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Gigging During a “Songwriting Phase”?
Advice needed…
I have been struggling for months now to find the best approach to holding and completing a successful “Songwriting Phase” with the goal of pulling together a new album. The albums I have put out to date have been pieced together, not written together and I want this one to be different.
I need advice. So, if you have an idea, philosophy, story or strategy that you think might help, please leave a comment below.
What is the best approach? Do I disappear from the gigging scene entirely and focus solely on writing new songs? Do I compromise and do one show per month to keep visible? I have a hard time saying no to shows when they are offered to me.
If I do shows, what songs do I play -old, new, or a blend? I want the new album to be a complete surprise when it comes out, but I don’t want to play the old songs anymore… at least not exclusively. Do I start playing cover songs? Won’t that take away from the time I could be spending working on the new songs? Maybe learning and studying covers will give me ideas for writing even better new songs…
Do I give myself a deadline? Or let it happen as it happens? Do I start touring and reaching other markets, building my fanbase with the old songs while writing new songs on the road? If I want to be a full time musician, I need to perform in order to have income.
Do I work on fleshing out older ideas that never were finished? Or do I start completely fresh and focus on where I am now as a person and songwriter? Can I accomplish both and still have a cohesive album? Am I thinking about this too much instead of just making it happen? Why am I so worried? Is this more important to me than it should be?
Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated!
Meghan Morrison
www.meghanmorrison.com
@MegsMorrison
Tweet Hashtag #aiimm to share your own Adventures In Independent Music Making
Hey Meghan, your concerns and thoughts are quite similar to mine and no doubt other artists as well. And this is best summed up by the statistic that after 7 years of giggling my band has only got a stock of 8 original songs, we’ve only recorded 3 songs properly and there’s just 1 music video that had been properly produced. In 7 years I have changed so much that I can’t connect to the earliest material my band wrote. And pieces of unfinished work from then don’t inspire me so much now.
However I absolutely love gigging! Playing live is an incredible thrill. Lately I’ve become very disciplined about song writing and the current band aim is not to do a gig unless 2 new songs are written. Also I’ve found that for a song to mature and become tight and punchy you need to have played it live like 5 times or more..
In your case you could keep gigging a bit but use the gig as a break from songwriting. The odd cover is good at open mic nights, I do that myself solo without the band and it helps me become confident with performance.
Good luck and keep at it :-)
Thanks Atul! I agree with your suggestion that gigging can be used as a break from songwriting. I was encouraged this weekend to think of rehearsing for gigs as a way to take a step back from the new songs and give them time to breathe. That way when I return to them, I’m coming back with fresh ears.
There is still this pang of desire to work only on new stuff that pulls me away from the gigs psychologically. I think I’m working through that though. Every gig is a new opportunity to make new fans who may interested in the new album when it comes out, right?
That’s what I have to remind myself :)
I have always used new songs as a way of sharing something intimate at gigs. I tell the audience that I’m going to play a new song for the first time and it really pulls them in. ALSO, I think it’s a great way to start selling your new CD before it comes out. That way people know what they are getting and will be looking forward to it long before you release it (because they simply must hear that song again!)
Best,
Ethan
Hey Ethan!
I agree that a teaser or ‘trailer’ to the new album can be useful in developing intrigue and have been sharing one newer song as a promotional “this one is going on the new album” tool. But if I keep playing that one, people will get to that one too and it becomes old. hmmm. I don’t want to give away too much. I have my heart set on a full album of unperformed songs, but like Atul said, it would be a good opportunity to work out some of the bugs before the recording/release.
hmmm :)
Hey Meghan,
I’m on the fence on this one, I personally like all my old music because it takes me back to the space in time where I wrote it, but I also like banging out new jams.
There is something to be said for keep things a secret until its finalized and then make it available to the public, many of my musician friends do it this way.
My good friend Lights, is currently doing her latest album this way(yes i said album…shut it)
She’s been locked up for weeks, and hasn’t let anything leak from any recordings as of yet, I get to hear about it and have her tell me how awesome it’s going to be.
I just don’t get to listen to anything until its done.
I feel as though holding off on playing your music is and will pay off, it will keep the focus on the music and allow for people to be excited about something new.
There is, i feel, way to much RIGHT FRIGGIN NOW stuff going on, you can flick a switch and get everything at your finger tips instantly,people hacking studios and putting all the new stuff out, people leaking stuff all over the place…
make them hang out and wait for it…
it’ll be worth it in the end.
see ya tomorrow!!!
Sound advice, Derek :)
Your description of Lights’ current approach reminds me of when I first started taking songwriting seriously, during grad school, when I locked myself up for one week while house sitting a friend’s place (as a way of rebelling against school issues, haha) and found that I developed a much stronger connection to my craft in doing so.
Maybe I should do that this week, while I don’t have many commitments, even if only for 3 consecutive days… and then end the week with our gig on the 9th.
Looking forward to having you on the webcast tomorrow!
:)
Hi Meghan,
I do wonder whether you might be overthinking it a bit – though it’s great that you are putting so much thought into it, as contradictory as that sounds!
My humble opinion, based on my trial-and-error – keep gigging and play everything :-)
Old songs, left for a while and revisited at a gig, can pick up a new lease on life – a few of my old songs have suprised me this way by evolving, sometimes flourishing.
New songs get a change to be road tested and inhabited, knocking off the rough edges and clearing up the blurry bits, as well as giving you the chance to fully inhabit the story of the vocal before you have to step into the vocal booth to lay it down.
Covers – I keep a couple of special favourites only. Otherwise, they do distract from your work – not because they’re better, but because they’re known – it’s not a fair comparison for your own work. They can teach you so much, which is why I play in a few covers bands on the side – which in itself can become distracting – but that’s another story :-)
Good luck!
Cheers
Glenn.
I like the idea of road testing, but I think I’d rather do it with a handful of true blue fans. That way the songs will still be unheard by the rest of my existing fanbase and the CD release will be a more exciting event… I guess the trick will be to try and book, as much as possible, gigs in cities/towns I haven’t played before (which is what I want to do anyway). That way it doesn’t matter if I play the new or old songs. They probably haven’t heard them before, unless they because a fan online first.
[...] out some of the suggestions offered to me in the comment section of last week’s blog, “Gigging During a Songwriting Phase“, we (the band) decided to test drive a couple of our new songs (one of which hadn’t [...]