Category: Songwriting

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Kings Of Leon – Revelry

I came across this new Kings of Leon song today.

My good friend Ben Miller reminded me that the Kings of Leon were ‘back’ recording again recently, and I realised I hadn’t really investigated their music in the last few years. So I went out and bought the 3 most recent albums and am working my way through them.

There are many things I like about the Kings of Leon, but I think the one chief thing I love about their music is that they have their own distinct brand of rock, that is unmistakably ‘Kings of Leon’. The vocals, the songwriting, the guitar sounds, the guitar playing, the bass lines, the drums, the production… it all merges so well into a single identity that, even if you’re not a fan of the the Kings of Leon, you RECOGNISE as them.

THAT takes work my friends. That takes real discernment and musical intent to achieve such a ‘yes, that’s Kings of Leon’ from any listener hearing the first 30 seconds of one of their songs.

To be so consistent, yet fresh and evolving is really inspirational to me as a musician, and as a teacher.

So whether you love em or hate em, here’s the Kings of Leon with their new song ‘Revelry’.

P.S. Note the amount of reverb and ambience on this track? So many bands are opting for this sort of production sound at the moment, perhaps try it yourself!

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A complete artist at work – Ryan Adams Lucky Now

Quick one this time!

I was working with one of my favourite students (Mike) on some guitar-y songs, and how to meld singing and guitar playing together, and we got talking about songwriters who do this really well.

John Mayer is a great one, Chris Cornell is pretty cool too, and there many others too numerous to mention, but today I wanted to highlight Ryan Adams.

Ryan Adams

Way back in the early 00s, I remember my Mum buying a copy of ‘Easy Tiger’, one of Ryan Adams’ earlier albums… and I didn’t ‘get it’ then. I Was more interested in heavy rock and intense guitar solos (rah!) at least at that time.

But now the songwriter scene is MASSIVE. EVERYONE and their Mum is a ‘singer-songwriter’… how many of your friends have ‘singer-songwriter’ on their Twitter account?

I’m not knocking it! It’s just what’s trendy right now.

A seminal singer-songwriter

Yet, despite it being a big thing now, Ryan Adams is (IMO) the earliest example of a true singer-songwriter. Someone who wrote lots of songs (good to great songs) and performed them… and he’s still going. To me, even though I didn’t appreciate him at the time, he is one of the earliest ‘seeds’ of the singer-songwriter ‘movement’ (if you can call it that). Someone who knew what he wanted to produce, didn’t say no, didn’t give up, and kept doing what he wanted. Now loads of others are doing that it’s not quite the pioneering genre it once was (every episode of Scrubs and House ended up having a singer-songwriter song playing it out… now every mobile and energy company advert has a singer-songwriter in the background), but cast your ear back 12-13 years, and you’ll find Ryan Adams doing it all from scratch even then.

As an artist, I think Ryan Adams is the real deal. Someone who knows what he wants, and spends time developing and crafting it.

See for yourself…

Just watch this fab video of his song ‘Lucky Now’. It’s not got the most incredible vocals in the world, it’s not ear-shredding guitar, but it hangs together as a complete piece… and he sells the piece. To me, this is the sign of a complete artist, and beginning singer-songwriters could do far worse than to learn from Ryan Adams and take a leaf out of his book.

Remember to watch this version…

Ryan Adams Lucky Now

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Meet Mark’s Students:

John Jeacock & Merrick’s Tusk

In 2013, I got the chance to work (and continue working with!) some fantastic vocalists (like John Jeacock, who you’ll meet about below!). I’ve had the chance to help fix some issues for them, and often help them capitalise on some great things they are already doing. So I thought it would be fun to ‘meet’ some of these guys… so this week, it’s time for something a little different.

Let me introduce you to one of the fantastic singers I’ve been working with over the last year. Continue reading “Meet Mark’s Students:

John Jeacock & Merrick’s Tusk”

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Want to know how to write a hit song? Let this guy break it down for you

I’ve posted about Ralph Murphy before, and here he is again with another up to date seminar on ‘How to write a hit!’.

Now, you don’t have to be a songwriter or fan of mainstream music to appreciate what Ralph is talking about.

Every year he goes through the top hits from the pop (and country!) charts, and establishes what they have in common to give you not just the profile of the most successful songs, but because it also give gives you the profile of average listener who actually BUYS all this music.

Regardless of what you think of the music industry, this is a FAB introduction to understanding the mechanics of songwriting and how hits become hits. It’s far more complicated and skilful than you EVER realised.

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Riffing Lesson: Natalie Weiss does Tori Kelly’s Pretty Young Thing

Riffing is something many people think is harder than it actually is. Let me illustrate…

So here is a video of the amazing American artist Tori Kelly. There is just incredible control and artistry in this video by Tori.

Check out her stuff – really fresh and inspiring!

There is a KILLER vocal riff at 2m22s, which I’ve been giving a bash and I can promise you – it’s tough! That said, it is not as difficult as it might seem once you’ve broken it down. Here’s a link to a great singer Natalie Weiss Breaking Down This Riff – she was even teaching at a training conference I went to back in August 2013!

There are a great many things we all think are very difficult, but actually, EVERYTHING is difficult… until we’ve done it so many times that it becomes easy. Not only that, but sometimes it just takes a different perspective and simpler approach to make even the most seemingly-complex issue become pretty straightforward to solve.

With that in mind, if you want to start learning to riff, and learn the riff she pulls off at 2m22s, then check out this awesome video from Natalie Weiss from ‘Breaking Down The Riffs’

See? It might sound crazy but if you take it slow and break it down, it’s actually not as insurmountable as it first seemed.

So do me (and you!) a favour – ask yourself – what was the last thing you decided you COULDN’T do vocally? Is it too fast? Too high? Too low? Once you break it down, you may start to see in-roads to help you tackle the issue you’re struggling with. Honestly, all you need to start moving towards doing the very thing you’re scared of is adopting a different perspective and utilising the right tools.