The first writer’s I heard on a panel at ASCAPexpo included Craig Wiseman, Ryan Tenner. Craig said when writing “Get the fear out of the room.” Ryan said “Ask a busy person to get something done, and it will get done.” Both good things to keep in mind.
ASCAPexpo also had some great performances. Richard Marx told the story of “Right Here Waiting For You.” And for some reason knowing the real life story behind it, really made it that much more meaningful when he sang it acoustic moments later. I don’t mean to sad like a sappy girl on this one, but truly reality and truth in a song adds a whole other dimension. Some of these songwriters who performed at this conference even had issues with singing in tune, but I can’t say i heard a single hit song coming from the person who wrote it, that didn’t hit just as hard when they performed it in comparison to the star who cut the hit song.
A highlight was hearing Heart play songs both new and old live acoustic. I haven’t been that blown away by female musicians in my life EVER before. I’ve never seen Joni Mitchell or Fleetwood Mac live, but DAMN! Heart has some serious balls! True musicians, who didn’t rely on being female to get them through, but didn’t play down their femininity either. That hour I watched them and listened to their road stories, and their songwriting inspirations, was a moment in my life I won’t soon forget.