Passing The Baton
Just recently, my son asked me if I could set him up with a small production rig so he could start learning how to produce and start writing his own songs. I was kind of surprised, as up until that moment he hadn’t shown much of an interest in music other than listening to it in his room, and of course very loud! It got me thinking back to why I jumped into music myself so many years ago.
I was very fortunate to be born into a musical family. My grandfather was a professional musician and my dad had risen to great heights as an arranger, producer and composer. I was surrounded by music pretty much all the time and was lucky enough to join my dad in the studio for recording sessions, TV shows, and also on the road while he was touring with several big name stars of the day. Initially, I was drawn to the very nature of musicians, their passion, how loud and always very funny they were, and how they always seemed to be having a good time. What wasn't to like?
My own music journey began as most do with learning to play an instrument. I started out as a piano player, which I soon dropped, to then start playing trumpet and eventually moving on to the french horn. The school orchestra was fun but I never connected to being just a player back then. Then one day I sat back at the piano in our house and wrote my first song. It was based around C, F and G major. Not the trickiest chords but as I know now, the fundamental progression of thousands of hit songs! I was hooked. I asked my dad for piano lessons again and he asked why, and I said I want to write, and I couldn't do it on the trumpet. Who could argue with that?
Beggining the journey into a music career is very different these days than it was back then. There was little to no educational content that was aligned with what I wanted to do. I had a father as a mentor but his specialty wasn’t songwriting. So I did what most do, and that’s write a lot of really bad songs, trying to learn as I went, and listening to thousands of records to try and understand why songs were popular and why they connected. It took a long time but I just kept going, until one day I started to get regular good songs every time I sat down to write. That then was the start, and I grew from there, but it took a long time until I could make it a paying career.
My son’s journey looks a lot different. There is an overwhelming amount of education out there for songwriting, production, and in fact nearly every facet of this business. Is it a shortcut? Without a doubt, and can help create an understanding of the fundamentals of the craft through great mentors and teachers. But after as many years I have been in this industry, and thousands of hours mentoring, I’ve come to know one thing, none of it replaces passion and tenacity. That can’t be taught. Loving the creative process and what brought you to it is a guiding light that thousands of hours of YouTube or TikTok videos will never give you. Your voice and the stories to be told are uniquely yours and the drive to tell them is what binds me and my son and all those drawn to music together. My father never pushed me into this business. He knew as I do, that it requires a singular and personal connection to the artistic and creative path, and an overwhelming need to share the human experience, in all its raw, painful, joyful and beautiful color through each note and song. I’m excited to see where this leads my boy, as I do everyone I have the pleasure to meet on this path.