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Inspirations For Songwriters (I F S)
IFS aims to INSPIRE YOU into ACTION
over 2,600 songwriters, music publishers, artists, and
music fans receive IFS
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IFS hopes to help you E N L A R G E your
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DID YOU KNOW THAT All IFS messages are archived on
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DIFS/messages

Once you're in the IFS archive, if you're looking for something in
particular, you can do a key word search

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Wanna know the easy way to find the IFS home page?
Type in
www.SongwriterBlog.com
or
www.SongwritingBlog.com

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Dear IFS Friends,

I hope your writing is going well,
hard to believe 2004 is almost 3/4ths over.

Yesterday, my friend and cowriter, Brock Goodwin made his first trip
to Nashville. On Wednesday I introduced him by phone to a few
Nashville people I thought he ought to meet.
Rusty Gaston with Song Garden Byron Gallimore's Publishing company
Mark Mason with BMI and
Doak Turner who writes the www.NashvilleMuse.com
an excellent website / publication that let folks know what's
happening in Nashville.

Look for ways to do unexpected favors for your friends and cowriters.

Saturday Oct 2nd I'll be in Houston, TX attending Jen Rathbun's CD
release party. www.JenRathbun.com
I've got 3 cuts coming out her new CD. Please say hi to me if you're
there.

5 quick "What are you doing to" questions

write more songs?

write better songs?

create better demos?

place your songs with artists? and

keep songwriting fun?

Ande

Please share your IFS success story with me,
I love to read about how IFS has helped or inspired people.

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Speaking of unexpected favors, yesterday I received this email from
my friend and cowriter, Paul Lopez. I love to read and hear about
how my songs touch people. Thank you Paul.

Subj: song story
Date: 9/23/04
12:22:49 PM Central Daylight Time
From: paul@...

Hi Ande,

Hope you're doing well. I posted this today at Songjourney.com, but
thought I'd send you a copy as well, since I don't think I've seen
you on that site.

God Bless,

Paul Lopez
www.BuzzSawMusic.com

-----------------------------------

The Power Of A Song - "Pieces of Her Past"

When we moved into our office last year, we purchased a home in a
commercial zone with a friend who owns 10 restaurants in our area.
His team shares a small space in the building. Our company is doing
well, and the office is busy, and needless to say, running 10
restuarants also keeps him busy, so we don't always have time to
talk. In fact, I hadn't seen him in a couple weeks, and happened to
bump into him on the golf course, 4 hours away from where we live,
while we were on our annual golf trip last weekend.
Anyway, last year he found out I was writing songs and asked to
listen to some of them, so I gave him a cd...he still tells me that
he listens on a regular basis to my music, and from time to time I
give him songs from other songwriters that I discover on the internet
and what not.

(His big compliment to me was that he loves Skip Ewing and compared
some of my songs to his....made my day!) On Tuesday, I left a cd on
his
desk with some songs that Brock Goodwin had sung, and written, or
co-written with other songwriters here as well. I didn't see him
yesterday, but today I saw him, and popped my head into his office to
just let him know I left a disc for him of some other songwriters
music
that I thought he'd enjoy.
He pulled away from his computer, took off his glasses and said, "I
already listened....last night....you have no idea the timing of that
disc in my life." He then went on to tell me that his mother had been
given 3-6 months to live recently -- something I hadn't heard yet, in
all our business we hadn't even had the time to talk about it. He
said,
"I put that cd in my car on the way home last night and had to pull
over because I was just crying. I got home and made my wife sit with
me while we listened to it another couple times, holding hands there
on the couch." He then told me that they had recently been going
through things in the attic that belonged to them....cribs from when
their kids were babies, wagons, clothes, etc...that he wanted to get
rid of, but that she had been saying she wanted to keep to hand down
to their kids and thier grandkids. He said, "I just leaned over and
said 'Keep the crib.... keep the wagon... keep whatever you want to
give to them.'"

My friend is on the board at the church we used to attend, which just
adds to his crazy, busy life, but he said, "it was just divine
intervention that you put that disc on my desk this week....I was
having 'one of those days' yesterday and that song was just what I
needed to hear. I realized 'what is work, what is all this business
compared to what's really important to me?"

He's now planning on trying to record his mother as soon as he can,
to get her to talk about her life, and to leave a message for his
grandkids down the road. (His own children are just in high school
now.) She's having a hard time speaking, but he really wants for her
to leave that behind if she can.

Needless to say, the story touched my heart this morning.

I figured it had to be shared with the writers of the song, and to
other writers here too. Brock, Donna, Ande - I've always thought this
was a great song... just thought you'd like to know how it touched
the life of a friend. And Brock, if you wondered about putting enough
of yourself into the demo... well, there you go.

