All posts filed under: Interviews and Videos

Money – in Exchange for What?

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Have you ever started a project and then stalled? Not walked away. Just stalled. That’s where I am with this blog. I did not start it natively. I knew to develop it into more than a journal would take time and effort. I did not realize how much of both. The more I learn the more I realize how much more there is to learn. What I saw as hills in the distance are in fact mountains. I still have the original vision. I see this blog doing online what I do and want to do in my life. I am called a creative catalyst and an inspiration. I want to be that for my blog readers, but I want more. I want to make money for myself and others. Giving away still seems so much nobler than being paid. I want to feel no shame in being paid to help people. See? Even now it is hard for me to unabashedly say I want to make money by sharing. If you are one of …

Decluttering Life

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My life was as cluttered as my house. Thanks to a housecleaner, my house is in good shape. My life? I made progress this week. The method that is working for decluttering my life is a simple one anyone can use. In fact, it is almost too good to be true. I tried copious to do lists, detailed scheduling, Facebook groups, free and paid webinars and courses. All of those have one thing in common; I was trying. The harder I tried the more frustrated I became. With my life so cluttered, I was overwhelmed and felt I did not have enough time to get everything done. The problem was not lack of time. It was lack of a central focus. Last Monday night, I went to bed asking the Powers That Be for guidance. I got up in the morning with clarity. The solution was so simple. Life needs priorities and a central focus. I chose myself as a writer as my central focus. My priorities were in place. Self-care, my family, and my …

Revamping

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Over a hundred posts in, I am stepping back to evaluate and improve. Revamping will take time.  I will post sporadically instead of each Wednesday and Saturday. My vision for this blog has not changed.  I have a public life as a Muscle Shoals songwriter,  show organizer, promoter, and mentor. Many creative Muscle Shoals music people do not know how to promote themselves or share their knowledge.  I already help them with that  Now I want us all to have a larger audience. I also want to share my love and experience as a photographer of birds and flowers, as a flower grower (mostly from seeds), as a quilter, and as writer.  I am writing a book about my long history in music, including why Garth Brooks says I am the person who discovered him and started it all for him. I have bipolar disorder.  I share my experiences as well as how I cope. We all leave a legacy.  I want this blog to be part of mine. I want to see how much …

Watching a Guru Grow

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Gurus are people to be watched in more ways than ones. We are not talking about the ones who convince you to give away all your earthly possessions, join a commune, and drink the kool-aide.We are talking about the ones with books, web pages, blogs, newsletters, webinars, podcasts, conferences, and other avenues to reach the masses. I follow several online. I have paid money for their classes, conferences, and webinars. I do not regret even one of them. Though I would not admit to following a guru, I have certainly been led. I am watching (and following) one guru that I admire more than when I first connected with him. He has written best sellers, been a speaker at many conferences, has online courses with hundreds in some classes, has successful webinars, and more. He has a passion for sharing the methods that have worked for him. His authenticity is what has made him so well-known and influential. Thanks to his webinars and courses, I started this blog and my memoir. Without him, the blog …

Video Chat with Sandy Carroll

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The book I am writing has a core cast of seven, six of my cowriters and me. I am in the process of Zooming short video chats with each to make my job easier. I can refer back to them when I am writing. This morning’s with Sandy was great – once we got past the first five minutes. We are so relaxed that seconds after telling her I was going to begin the recording, I drifted off into definitely woman to woman “girl” talk. Her feedback helped me, but it is not something I want to share with the world. I did trim those first four minutes. The next minute I have wandered off and am talking to Sandy off-camera. I left it because I laughed and hope someone else does. We can all always use a laugh. The chats are more about Muscle Shoals than I expected. Sandy has memories of Muscle Shoals in the years I was teaching and out of music that I do not have. From 1997 to 2001, Jerry …

Mark Narmore and Stephanie C Brown on life, Songwriting, and Muscle Shoals

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Mark Narmore and I chatted this morning since he is one of the seven characters in the book I am writing. Mark is one of my cowriters, but I did not know some of what he shared. (I was not in a rocking chair though it looks as if I were. Learning curve. I knew I would talk with my hands.)

“Let Me Slip Into Something That Feels Good”

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The video is a song from 1971. Jimmy English and I wrote the song. Thirty-nine years ago. Have you ever unexpectely found something from thirty-nine years in your past? Something that was a vague memory. If you are under forty-five, just imagine. Over the years I had not forgetten about the song, but I had forgotten the name of the band, the lyrics, the melody, even that great album cover. The song was an abum cut, never a radio song, so I would be surprised is many people remember it. Last week while working on another post about some of my songs, I thought about the song. On an off-chance, I searched Googled for what I remembered, “white and something that feels good”. Finding old songs on the internet is not unusual, but finding one of my songs from so long ago on YouTube surprised me. Little details of that time are now fresh. English and I were writers at the legendary Fame studios writing to please Rick Hall and Walt Aldridge. The song was …

So You Want To Hear My Songs?

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I have been writing songs since 1974, so I have many. Some I would not want to share. Some I do, but not all at one time. I am often asked what kind of songs I write. I am tempted to reply good ones, but I know they mean what genre. I am all over the place as you will hear. I had forgotten sometimes Rated – R. Here are ten all cowritten, all published by either Golden Ladder Music (BMI), Silver Cradle Music (ASCAP), or River and Stones Music(ASCAP) and respective cowriters’ publishing. Also, at the bottom of this post, are my first two cuts. These are all demos except the last two which were on records. I have not included the other recorded and released songs. I would like to mention those – Burning Bridges (Garth Brooks), Rain on a River (Georgia Middleman), Can’t Push the River (Lynn Langham), Uncle Hickory’s General Store (Don and Daryl Ellis), Refuge (Randy C. Moore), Slings and Arrows (Sandy Carroll), White Horse (CoCo O’Conner), Miracles and Mysteries …

You Ask – I Answer video

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Thank you for being one of a few. You are already my beta readers. Now would you be one of my beta viewers? Let me know what you think about this first video You Ask – I Answer video series. I am making these with Zoom while recording myself. I challenge you. Do something outside of your comfort zone. This certainly is for me. Another challenge: Do something you would have depended on someone else to do before Covid19. Please leave a comment with feedback and any questions you would like for me to answer. Later this series will be available to subscribers only.