NPR Examines The Ins And Outs Of Country Music Songwriting

Updated:

December 17, 2010 6:15 pm

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Do you have to “sell your soul” to write a hit song in today’s country music market? That’s the question posed by a new NPR blog examining songwriters who strive to make a living in Music City, USA.

“When those thoughts come in, and surely they do, I think you have to discipline them out,” says hit writer Tom Douglas (“The Gift,” “Love’s The Only House,” “Grown Men Don’t Cry”).

“I think that destroys the song. At that moment when we’re there for those hours or weeks or months or years — how long it takes to write the song — I think you have to be purists and idealists. It’s, ‘What does this mean to me? Why do I care? Why is the lady checking out at Harris Teeter with three kids, why is she going to care? Why does the guy who’s got 36 hours off at Dollywood eating funnel cakes with his family — why is he going to care?’ That’s really all that we can concern ourselves with. The rest of it, I think, kind of destroys the art.”

Check out the full article here.