Paul

You can find the whole thread about "Pieces of Her Past" on
http://www.justplainfolks.org/ubb/Forum4/HTML/001399.html

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Collect Quotes

Recently I dropped by
http://www.pattygriffin.com/
on the bottom right hand side I found
See what other artists are saying about Patty and 1000 Kisses
Then on
http://www.pattygriffin.com/quotes.html
I found

"I would go anywhere, anytime to hear Patty Griffin sing her
extraordinary songs"
Emmylou Harris

"Patty Griffin is a true gift to music. She is an astonishing,
breathtaking artist. She is what music should be."
-- Julie Miller

"I suspect Patty Griffin's songs make most people a little
uncomfortable
-- like they've just walked in on a private moment in someone else's
life and they know they should turn around and tip-toe away, but they
can't. They make me jealous."
-- Steve Earle

"I can't think of a more beautiful singer and better songwriter alive
today."
-- Dave Matthews
"This is an incredible album. Patty Griffin can do no wrong."
-- Kasey Chambers

"I remember listening to Patty sing her song 'Mary' during a stunning
solo performance one night. It made me cry and that's always the
truest test for me. Her voice alone is enough to rave about and then
there are the songs! It blows my mind that Patty's not already
famous."
-- Lucinda Williams.

"I told Patty she was a genius. She said i was wrong...so...she's
brilliant, okay?
-- Bruce Cockburn

"This is Patty Griffin's gift; with her voice and her songs, she
sheds light on the shadow places, tells the stories of the quietest
among us, and breaks every heart in the room with her knowledge of
love and its fallout. '1000 Kisses' is a masterpiece of songwriting
and singing, confirming that Patty Griffin is one of the most
eloquent and gifted artists in contemporary music today."
-- Mary Chapin Carpenter

IFS READERS, If some says or writes something nice about you, your
songwriting, or one of your songs save it and start a "What they Say"
page on your website.

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the 2004 Austin City Limits Festival just concluded
www.ACLFest.com
It's a 3 day music festival where over 130 bands performed
between 70,000 - 75,000 fans attended each day

here's Band / Songwriter Submission Information

Submissions are being accepted for the
2005 Austin City Limits Festival.

If you or your band would like to be considered,

Submit a package to:

Charles Attal Management
c/o 2005 ACL Fest
801 Red River
Austin, Texas 78701

good luck

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in the Lifestyle section of the Tuesday September 21, 2004 Austin
American Statesman "L.M. Boyd Revisited" shared:

"You can boost sales of a product a lot faster by increasing it's
advertising budget than by improving the product itself. Statistics
proved that a long time ago. On Soap, cosmetics, politicians,
whatever."

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Are you going to the 5th Annual Southwest Regional Folk Alliance
Conference at The Lakeway Inn and Resort on Lake Travis near
Austin, It's September 30 - Oct 3?
http://www.musicoffice.com/swfolk/

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Don't Bother

Recently I was wandering through Hastings bookstore in San Marcos and
stumbled upon a copy of Simon Cowell's "I Don't Mean to be Rude But"
for $3.99 in the bargain bin.

So I bought it
Towards the end he has a section called something like,
Simon Cowell's Advice for Aspiring Pop Stars

I enjoyed it and felt like his advice was dead on.
here's a few points he made

He begins with

"Don't Bother"

the odds of becoming a pop star are astronomically awful.

but if you think you have talent and drive here's some things to do

1) have talent

2) have drive

3) begin somewhere
many solo artists began as part of a group.
George Michael / Wham
Michael Jackson / Jackson Five
Justin Timberlake / Nsync

some pop stars began as actors.
janet jackson
Rick Springfield

Solo artists are very rarely signed off the bat.

4) record companies are going to invest millions in an artist. A&R
employees like their jobs and want to keep them, they need to feel
like they are making a conservative investment in a sure thing.

5) find amazing songs, songwriters and producers,

6) get representation

I'm sure there's more

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Did I ever mention
http://www.geocities.com/songshark/

"Song sharks thrive on ignorance. We're here educate you to
effectively make your own decisions. Song sharks make it harder for
legitimate people in the music business to operate and we'd like to
put them out of business. Day after day, musicians are being taken
advantage of by those who stroke egos and drain their bank accounts.
Not every music business person is a ripoff and we understand that
musicians often have to pay for needed services, but be aware of
those who sell something that seems too good to be true. The best
thing a musician can do is get educated on how the music business
works. Network with other musicians and learn from them. Learn how to
sift through the hype and you'll be in good shape!"

KNOWN SCAMS - General scams you should be aware of.
Contests, Studios, In the Biz?, Compilations, and Song Poems

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are you going to the Austin Songwriters Group
2004 Fall Music Symposium in
Austin, Texas on
October 8, 9, and 10

to see the Schedule drop by:
https://www.safe-ordering-solutions.com/nexus/ASG/registration.html

to read about it's instructors drop by
http://www.austinsongwritersgroup.com/symposium.html

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Final Thought

Take advantage of the advantages you have.

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Write on!
Ande Rasmussen
Editor and Publisher of I F S, Inspirations For Songwriters

Contact info is:

Ande Rasmussen
835 Martindale Falls
Martindale, TX 78655
AndeRasmussen@...

You can read my Bio at:
http://www.AndeRasmussen.com/

You can hear a few of my tunes at:
http://songramp.com/ande
http://www.soundclick.com/anders

If you want receive IFS or change your email address with IFS
send an email to
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FORWARD IFS to your songwriting friends!

IFS home page is
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DIFS

I F S stands for Inspirations for Songwriters,
I F S is an ezine for songwriters filled with
inspirational and practical information about
the art, craft, and business of songwriting.
We want to help YOU become a more successful songwriter.

COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
The entire text of
"Inspirations for Songwriters"
(c) 2004 Anders Rasmussen

Does anyone ever read IFS to the very end?