn the importance of deodorant

Practice good hygiene. Learn how to dress for success in the band. Most social situations will have an unwritten dress code--learn it as fast as you can. Don't totally "give up" on off days. Others still have to live with you in close proximity.

9. Be a giver

Be on the look-out for ways to bless others. Don't be the jerk who always lets someone else pick up their tab. Look for ways to anonymously make someone's day. It'll be a double blessing.

10. Respect the road manager

We may not always agree with the decisions of our bosses, but be the one who makes their job a little easier through compliance. They have responsibilities and commitments to people and things that don't always flow into our personal orbit. So understanding goes a long way with them. Don't sit back and watch injustices pile-up, either. Respectfully and privately convey your grievances, and don't be a chronic complainer.

11. Know when to leave the band

We all come to the end of a job. We either outgrow the band or the band outgrows us. Maybe it's just time to move on to a new place. Bring it to an end gracefully. If you are a valuable team member, the news will always hit hard. Give proper notice, speak judiciously to others about it, don't burn bridges, and, if at all possible, create a lasting legacy that will dispel negative talk after you're gone.

Christmastime: Music To My Ears

I have to admit it: I'm a sucker for  all things Christmas. I always look forward to the day when Sirius XM starts-up their dedicated holiday music channels. I pick the traditional station out of the several offerings--the one that plays the standards with singers like Perry Como, Nat King Cole, and all of the fare that I was raised on.

Now that the Christmas holidays officially start the day after Halloween, on November 1st (that's what Wal Mart wants us to think, anyway), we are now given permission to have two full months of Holly, Jolly Christmas and Rocking Around the Christmas Tree to enjoy. I'm not complaining. Even though the leaves are still stubbornly clinging to the trees (it's November 21st), and I haven't put my warm-weather clothes away because the temps are leveling-out at 65 degrees here in middle Tennessee, I love listening to Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, pretending that the "weather outside is frightful" as I cruise up I-65 toward the mall.

I also love to haul-out all of the holiday movies, dust them off and make plans to upgrade them from DVD to BluRay. Home Alone, Christmas Vacation, The Grinch, and Elf--I named off movies that are fairly new, even though I still love to watch It's A Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol in black and white on Christmas Eve. It seems that everyone loves Christmas or they wouldn't put those Christmas scenes in non-Christmas movies to make us feel all warm and cozy.

For me, like many adults, I harken back to the day when I could fall asleep in the back seat of my parent's '57 Chevy, on the way home from a family holiday gathering; when Dad would lift my half-asleep body out of the car, carry me into my warm bed and tuck me in for the night. I must say, I loved doing that for my own kids.

The one holiday event that I refuse to join is getting up at 2 AM to stand in line at Best Buy or Target on Black Friday. I'll let my kids do that. Other than that exception, I'll take everything that Christmas has to give. And it all starts and ends with the music--at least for me.

Songwriter Wisdom, Part 2: Residual Income

What a blessing it is to create something once and receive residual (passive, or recurring) income from it for years to come--even while I am sleeping! If you can score a song on a record, or even better, a hit record, you can make money sitting at home. You may need to keep your day job for a while, but if you have true writing talent (no, your mother's opinion doesn't count!), patience, willingness to network with other writers,  can live lean and have a little faith, you, too, may someday make a living...making stuff up! I have so much to be thankful for, including my more than 20 years as a professional songwriter. I want to explore the residual income sources available to folks like me!

Broken down into three main sub-categories, here is an example of my own income stream:

BMI (ASCAP ; SESAC)
Each writer (or administrative agent, if contracted to do so) must register his/her works with one of these three U.S. performance rights organizations. It's their job to keep track of performances throughout the world, and to distribute income quarterly on behalf of the writer and publisher (separate entities), from radio, TV, movies, etc.. BMI says it best about themselves:

BMI is committed to protecting copyright to ensure that its songwriters, composers and music publishers are fairly compensated for the use of their work. BMI also values its relationships with those businesses that use music, offering access to the world’s most popular music for hundreds of thousands of licensees throughout the United States.

