Yeah, I joined TAXI. So what? You can't tell me what to do, you're not my MOTHER!!!!

Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 21:19:30 GMT
Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.songwriting
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Yeah, I went ahead and did it. I joined TAXI. A subject that always gets
everybody's underwear in a knot. :)
Well, here's why I did it. When I first started reading this newsgroup, my
sole purpose in writing songs was always to have fun--it was a hobby. As
the years went by, I started thinking--can I turn it into something more
than a hobby? If so, what is the best way to approach this? I certainly
wasn't going to quit my job and pursue this full time. Plus, I've got a
real lazy streak. I'm not going to hit the concrete or pick up the phone.
I just don't feel comfortable doing that kind of stuff and probably never
will.
So joining an organization like TAXI seemed like a realistic approach given
my situation. As for the costs--well, that really isn't a big issue to me.
I spend way more on soda and donuts a year than I would on TAXI. (I know,
that's sad!)
I've set a goal of about 10 to 12 submissions a year. It might be less.
Who knows, it depends on a lot of things. Also, the song listings I am
targeting is country, even though I'm not really a country fan. So why
country? First, the music I write tends to be roots oriented Americana
stuff (I've always been a Tom Petty fan). As I've gotten older I've been
gravitating to stuff like Steve Earle, Kathleen Edwards, Lucinda Williams,
etc. So I don't think it is a stretch for me to tweak my writing to
"contemporary country" although I don't know what the hell that means. I am
now listening to the local county music station to try to get a grasp on
what today's country music is.
Second, it has the most listings. I figure that's where my best shot is.
Okay, enough of the boring background. There's been so much speculation
about TAXI, and from time to time someone posts the results of one of their
TAXI submissions, which is always interesting because it gives a glimpse of
what to expect when you join TAXI. But it doesn't happen often. Until now!
Yep, I'm going to post every single one of my feedback sheets so you can
follow along my TAXI adventure. Hopefully this will give YOU concrete
reasons to join, or not join, and satisfy all your questions about TAXI.
Actually, I'll probably create a web page for this--a TAXI diary, I guess.
And lookee here, I already got my first feedback--just came in the mail
today.
Here's the listing I submitted to:
***
Sr. Director of A&R at Major Nashville label looking for "very edgy"
Contemporary Country Songs for a new male artist. Stylistically, imagine if
Diamond Rio was a solo act . All tempos. They want very substantive lyrics
with some sentimentality.
***
First of all, I wasn't sure what they meant by "very edgy contemporary
country." I guess that was a problem. Maybe I should have emailed TAXI for
clarification. Now, in the short time I've been listening to my local
country music station, I've heard two Diamond Rio songs. I also went to
Amazon to hear snippets. I don't know, are they "edgy?" Doesn't seem so
to me, but anyway....
I had this song that I recently wrote that felt like country to me. In
fact, it felt like "edgy contemporary country" to me. It was a song I
actually had posted a link to here--it was called "If Someone Did." I
reworked it some, made some edits, redid the vocals as best I could--I
actually sang it with fake, crappy "country" vocals at first, but then I
thought--that sounds too stupid. My voice is what it is, so I just sang it
normally. So I burned the CD, made my "burrito", and sent it off.
Here are the results:
Style: not close enough to what listing asked for (taxi comments: "more
rock that what's requested in attitude, story line, vocabulary, musicality)
* so right there I've got a problem. I still don't know what country is.
I'm still geared towards rock. I gotta work on this, really listen to a lot
more country music.
Melody: verses could be stronger, choruses could be stronger
Structure: Good sectional contrast
Lyric: Unique, too abstract, vocal does not help sell song (taxi comments:
personally I like raw vocal (a la Paul Westerberg) but for this market a
singer w/ more expertise in country phrasing may help)
* hmm... I'm a huge Westerberg fan. Am I subconsiously trying to imitate
him?
Title: Good title
Overall Comments:
Steven, song is more reminiscent of a Replacements rock tune than what this
listing means by edgy contemporary country. I'm thinking they still want
the lush melodies, the concrete story telling with the glimmer of hope
attached, and a challenging main vocal melody. Your song has a lot of
authenticity. Shows promise, but not yet for this particular listing. Keep
writing.
Overall rating:
Music: 6
Lyrics: 5
Marketability: 5
Arrangement: 5
Production: 6
Engineering: 6
Main reason song not forwarded for this listing: Song off target for
listing.
Okay, what were my feeling regarding this feedback? First, I pretended that
the person reviewing this was a young woman with big breasts--that took the
sting out of it. No, seriously, I wasn't hurt or upset at all. I didn't go
into this thing thinking all my songs would get cuts and I would make a
million dollars. I'm going into this thinking, what does it take to go from
doing this as a hobby to doing it professionally? What do I need to do?
What makes a song cuttable in today's country market?
You know, there's a bunch of things I don't agree with in the feedback, but
let's face it--I don't know anything. That doesn't mean I'll take
everything the TAXI people say as gospel, but I think it's safe to say they
know more than I do.
So overall I think this was helpful. In fact, the Overall Comments help
steer me in the proper direction. I just wish I didn't send the other one
off before I got this feedback..;)
It would probably be helpful if I posted the actual song and lyrics so you
can match it up with the TAXI feedback, and I thought long and hard about
this, but I'm not going to do that--simply because these are songs that I
will still be working on and trying to improve. Maybe in a couple of years
when I feel that it's beating a dead horse, I'll put them up, but not now...
Anyway, I hope you found this informative.
Steven
www.losertown.org