News/Thoughts

Song Writing

The New Upside Down

This was supposed to be my best musical year; my biggest tour schedule, the most packed songwriting workshops, the year I padded my songwriting partnerships with new co-writers. Well, I am living proof that the best laid plans can be overturned by the will of the world. Since March of 2020, I have watched with horror as all of my ...

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Writing Slowly

This time of Covid, which is how I will always think of these days, has slowed everything down to the old days. The old days meaning a past I never lived until now. Part of me is very thankful for this time. I’ve been cooking every night, no going out to a restaurant or grabbing some fast food. To keep ...

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On The Pickin Porch with Tyler Grant

California native Tyler Grant is widely known in the jam band world for his work with multiple outfits including Grant Farm and Emmitt-Nershi Band, fronted by members of Leftover Salmon and String Cheese Incident. While his electric guitar work compellingly reflects classic influences such as Jerry Garcia, his award winning flatpicking guitar styling has placed him in a class of ...

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Conversation With Irene Kelley

The soul of a songwriter shines in the body of their work. I teach songwriters all the time and even the most beginner songwriter has their heart and soul shimmer somewhere in their creation. When that shimmer comes out like the brightest sun, it could possibly be an Irene Kelley song. This incredibly talented songstress leaves a listener with no ...

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Being Songwriter Of The Year

Friends are more precious to me these days than gold and I consider Jerry Salley one of those precious gems in my life. I have had the joy of observing this gentle man work at the craft of songwriting, never letting a lyric go until the page he is working on is full of the very best he can write. ...

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Song Writer Story Time

Rick Stanley has had a hand in writing some memorable bluegrass songs. One that has become somewhat of a standard was written at the tender age of 15 and recorded originally by Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys with Keith Whitley doing the lead vocals on his song, Home In The Mountains. It has since been recorded by numerous ...

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For The Songwriter In You

Some dreams fly like a rocket! My husband, Rick Stanley and I sold our home we had for many years in Nashville proper and bought eight acres and a brick rancher in Lebanon, Tennessee a few years ago. I remember gazing out over the fields and wondering what in the world we would do with all that land. I surely ...

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The Carter Scratch

They didn’t call her Mother Maybelle for nuthin.’ Nope. In addition to being the mother of three girls (Helen, Valerie June, and Anita), Maybelle Carter certainly earned the title of Mother of Bluegrass Guitar. Starting in 1927, her lead and rhythm guitar playing laid the foundation that was built upon by those who followed in her footsteps. Her signature lick ...

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Before The Words

Teaching songwriting these days has opened up a whole new world for my personal songwriting. A good writer friend of mine, who travels the country teaching at workshops, told me once that if I taught too much I would stop writing songs for myself, and my catalog would starve to death. I always kept this advice in the back of ...

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Before The Song

These days I would describe myself as an amateur farm/country girl because I have moved to the country. Oh yes, it is definitely different out here, gentle and charming if you are not focused on all of the new breed of bugs and wildlife I can hear in the distance that I must use my imagination to get a glimpse ...

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