Record Companies/ Independent Projects
When I establish my own publishing company--in my case through BMI--I either manage the work by myself, or work with an administrative person or company to take care of that on my behalf. As my self-published songs are recorded by record companies or individuals, they come to me or my "admin" person for a use license. All subsequent income from those sales are funneled through my publishing company and paid to me quarterly. If I sign my publishing over to another publishing company, in whole or in part (forfeiting all or a portion of the ownership of my songs), I will receive only my publisher's and writer's share--divisible by how many publishers and writers are on the song. The publishers of the song are responsible to collect the monies related to the song's usage and to send a royalty check to me each quarter.


CCLI (Christian Copyright Licensing International)
As a writer of Christian songs used in worship services and various religious events throughout the world, I give consent to my copyright administrator to register each of those applicable songs with CCLI. CCLI (similar to what BMI does for me with radio, TV and movies, etc.) keeps track of the world-wide song performances of my songs through the reporting of thousands of licensed users. When I sign-over my songs to another publishing company, they are responsible to register, administrate, receive and distribute CCLI royalties on my behalf (CCLI royalties are distributed twice per year). CCLI can be quite beneficial since a song, especially in the worship music genre, can potentially amass greater income through live church-service performances, increasing revenue beyond the normal shelf-life and commercial sale of a recorded song.

I don't pretend to qualify as a one-stop information source for songwriters and residual income. This list is, by no means, a complete one. I have only delved into the more general aspects of earning income as a songwriter. However, I do have friends (believe it or not!) who have extensive practical, legal, procedural knowledge and information. These experts can help you--as an individual writer, church, or organization--to find answers to your particular copyright query.

Copyright Solver
ICS Law Group

Remember, each small tributary, or even trickle of income, can together flow into a combined income stream that, even in my case, adds up to a sizable, significant living. The secret is to have many songs working for you. Keep writing, keep the faith and keep in the game--even when it seems that the stream is running dry. Pray for rain!

My Guitar Pick Odyssey

What a seemingly benign subject: the guitar pick. Most of us kept on using the same type of guitar pick that we were given as kids, along with our first pack of Black Diamond guitar strings and our handy Mel Bay Guitar Method book. Somehow we adapted to a certain comfort level, and that first pick developed into a habit, then an unconscious part of our playing experience.

I started out, like most kids in the 60s, with the teardrop-style Fender medium pick. (It was so cool that Fender was building all of that cool gear in my hometown of Fullerton back then). My favorite was a Fender medium, because it worked well with  acoustic and electric. I later moved to the Herco Gold because it had the teardrop shape and the medium thickness, but it also had a raised pattern that doubled as a "slip-proof grip", with a great surface to grab the strings for those "Billy Gibbons moments". You could also break strings if you dug-in too forcefully!


To this day, I like to use thumb picks for finger-style playing, and I am still resorting to the Fender medium flat-pick for everything else. Sometimes, when I play my high-string or my 12-string acoustics in a recording session, I will use a thin pick. They create a more percussive sound--kind of like that of playing cards in the spokes of your bicycle wheel (remember that?).

I purchased some equipment lately from Fat Tone Guitars. In the shipment I found a complimentary guitar pick, emblazoned with the Fat Tone logo. They call it the Plexi Guitar Pick. I took it out of the package, grabbed my Les Paul, and was surprised how much I loved the feel, even though it was at least a millimeter, or more,  thick. The smooth, rounded ends made it feel at home and familiar at my fingertips.



Because of this revelation, I am going to do more guitar pick exploring. I will start by getting this new plexi pick into rotation, and I will also pay a visit to V-Picks here in Nashville to demo some of the other available "thick pick" options. After all, that first Fender medium was given to me in 1967. It's about time I pay attention to this rather diminutive, yet important part of my playing!

Tonya Cowart: Safe In the Harbor

It's always a shock when you hear that a friend has died. It's especially so when that friend is your age, because you realize how fragile life can be, and that tomorrow isn't promised to anyone, regardless of age. In the case of my friend Tonya Cowart, I heard about it through a Facebook message from a mutual friend in Mobile, Alabama, where Tonya lived her whole life.

