Dean Olson

Songwriting Dream for The Voice’s Elise Evans

May 16, 2013 Dean Olson

A talented teen still hopes to pursue her dream of making it big in the music industry. Elise Evans from Glynneath, who had a taster of stardom on BBC’s The Voice, has big plans to get her own music heard and hopes to become a professional songwriter. The Voice’s Elise Evans “I would love…

Adam Carolla On Luck (Prager University)

May 15, 2013 Dean Olson

A refreshing new professor just started his first course at Dennis Prager’s online university, and he is comedian and podcaster Adam Carolla. Course #1 is shown below, and it’s a pretty good one. However, I shook my head in disappointment when I saw the comments box on YouTube for this video. Adam has a pithy but valuable…

Rod Stewart on Being a Born-Again Songwriter, Future Faces Reunion (Q&A)

May 12, 2013 Dean Olson

Especially since it’s been nearly 20 years between songwriting. It hasn’t been 20 years between original material. But risk is good. Risk is going forward. And it seems to be getting fairly nice reviews. It’s exciting and it’s scary, because we have to … Read more from Chris Wellman’s article >>>

The Hitless Songwriter

May 11, 2013 Dean Olson

Michael Tannen, The Roches’ manager, was yelling into the phone at me. Why don’t you just listen to the radio and figure out how to write a commercial song? Then the phone went dead. We were at that point every music career gets to where the honeymoon was over. The Roches had burst onto the…

Celebrities Honor Young Cancer Patient by Covering Viral Hit “Clouds”

May 10, 2013 Dean Olson

“When faced with months to live, how do you say goodbye?” That’s the question posed by 17-year-old cancer victim Zach Sobiech, who wrote a viral hit song , “Clouds,” as his answer. The tune touched the hearts of many, including a slew of celebrities who have filmed their own take on “Clouds” to raise awareness…

Nick Buda: Getting Into Music and Making it Work

May 8, 2013 Dean Olson

Recently, I had the pleasure of interviewing Nick Buda for Berklee College of Music’s alumni blog. The following is a re-posting of the blog on Berklee Blogs. LAB: Getting Into Music and Making it Work Berklee Alumni Spotlight: Nick Buda ’96Nick Buda (’96) started playing drums on his mom’s couch cushion when he was a kid…

Worship Songwriting Tips #1 from WorshipSongChapel.com

May 2, 2013 Dean Olson

The structure is the foundation of any worship song. It doesn’t matter how much passion you put into your melody, how profound a wordsmith you are or how sincere your … READ MORE >>>

SONGWRITING TIPS: Try David Bowie’s ‘cut-up’ method of writing …

April 30, 2013 Dean Olson

David Bowie’s typically enigmatic decision not to do any interviews about his new album,The Next Day, means people have been left to put their own interpretations on the album’s unusual lyrics and surreal imagery. Author Ricky Moody – who writes for the literary magazine The Rumpus – recently asked Bowie to explain his thinking behind the new songs….

Win Tickets to See 3 Hit-Making Songwriters in Concert

April 30, 2013 Dean Olson

Chip Taylor has 50 years years as a professional songwriter under his belt. He penned hits recorded by Janis Joplin, The Hollies, Linda Ronstadt and Ike and Tina Turner. From “Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)” to “Wild Thing,” the songs of his career are …

Johnny Cash Museum Plans To Open In Nashville In May

April 26, 2013 Dean Olson

Thursday morning, Joanne Cash Yates and Tommy Cash walked into The Johnny Cash Museum, a downtown space devoted to their late brother that is set to officially open in May. First, they smiled at an old Martin guitar with a folded dollar bill stuck through the strings: In the 1950s, before he had a drummer,…

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