What's in a Song

Send us Fan Mail Today I have Grammy winner and producer Cliff Goldmacher.  Cliff has a catalog of over 1,000 songs and writes with and for artists across multiple genres. He has written a #1 single on the jazz charts, a song on a GRAMMY-winning album and multiple songs featured in major movie releases and national advertising campaigns.  Some of his songs have been recorded by Kesha, Keb Mo, and...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I talk with award winning singer/songwriter Anna Wilson and Golden Globe and Country Music Hall of Fame nominee, hit songwriter and producer Monty Powell.  This power duo have written songs for Keith Urban, Lady A., Reba McEntire, Rascal Flatts and too many more to mention. This is a master class in lyric technique! Take aways from today's episode: Song maps...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Berklee Professor and artist Susan Cattaneo shares the magic of songwriting and breaks it down offering some wonderful ideas on how to use metaphor. With her powerful voice, captivating melodies and finely-crafted lyrics, Susan Cattaneo is one of Boston’s most respected singer/songwriters and educators.  Susan won the CT Folk Festival and is nominated for Singer So...

Send us Fan Mail Tom Hambridge is an American rock, country, and blues, producer, songwriter, musician and vocalist. Hambridge has received two Grammy Awards, an ASCAP award, seven Grammy nominations, seven Boston Music Awards, and has been inducted into the Buffalo Hall of Fame. In this episode, Tom talks about his influences, how being a drummer informs his writing, working with vocalists, what...

Send us Fan Mail Master piano player Matt Rollings Matt has played on countless records for artists such as:  Wynonna Judd, Lyle Lovett, Shania Twain, Trisha Yearwood, Leonard Cohen, Mark Knofler, Dixie Chicks, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Billy Joel, Steve Martin, Bruce springsteen, Toy Story 4 Randy Newman and Christ Stapleton.  Matt has produced many artists such as: Keith Urban and Mellissa Manchest...

Send us Fan Mail Justin Tranter is one of the most successful pop songwriters of our time. Tranter has co-written with Julia Michaels , and written songs for artists such as Britney Spears , Gwen Stefani , Linkin Park , Kelly Clarkson , Selena Gomez , Justin Bieber , DNCE , Kesha , Imagine Dragons , Fifth Harmony , 5 Seconds of Summer , Ariana Grande , Lady Gaga , Bea Miller , Demi Lovato , Dua Li...

Send us Fan Mail Ellen Britton is an amazing guitarist and songwriter who has toured with many huge acts and appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, The View, The Rosie O’Donnell Show, and The Today Show.   As a teacher, she has worked with Brandi Clark, Pam Tillis, Mickey Guyton, Carly Pearce, Little Big Town and so many more. On this episode, Ellen talks about...

Send us Fan Mail  Chris DuBois is a songwriter and music publisher based out of Nashville.  He is co-owner of Sea Gayle Music with business partners Brad Paisley and Frank Rogers.  Sea Gayle is one of the most successful independent publishing companies in all of music.  In 2010 and 2011, Sea Gayle was named ASCAP Country Publisher of the Year. It was the first time since 1982 that an independent...

Send us Fan Mail Charlie Worsham won the ACM award for best acoustic guitar payer in 2022, is signed to Warner Bros. and is a master session player, multi instrumentalist, songwriter and tours with Dierks Bently. In this episode, Charlie shares his journey of moving to Nashville, getting a record deal, and being a side man for major acts.  He shares the power of asking for help, and following the...

Send us Fan Mail My guest today is hit songwriter Jason Blume.  He was Brittany Spear's first co-writer and has gone on to have more than 50 million album sales with singles on Billboard’s pop , country and R&B charts with songs recorded by Britney Spears, the backstreet boys, the oak ridge boys, K-pop and J-pop artists and many more.  His songs have appeared on Emmy winning shows and you...

Send us Fan Mail Multi award winning singer/songwriter Ruby Rose Fox shares her new app for musicians called Muscle music .  Ruby has taught at Yale and Emerson and shares her techniques to help you understand the mechanisms that drive anxiety so you can learn to live in a dynamic body that unconsciously dysregulates for our safety and survival.  Instead of pushing away anxiety we accept it, under...

