I am very excited to be playing with Kelsey K, Aaron Barker, Ruby Locknar, and Blake Chaffin at The Listening Room, 217 2nd Ave S, Nashville, TN 37201. Kelsey and I have been writing for a few years now.  She is a bonifide star.  I have not played with Aaron, Blake, or Ruby, but I know they are going to bring it! Hope to see you there.

New Canadian Single – “Roll the Windows Down” Released by WYATT

Thanks to the band WYATT, “Roll the Windows Down” has been released as a single to Canadian radio.

Robert K. Wolf co-wrote the song with SB21 Music Publishing songwriters Kris Bergsnes, Jacob Martin, and Phil Roselle. Steve Pasch, SB21 president, immediately saw the potential. The song rocks with reminiscing about great times driving in the country, living fast and young. It’s getting great response with its infectious rhythm and anthemic melody.

“Roll the Windows Down” can be purchased on iTunes Canada.

WYATT is also entered in CBC’s Song of the Summer contest – please vote for the song here.

Writing, Living, Playing

Pretty soon I’ll be off to Berry Hill to get in the writer’s room with my friend E Marlowe. We’ve only known each other about a year, but we go way back. With some folks you just know this.

If I think of what my top songs are these days, invariably E collaborations are right up there. It’s been a bit of a challenge for me, but some new tunes have crept in to my performances–and I’m hoping to feel solid on some that she and I have done. One of my faves is from the female perspective, so that becomes somewhat of a challenge. But occasionally I can get into that headspace.

If you’re around and about, this evening I’ll be at The Commodore Grille in Nashville, with Jamie Jo and Harlan Pease. We’ll be doing a round at about 8:30 pm.

It would be wonderful to see you.

Off to practice. 🙂

Too Fast

Wow. It is hard to believe we are in the middle of April already. The year has been steady-on relentless. No stopping it!

So much to do and so little time. And it already seems like there’s less time! Here’s to doing more with what we’ve been given.

Ahhh….

The Song as Milepost

On occasion, the question arises: how many artists out there are obsessive/compulsive? Dwelling on words, repetition–looping thoughts constantly, refining, worrying–they factor into the act of listening, the act of creating or editing. Is there a difference between the artist and the general population? Other fields? Freud, I seem to remember, had a few thoughts about that. Maybe he had a point.

Recently, a co-writer called me a perfectionist. It may have been a compliment. Maybe it was solely an observation not intended to impart a mean judgment, a destructive criticism. I do believe that perfectionism has a part in the artistic process, as an overall aesthetic as well as an editing tool. Do we have any idea what flawless is? We’ve got the word, but does it exist? We evaluate and accuse art of being beyond improvement. In my view, art itself, even in the moment of creation, is perfect–but in some way we can improve on it, until we have the sense to leave it alone.

The Nashville way is, in large part, the way of the co-writer. It brings advantages as it affords songs more opportunities to be heard professionally, pitched. It brings collaborators together for the aim of achieving that perfection, going beyond what a solo writer may do, especially if they are only lyricists or composers, or if they have not felt they could finish the job via their own editing process.

Co-writing is a big part of what I do as a songwriter, but the Nashville way has pulled me a bit too much from my solo work. It’s a two-way street in my opinion: co-writing can make you a better individual writer, and solo writing will help you bring more to a collaboration. All assuming, of course, that it leads to your further opening your mind and heart.

I recently decided to recommit to getting solo write time in. It, just a few days ago, yielded a new one that I’m pretty excited about (the internal buzzkill critic says, “but don’t get too excited, dude, it’ll set you up for disappointment.”). In reviewing the song, editing it, and maybe displaying a little bit of the obsessive/compulsive, I have come to see the song as a milepost.

Hey, if I see it as that, that’s what it is. We’ll see what happens as I share it with different audiences. On to the next!