My buddy (and new co-writer), Cam, suggested I learn Rascall Flatts’ “Fast Cars and Freedom.” I’d heard the song a time or two, but never really got into it until I actively listened. What a sweet song. And it’s compelling to listeners in multiple ways. Even if you don’t understand the full story right off the bat, you can still sing along to some of the key lines because they’re all so full of imagery and melody.

The song is just full of hooks from the first guitar riff to the weird rock-star break in the chorus–”Baby don’t move / right here it is”–that makes you want to pump your fist in the air. And of course the first and last lines in the chorus are extremely strong.

The song was written by Gary LeVox, the lead singer in Rascall Flatts, with Wendell Mobley and Neil Thrasher^[1]. When the artist is a co-writer, I sometimes wonder how much credit they should get, especially when working with a writer as proven as Thrasher. Of course, it could have been almost completely written when LeVox brought it to Mobley and Thrasher… who’s to say? Also, somewhat unrelated, can we just take a minute to laugh at their names?

The structure of this song is simple on a macro level: Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Chorus. But the chorus really has three parts to it, which actually doesn’t fit one of Jason Blume’s rules tools for songwriting: never have more than two melodic or rhythmic structures to one section of the song. There is a LOT going on in this chorus, but somehow it all fits together. The first chorus melody comes in, followed by a punctuation-like change (the “rock-star break I referred to earlier), then back to the first melody, and then to a weird kind of chorus-coda, which contains the title hook. Interesting. I can only imagine that this is the product of either A) a 5-minute magic song or B) about a million rewrites.

This was a fun one to learn to play. Of course the recording isn’t perfect, but I’ve got other things to do, songs to write, etc. You know how it is. And happy Thanksgiving!

Wow. All skepticism about whether or not TAXI is a legit player in the music business and the quality of their conference was destroyed this past weekend. I almost regret doubting them. For someone like me, who is an established musician and songwriter that is looking to get into writing and pitching songs for the country market (or any mainstream market), this conference was invaluable. Not only did I get to hear, first-hand, examples of songs in demo form that became hits, but I also got to hear hit songwriters like Ralph Murphy, Danny Wells (”Check Yes or No,” George Strait, “These Days,” Rascall Flatts) and Jason Blume talk about writing, re-writing, demoing, publishing, what makes a hit and a little bit about the process and politics of getting that hit song pitched and cut. Also, I realized that I’m really good at writing and recording already. Armed with some of the tools and info I picked up at the conference, I can see no reason why I can’t have a hit song on the radio after a few years of working at it. I won’t be singing it, but that’s just fine with me; there are artists out there whose voices are their gift from god—a unique, trained and expressive instrument. And having those voices sing my songs will allow me to focus on my gifts of writing and producing great songs for the public.

I met a handful of other independent artists at the conference, too, and it was fun to talk about the differences and similarities in our experiences looking for an outlet for our musical compulsions. Overall the conference was extremely educational and pretty motivating. I’m ready to get to work writing and re-writing. Exciting!