Send us Fan Mail Sam Robbins is an award winning singer/songwriter who recently won the Kerville Folk festival and appeared on "The Voice".   Today, Sam plays three of his original songs and breaks down the process. Episode take aways: Great advice on finding your unique sounds as a singer: sing like you talk  How to hit that high note: Yell the note, then blend it with your singing voic...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I talk with Dr. Suzanne Hanser.  Founding Chair Emerita and Professor of Music Therapy at Berklee College of Music. Suzanne is President of the International Association for Music & Medicine and Past President of the World Federation for Music Therapy and the American Music Therapy Association. She teaches a course for Berklee Online, Music Therapy Techniques...

Send us Fan Mail Jesse Ruben is a Singer songwriter and a master performer.  In this episode, he shares performance techniques, how to connect with your audience, his favorite chords and advocating for yourself and finding innovative ways to get your music out there and so much more: Writing songs that people reach for, that effect their lives. What happens when your music is in service of the wor...

Send us Fan Mail Matilda Gratte is one of my unforgettable former students from Sweden.  She tours with Zara Larson and Ed Sheeran as a back ground singer and is an emerging singer/songwriter herself. In this episode, we talk about writing great melodies over common chords, adding tensions to those chords, touring with artists,  and being true to yourself as an artist. She is an amazing artist. Ma...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I talk with singer songwriter and Tisch Professor Mike Errico on: Writers block The power of “We” for songwriters and how it makes your listen feel seen Mission songs Songwriting prompts The importance of journaling Daily writing practice Rewriting Finding the sweet spot for the best key for your song Being yourself Mike Errico is a New York-based recording artist...

Send us Fan Mail Back for more in part 2: Ken Yates has gained a reputation as one of his country’s brightest rising singer-songwriters. The winner of two Canadian Folk Music Awards for Songwriter of the Year and New Artist of the Year.  Yates supported Passenger on their tour across North America and in Europe in 2020, and has shared stages with Ryan McMullan, Jenn Grant, and many others. He does...

Send us Fan Mail On this week’s episode, I have Hughie Stonefish on the show. Hughie is a member of the comedy act Lewberger and won an Emmy for best song written with Jason Alexander from Seinfeld. Hughie talks about how he using music theory, rhyme and improv in his songwriting. Here's the link to join my membership: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/scarlet.keys/membership https://www.scarletke...

Send us Fan Mail Ken Yates has gained a reputation as one of his country’s brightest rising singer-songwriters. The winner of two Canadian Folk Music Awards for Songwriter of the Year and New Artist of the Year.  Yates supported Passenger on their tour across North America and in Europe in 2020, and has shared stages with Ryan McMullan, Jenn Grant, and many others. He doesn’t like bar chords In th...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I talk with legendary master songwriter Hugh Prestwood about his craft and break down two of his masterpiece songs "The Song Remembers When" and "Ghost in this House". Show highlights:  Writing alone and how for some writers, co-writing causes anxiety and doesn't allow you to do your best work.  He likens cowriting to a painter handing ano...

Send us Fan Mail Multi grammy award winning songwriter Lori McKenna.  Lori is an American folk, Americana, and country music singer-songwriter. In 2016, she won a grammy for Best Country Song    "Girl Crush" performed by Little Big Town.  In 2017, she won a grammy for her song “Humble and Kind” recorded by Tim McGraw and most recently was nominated for a grammy for best song “Beautiful N...

Send us Fan Mail Wendy Moten  Is known affectionately in various industry circles as “The Voice,” the multi-talented Memphis born performer launched her career with a self-titled  album that included the ballad “Come In Out Of The Rain,” which reached the Top 5 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and later hit the Top Ten on the UK singles chart. Wendy opened for Michael Bolton and then reco...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode,  VP and A&R of Warner Bros. Nashville B.J. Hill, shared music biz gold! He talked about what he looks for in a writer he signs to a publishing deal, what he looks for in a song and nuances in lyric writing that he feels takes a song over the edge and onto the radio. He  plays two of his favorite songs and talks about why he loves them.  He shares a number 1 so...

Send us Fan Mail Rob Giles is a singer-songwriter known for his solo work, along with working with Andy Summers of the Police and the band The Rescues. He pivoted to film and television writing in 2015 when he sold two spec scripts to Warner Bros. Warner Bros also developed two shows with the CW in 2016 and 2017. This was such an inspiring and honest conversation touching on sobriety, therapy and...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Jeff walks us through one of his songs and how he makes melodic decisions. Show take aways: How to evolve your  melody Focus to the relationship between chords and melody Secondary Dominant can be great chords for the bridge Create hooks both in the melody and piano part Focus on the song, not the business http://jefffranzel.com https://www.scarletkeys.com The sho...