What makes a great story song?
Skyword recently interviewed a number of songwriters about storytelling. I made the cut along with songwriters for Phil Collins, Aretha Franklin, Jonas Brothers & Selena Gomez! Here’s the piece by Jon Simmons on what brand marketers can learn from songwriters, with tips from eight troubadours (David Pack, Air Traffic Controller, Alexa Weber Morales, Joshua Hyslop, Jess Domain, Emily Hecht, Ed...
Book review of ‘The Insanity Hoax’: You don’t have to be a nutty artist!
I recently read Judith Schlesinger’s book The Insanity Hoax: Exposing the Myth of the Mad Genius. What a relief! With a gallivanting, witty writing style, Schlesinger doesn’t just debunk, she pulverizes that annoying meme that mental illness is more common among artists than the general population. Interestingly, every time I’ve brought the book up to...
We did it! So how the heck did PMO go from zero to Grammy-nominated in 3 years?!
I was taking a break from a private jazz gig at the De Young Museum in San Francisco when the text messages began flowing. I couldn’t help whooping with pleasure, even though I was standing in an art gallery being watched by a guard. Pacific Mambo Orchestra had done it: We were nominated for best...
For artists only: Lies your day job tells you
I was feeling very San Francisco, frighteningly SoHo, awfully hipsterish. The multi-act show was packed, the fashionable audience sat in rapt attention. An aerialist was suspended above the band at one point. Later, a singer-songwriter told stories while a slide show splashed art up on the stage backdrop. I’d been hired to perform with one...