(L to R) Scott, Tonya and Danny

I'll never forget the generosity that Tonya and her husband, Danny, showed me over twenty years ago when they asked me to produce their vocal group, Last Light Band--which also included Scott McLeod--in the studio. They gave me a lot of space to be creative and, basically, kicked me off into a career of producing and recording my own projects. My work on their first record gave me the confidence to head-into a very fulfilling songwriting career with Integrity Music, right there, nestled in the cozy Christian music community of Mobile.

My songwriting with Integrity drew me away from working with the Last Light Band and, eventually, my family moved to North Carolina and then to the Nashville area, where we have been living for the past ten years. A mutual friend from Mobile, who now lives in Murfreesboro, TN, and attends a church I served recently, walked up between services and handed me a cell phone. I was delighted to hear , "Hi Jamie, this is Tonya!" That was a year ago. Since then, I haven't seen or heard about Tonya, Danny or Scott until the awful news that she had passed on November 9th.

I don't know yet how she died; it doesn't matter anyway. Her voice, sweetness, vulnerability and love for God and people resonate in my memory. As a teen-age mother, she struggled through many difficulties, and even throughout her life--filled with loving family, friends and a devoted husband--the bruises from that tough journey were never far from the surface. I believe that is why she connected so well with her audiences, and that she could sing her songs with such commitment and authenticity. I am forever grateful that she recorded a song I co-wrote with Nancy Gordon called Belle of the Ball. The many awards the Last Light Band has garnered over the years publicly confirm that Tonya, Danny and Scott have touched countless lives with their music.

After hearing the sad news, I watched a video of Tonya singing Safe In the Harbor. It's spine-tingling to hear her sing those lyrics, knowing she is now in Heaven and safe there in the arms of her Savior. I'll miss you, Tonya.

Full Number-Ones

Yesterday, after jumping out of the shower, the clock read 11:10. I had to wait a minute to solemnly celebrate the moment of full number-ones on the clock to match the the 11-11-11 on the calendar. Just like when the Millennium came and went--11 years ago--I felt nothing!

Tom Harvill 1944-'45

I was fully aware that it was Veterans Day, though. 67 years ago, on 11-11-1944, my dad took a bus to somewhere in Los Angeles and, along with his other teenaged comrades, joined the Navy for the final year of WWII. Dad not only served the remainder of the war, but was called back to serve in the Korean War, too. I am very proud of him.

My mom and dad were only married a short time when he had to go back in to the service. I can't imagine the horror of many a young bride who suffered the news of losing their loved one on a foreign battlefield, or anywhere, for that matter. Thankfully, my mom never had to receive that news. Dad came back from two wars and, as a result, I was born in 1960.

Thanks dad, and all of the other veterans who served our country bravely and unselfishly. God bless you all!

It's Not Too Late

The recent news of legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno's alleged involvement in a terrible controversy is proof that it's not too late, at the age of 84, to suffer the consequences of a bad decision...if that's what the evidence brings to light.

Some people make their big mistakes early in life, and the painful experience creates an indelible impression that helps them steer-clear of controversy later on. Some folks, like a few Presidential candidates of late, and within the past decade, have tried to hide bad behavior, only to have to answer for it when they become a public figure.

I am amazed that Billy Graham, who celebrates his 93rd birthday this week, has been able to uphold his good reputation. I read somewhere that he would have an assistant search his hotel room for female stowaways before he entered for the night. He would also cover the hotel TV with a face towel, weighted by his Bible, to avoid the temptation to make poor viewing decisions.

We all do stupid stuff as kids. I have said things to people (or have not said things I should have) that I regret to this day. I have taken the easy-route too many times. I have sought God's forgiveness more often than I can count for unacceptable behavior which, in most instances, was done while I was fully aware of it. God's patience with me is amazing!

The problem is, and I say it again: It's not too late to mess up a life filled with winning streaks. One bad move and past triumphs get eclipsed by a single error in judgement. It would be wrong to play the judge and jury against head coach Paterno, but it is a warning that each of us should heed: It's not too late...

