By Cliff Goldmacher I thought I’d address some common misconceptions about life as a songwriter that tend to either slow down our progress or discourage us unnecessarily. The more educated you become about the mostly unwritten rules of the music industry, the less often you’ll be fooled and the better prepared you’ll be to make…

By Pat Pattison “OhMyGod Artie, stop!” yells Herbie. Artie’s ‘69 VW microbus wobbles over to the side of the road, next to a creame and baby blue Maserati convertible parked in the lot. “Boy, I’d like to drive that beauty. Looks like it really flies.” Whew,” whistles Artie ” Look at it, low, wide wheel…

By Pat Pattison In its simplest form, this is the basic rule of songwriting: keep your listener interested all the way through your song. Get them with you from the beginning with a strong opening line, then keep them with you the rest of the way. Whether they stay or go is up to you….