Now that it’s officially summer, I’m hoping you’re finding time to enjoy music the old-fashioned way...listening to it. No judgments, no wondering who wrote it, no worrying about whether there’s an angle you can take...just listening. Every once in a while, I think it’s a good idea to enjoy music for music’s sake. The more we try and make a living from music, the harder this becomes. This is all the more reason to take a step back and remember why we started making music to begin with.

This issue, I’m introducing a new “guest columnist” feature to the newsletter so that you can hear from some superb artists and songwriters in their own words. I’m incredibly proud to introduce the inaugural columnist - the Spin Doctors’ lead singer and songwriter, Chris Barron.

If you’ve got your own studio set up or you’re interested in engineering and production, you might want to take a peek at the reviews and articles I’ve written for EQ magazine over the last few months.

Have a great summer and stay in touch!

-Cliff

GETTING YOUR SONGS HEARD

So you’ve written a great song, made a fabulous demo and now you’ll live happily ever after, right? Well, kind of... This article is the official “chapter after” you’ve written and recorded your song. There’s no doubt that being a great songwriter and having beautifully recorded versions of your songs is an admirable goal in and of itself. However, if you’re interested in having your songs see the light of day, then your work is really just beginning.

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:: Cliff's Independent Album Release Workshop
Songwriters Guild of America in NYC
Tuesday, September 16th, 6-8pm
1560 Broadway, Ste 408
Registration, call 212.768.7902 or email ny@songwritersguild.com

:: NSAI SongPosium in Nashville
Cliff will be teaching classes #116 & #216
September 23-26
For registration information, click here.

:: BMI Events
More Info

:: ASCAP Events
More Info

:: SESAC Events
More Info

CHRIS BARRON: Hit songwriter & lead singer of the multi-platinum rock band The Spin Doctors on the story behind writing “Two Princes"

“it’s for you.”

the phone was for me.

that was unusual because the telephone in question was that of the american diner, my place of employment. i was a peon in the kitchen of this diner in my hometown.

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AARON LAZAR

I met Aaron about a year ago without knowing much about him. My fault entirely as I was relatively new to New York and not overly familiar with Broadway and its stars. Aaron was looking for a place to record vocals for an album project he was working on and we were put together by my friend and cowriter, Jeff Cohen. It was only after doing a bit of homework on my own

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