Songwriting
10 Things Songwriters Are Focusing On That Are Holding Them Back
If you’ve ever felt stuck in your songwriting like you’re working hard but not really moving forward, it might not be your talent that’s the problem. It might be your focus. Clay Mills, co-founder of SongTown and a 16-time ASCAP hit songwriter, recently published a piece that cuts to the heart of what separates writers […]
Why You Should Write Songs Even If No One Ever Hears Them
There’s quite a bit of pressure building in the creative world right now. Open your email and autocomplete finishes your sentences. Turn on the TV and there’s another ad telling you to let AI do your writing for you. It seems that the message, whether intentional or not, is clear: your voice isn’t really necessary. […]
How The Music You Listen To Today Shapes The Songs You Write Tomorrow
Most people listen to music for enjoyment. They put a song on while driving, working, relaxing, or unwinding at the end of the day. The music becomes part of the moment. It’s something they feel, something they connect with, something that either resonates or it doesn’t. But for a songwriter, listening to music is something […]
Songwriting as Catharsis: Why We Need to Write the Songs We Feel
There are times when we sit down to write a song because we want to. And then there are times when we sit down to write because we have no other choice. If you’ve been writing songs for any length of time, you’ll know exactly what I mean. There are moments in life where something […]
How To Deal With An Overactive Inner Critic When Writing Songs
Just imagine… You’re halfway through a verse. The melody feels promising and the chords are sitting nicely. There’s something there. And then it starts. The inner critic has entered the room. Uninvited, loud and confident. If this sounds familiar, you’re not broken. You’re writing songs. Every songwriter, from absolute beginners to seasoned professionals, deals with […]
Writing Through Fear: How to Finish Songs When Self-Doubt Kicks In
You sit down with your guitar. Or you open your DAW. Or you stare at a blank lyric sheet waiting for something brilliant to fall out of the sky. And then it happens. “That’s not good enough.”“This sounds like someone else.”“Why can’t I write something better than this?” Self-doubt doesn’t knock politely. It barges in, […]
How to Find Your Songwriting Voice (Lessons From Mickey Callisto)
One of the most common frustrations songwriters face, no matter where they are on the path, is this persistent question: Why don’t my songs sound like me yet? Finding your songwriting voice is not about inventing something from scratch. It is about uncovering what is already there and learning how to trust it. A great […]
Why Your Songwriting Voice Still Matters in the Age of AI
If you write songs in 2026, you’ve probably had the thought, even if only for a moment. So where does that leave the songwriter? Where does that leave YOU? It’s tempting to see this moment as a threat, but that framing misses something important. AI isn’t revealing the end of songwriting. It’s revealing what songwriting […]
Stop NOT Writing Songs: Why Writing Badly Is Better Than Not Writing at All
You know, there’s a particular weight that unfinished songs carry. Not the kind that sits loudly on your desk, but the quiet kind. The song you keep meaning to start. The lyric you circled weeks ago. The melody that showed up once and then vanished because you didn’t catch it in time. These songs don’t […]
“There’s a Song in That.” Developing the Songwriter’s Way of Seeing the World
Songwriting doesn’t begin when you pick up a guitar, sit at a piano, or open a DAW. It begins much earlier than that. It begins in how you move through the world, how you notice things, and how you respond to your own life as it’s happening. Long before a song has chords or lyrics, […]