When You Feel Stuck

Brenda and I were talking this morning over coffee about the Godly way to approach life, especially when we find ourselves in difficult situations, feeling stuck in a rut. Even in the idle points of life we must be active in heart, constantly making decisions on how and where to walk in our journey. Moving forward is the key. Keep walking and find the way out of that stifling chasm!

Psalm 34 is a chapter in the Bible that is rich with answers for almost every area of life. I know it's tempting sometimes to stop walking, count our grievances, seethe in bitterness and attempt to get even with the people who have hurt us. But the wisdom contained here would encourage us to move on.

Psalm 34:12-22
12 Whoever of you loves life
and desires to see many good days,
13 keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from telling lies.
14 Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.

15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous,
and his ears are attentive to their cry;
16 but the face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
to blot out their name from the earth.

17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

19 The righteous person may have many troubles,
but the LORD delivers him from them all;
20 he protects all his bones,
not one of them will be broken.

21 Evil will slay the wicked;
the foes of the righteous will be condemned.
22 The LORD will rescue his servants;
no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.

Here are a few things I take away from this powerful chapter in the Psalms:

1. Be quiet (Proverbs 17: 28- even a fool seems wise when he keeps his mouth shut!)
2. Pursue things that promote peace in your own life and in others--in thought, word and deed.
3. Remember that the Lord keeps an eye on His children and, like a good parent, rescues us from bullies in this life (maybe not when we want Him to, but in due time. See #5).
4. God's kids will experience troubles in this life, but He protects us and leads us successfully through them.
5. God will show justice to our enemies. We must keep walking, and place our trust in Him to rescue us and take care of our foes.

If we keep walking, even if it's in total faith, we'll one day come into a clearing on our pathway and realize a whole new universe of opportunities, just waiting on us to arrive.

Danger: Leftover Halloween Candy

We are still devouring the candy leftover from Halloween. We only had about 20 kids come to the door this year, proving that the local churches have done a good job stealing the Trick-Or-Treaters from the streets to partake in community fall festivals. The problem with leftover candy is that I just can't walk by the candy bowl without giving it a stir and snagging my favorite sweets--a billion times a day.

My dad, who is living with us now, admitted to me this morning that he and my mom rummaged through our candy sacks as kids, the night of each Halloween, to confiscate the more desirable delights for themselves. The next morning, neither me nor my brothers ever had a clue that we'd been bamboozled!

My favorite Halloween fare these days is candy corn. My daughter-in-law, Amber, has

upped the ante and added peanuts and candy corn together to make a delectable and deadly mixture of sweet and salty. I am two-thirds through the plastic container she sent over via Josh, and I just can't say "no" to that pesky, delicious concoction.

The  problem is that, as soon as Halloween is over, Christmas is upon us. Christmas candy is the toughest to avoid, not to mention the seasonal supply of eggnog and boiled custard winking at me from the grocery milk section. What to do?

Even though I feel guilty as the Halloween candy is being consumed, and the fallen sugar-high leaves me lifeless and sprawled-out in the recliner, the guilt of not eating the leftovers proves to be a more formidable opponent. So we just resign and pick through that blasted bowl of goodness till the very last wrapper is tossed. After all, we need to make room for the peanut brittle Betsy's in-laws have promised us before Thanksgiving!

Home Studio Nightmares

As I have written before, we live in a city (county, region, etc.) where you can throw a rock from your backyard and hit a musician with a funky, starched "keith urban" hairdo. You might even break the window of a home studio after it bounces off the musician's noggin! You see, there is a studio in every other bonus room or basement in our city of Spring Hill, Tennessee. You can count me in that home studio demographic, too. (You wouldn't believe the artists who are cutting records in home studios!)

With this in mind, I want to pass-on some sage advice by fellow studio owner, Joe Gilder, from HomeStudioCorner.com. It's well worth the re-post.

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3 Home Studio Nightmares to Avoid

You know I couldn’t let Halloween go by without some sort of Halloween-themed post, right? Right.

I’ve had plenty of “scary moments” over the years in my studio. After all, you put your blood, sweat, and tears into the thing, an it definitely hurts when things don’t go exactly as planned.

