Today I had a phone interview with Mr. Greg Hawks about songwriting. Mr. Greg Hawks is a music teacher and provides kids with lessons on how to play instruments as well as helped kids write songs. He plays a total of 5 instruments: Drums, bass, guitar, banjo, and mandolin, guitar being the main instrument he plays. He taught himself to play all these instruments in the 80s and 90s, when he discovered he wanted to be a professional musician. He has since had lots of bands and played lots of different styles of music. Now, He loves to play country music, especially classic country and bluegrass. I asked him lots of questions about his songwriting career. He started songwriting in the 90s when originality was a really big thing in music. He has since never stopped. He doesn’t write often, but when he does he writes for long periods a time. So he might write 4 times a year but each time lasts from around a couple weeks to 3 months he says. I asked him his process with songwriting and he says he is usually influenced by mainly, a feeling he’ll get when listening to other music. He’ll also draw inspiration from his own life or social and political issues. He will usually start with the lyrics and only the lyrics. Only on rare occasions does he start with music. He says it takes him a couple days to a week to even write something remotely good.
When I asked him advice on songwriting, he had lots to say, but first he asked me a couple questions. He asked me if this is what I plan to do with my future and I said yes and he asked me when I initially started songwriting and I said 12/13 and he asked me who was my inspiration and I said Taylor Swift. He asked me if I wanted to be a country artist and I said yes and he also asked me how many songs I’ve written and I said around 100. After his questions he said that I should definitely keep doing everything I am doing, and write every day even if it’s not the best writing or I’m not “feeling it” bc practice makes you better. I also told him about what I have done in Nashville (recorded, written songs) and he said to definitely make and solidify connections in Nashville bc it’s a city built on connections. He said to keep trying and keep going and for college, he said to definitely check out Belmont and apply for the songwriting program. He also said that if I don’t get into the program to still go to Belmont bc it’s in the city and it’s still possible to be a songwriter even if I am not in the program. I also told him that I do perform places around the area and he said to keep doing that to get your name out there and build up a fan base here. Overall, he gave me lots and lots of good advice and it was cool to hear from a songwriter and get advice from an experience songwriter. I think this was a great way to start off the work experience program for me, and I hope that I continue to enjoy it.