Kathy SBS

A Songwriter’s Lament #songwriting #badsongclub

Excerpt from this week’s Bad Song Club:

More than once, I’ve heard a songwriter mid-session dismiss a lyrical or melodic idea outright because it bore too strong a resemblance to something they’d written previously. I don’t know why this is, but, more than practitioners of any other art form as far as I’m aware, songwriters act like it’s our cosmic destiny to constantly reinvent the wheel.

Tell me why Monet got 250 chances to paint waterlilies, and ceramicists can make a hundred clay bowls, but every song idea has to emerge from whole cloth or else it’s “derivative” or “unoriginal.”

Other mediums seem to inherently understand the value of refining an idea over time, also known as iterative practice. For one thing, most ideas are multi-faceted and require more than one examination in order to be fully understood. For another, feelings change over time; the song you wrote in anger a year ago might hit different now that your rage has cooled. Maybe you came up with a great melody/chord progression for one song, but it never really gained traction in your repertoire for whatever reason. Should that brilliance be doomed to languish in obscurity simply because it was already promised to another song? Heck no.

I couldn’t agree more. We’re so hard on ourselves. On our music. Thinking it’s all crap. Especially if we don’t have people praising it as often as we’d like. But sometimes it’s good to re-listen to a song you’ve written, produced, recorded and appreciate what’s good about it. And with the FAWM community, I get to revisit all the lovely comments I got. Here’s one I’m especially proud of.

Kathy 2025, Blast to the Past, Dancing, Disco, Romance, YouTube

To All the Ladies Who’ve Been Ghosted

So here I am this morning sipping my coffee, telling a story about my disco days, my black disco outfit, my black (Le Black Cat) Capri and I remembered this song from FAWM 25. And the story behind the song and how it may have a new name (ghosting), but it’s nothing new.

What’s a girl to do? Live your best life, of course. :)

(This song is from the “7 Keys to my Heart” album on Bandcamp).

Kathy 2023, 2025, 50/90, Songwriting

A Woman’s Dilemma

People often ask me how living in Las Vegas compares to living in Florida and this (in the video) is what I tell them. As for the rest, it comes from a lifetime of people watching and eavesdropping – lol!

The song is a remix of an original I wrote during 50/90 2023 called “A Woman’s Dilemma.”

Hope you enjoy!

Kathy Modern Musician

What Is A Musician?

Reading a sample of “The Music Lesson” by Victor Hooten, I found validation for what I’ve been saying all along:

“You are just a bass player. That means you play the bass guitar. A true musician, like me, plays Music and uses particular instruments as tools to do so. I know that Music is inside me and not inside the instrument. This understanding allows me to use any instrument, or no instrument at all, to play my Music. I am a true musician, and one day, you too shall be.”

And goes on to compare a musician with a writer:

“A true writer can write using a typewriter, a pen, a pencil, or anything else that he chooses. You wouldn’t call him a pencil writer, would you? Your understanding that the writing utensil is just a tool allows you to see past it and into the truth of what he is–a writer. The story is in the writer, is it not? Or is it in the pencil? Your problem is this: You have been trying to tell your story with a bass guitar instead of through it.”

Bravo! In too many music circles, people are being judged for using their DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) as their main instrument instead of a guitar or piano or whatever. Being treated like they’re not a *real* musician.

My very first instrument was an electric organ. *Electric” – did you catch that? I’ve been using electronic instruments since I was 7 years old. Yet, I’m being treated as if my music isn’t *real* music. I’ve been involved with computers since my first *real* job in 1976. Boomers are often criticized for not knowing computers or understanding electronic music. But not this one. Old or new, they’re all just tools.

I may also play a piano riff and mix it inside my music. Or even a guitar riff (Yes, I have two guitar–acoustic and electric). I may even use a loop. Gasp! (as if the “professionals” don’t). Because it’s all about experimenting with different tools for the sake of the song. The *music.”

I love music, all kinds of music. And a DAW gives me the power to focus on the music and not just one instrument, which I always found so boring! I don’t play any one instrument well! I got too bored to just focus on that one instrument. Especially the violin – lol! But I love the sound of all these instruments. And I love mixing many sounds together to make music.

In my great grandfather’s day, they didn’t have DAWs. But loving music, he crafted several instruments and played them all. Those are the tools he had. And these are the tools I have (acoustic, electronic, and digital instruments). I’m so thrilled to have these tools. Because it’s all about the music.

None of this addresses the whole AI situation. But, perhaps, there’s room for that, too. If viewed as just another tool.

And now I need to download the rest of that book.

Kathy 2025, Bahamas, Caribbean, Cruising

Perfect Day for Writers, Music Lovers, and Cruisers

I seem to set a few of my stories on cruise ships. It’s the perfect setting to me. The location is mostly contained, which I find very helpful as a writer, and I happen to live not far from a cruise port where I love to hang out for a bit of breakfast after church early Sunday morning. It’s a perfect day.

“Star of the Seas” is in port on Sundays right now. We’re counting down to our cruise on her with a stop at “Perfect Day at Coco Cay.” So it’s a perfect day in more ways than one.

Here’s my latest short video on YouTube.

 

Kathy #amwriting, 2025, IndieAuthor, Romantic Comedy, YouTube

“Real Women Wear Red” Audio Excerpt #audio #cruise #amwriting #NovNov

Counting down to my 25th cruise, I’m remembering my first published novel – the one that got me an agent. And how another agent had said that “Cyn was fabulous!” Maybe this will motivate me back to writing “Night Moon” for Nov/Nov, although I might have to change the setting to a cruise ship – lol!

Here’s a little audio excerpt I did for YouTube.

Kathy FAWM, NovNov

Night Moon #NovNov

NovNov has begun, replacing NanoWriMo, the 50K writing challenge every November. I did it once and created a bunch of garbage. Looking for some kind of challenge, this year I stumbled onto NovNov (November Novel). I’m not aiming fpr 50K this month but I do hope to write something each day.

I also hope to finish the first draft by February so I can write the album during FAWM (February Album Writing Month). I’m scribbling some song ideas down as the writing is inspiring the music and the music is inspiring the writing.