If you’re just starting out, here are a few things you want to avoid as much as possible. If you’ve been recording for years, you should read this too and make sure you’re not getting lazy. Any of these can happen, and most of them are avoidable.

Losing Your Work

This is one of the scariest scenarios. You’ve been working for months, maybe even years, on a project. You’ve logged countless hours putting together this masterpiece of audio glory.

Then one day it happens.

You walk into your studio, fire up your computer and your hard drive and…nothing. Two hours later you have come to the horrifying realization that your hard drive has crashed, and your data is lost forever.

Now, there’s a good chance the data can be recovered, but it’s not unheard of for the drive to be damaged too badly to recover anything…or the data could be corrupted.

I’ve had this happen to more friends than I can remember. It’s not as “rare” as you might think. The truth is that your hard drive IS going to fail…one day. Are you running your entire studio off of one hard drive? If so, you need to stop what you’re doing right now, find a separate drive, and back everything up. Seriously.

Nothing demoralizes you more than losing something you’ve worked so hard on. The chances of you being willing to start over from scratch are slim.

Always, always, ALWAYS back up your projects. Some folks would say back them up to two different places. At least back it up once.

I’ll be honest, I go through spells where I’m lazy and don’t feel like backing up. But I remember how horrible it would feel to have to do that work all over again, and I start backing up.

There are lots of solutions for backup — automatic backup (Time Machine) and automatic online backup (services like Carbonite). I usually just drag and drop the files to a separate hard drive. Whatever you do, have a system in place and BACK YOUR STUFF UP.

Losing Your Gear

If your interface dies, your studio is dead in the water. Same with your computer. Are you doing everything you can to protect these important parts of your studio?

Taking care of your gear could be as simple as not letting it sit in the back seat of your car on a hot summer day, and making sure you put your condenser microphones back in the case when you’re done with them.

However, there are a couple extra things you can (and probably should) do.

Power Conditioner

If you don’t have a power conditioner in your studio, you should start budgeting for one. You can get a decent one for under $200. I’ve told you before why you need a power conditioner. Power surges are a fact of life. Electronic equipment doesn’t respond well to these, and that little $3 plastic power strip you just found in the closet won’t do much to protect your gear.

You need something that will withstand a powerful surge. I think of it as life insurance for my equipment. And it’s completely worth the investment. There are other benefits to power conditioners too, which you can read about here.

AppleCare and Warranties

If you’re a Mac user like me, then seriously consider buying AppleCare with your next purchase. It extends the warranty coverage out to 3 years, which is a really long time in the life of a computer. I don’t like warranties, and I don’t buy them…except for AppleCare. It could save you thousands if your computer decides to die on you 18 months after you bought it.

Also consider buying more gear from Sweetwater. They’re awesome (and here are a bunch of reasons why I think so), but they also have a free 2-Year Warranty of virtually everything they sell. That’s a big deal. All you have to do is buy your gear there, and it’s included. Very cool.

Losing Your Time

And finally, if losing your work and your gear isn’t a nightmare enough, it can be just as painful to lose your time. What do I mean?

I’m talking about those projects that you are so excited about at first, but then they take you months and months to every complete…or perhaps you never complete them. There are two reasons why this happens:

Poor Planning

If you don’t finish a project, it’s probably because you didn’t plan it well. Perhaps you got so excited about having that first recording session that you decided not to actually listen to the song and do some pre-production on it beforehand. This is by far one of the biggest time-wasters in the studio. If you spend 10 weeks on a song, only to realize that you wish you had rewritten some of the chords, added a bridge, and recorded it 5 bpm slower, you’re stuck. It’s nearly impossible to go in and make those changes after you’ve recorded a bunch of parts.

Take the time to plan out the song. It doesn’t have to be a big, complicated process. Just take a half hour to make sure YOU know how you want it to sound in the end. That way you can work towards that goal.

Poor Goal-Setting

Speaking of goals, you need them in your studio. Another word for goal? A deadline.

Deadlines force you to finish projects. Without them, you’ll just click around the screen, night after night, until the next thing you know it’s 5 months later and you haven’t finished a dang thing.

Set a deadline and go for it!