Scott Coner Music

Scott Coner is a country singer-songwriter who has worked in the studio with legendary artists such as Tanya Tucker, T. Graham Brown and Charlie Daniels. You can learn more about him and hear his music at his music page.

Saturday, November 5, 2016

Cutting the Heart out of the Song

By Scott Coner

Nashville Recording Artist, Songwriter, Performer, and Author

I’m about to do something I have not wanted to do. I’m about to shorten some of my songs in order to be in compliance with today’s market. Even though I believe that the industry itself treats music fans like they have the attention span of a mosquito, I don’t see any other path for me if I’m going to pursue the market at all. This morning I had a conversation with a producer friend of mine. He had a song I had written and recorded with Tanya Tucker a while back loaded on pro-tools. I had given him the track to see how difficult it would be to cut out an entire verse. I hate to do it, but if the song is going to get any play in America, it has to be trimmed down quite a bit. Even with the cut backs, more than likely, it won’t get a lot of play -time. But there is always the chance that a handful of the classic country radio stations around middle- America might like a new song featuring a legendary artist.

I grew up on vinyl albums. Back then most kids didn’t have a lot of money. So when he or she bought an entire album, it was listened to all the way through. Songs weren’t shortened for the album and often times they would play for well over five minutes. I actually enjoyed finding songs on an album that I liked and having them play out for a while. Early on, I was a Marshall Tucker fan and Lord knows that band wasn’t scared to make you listen for a while to a song. I guess I mistakenly assumed that if a song played nicely, an extra minute or so wasn’t too much of a problem. This is where I was altogether wrong during this moment in time anyway. Sometimes conditions change without us being fully aware. One of the things that I don’t do a lot of is listen to today’s music on purpose. I truly believe that writers, as well as artists, should have their own sound, and I don’t want to accidentally pick up someone else’s approach to a set of chords or an idea.

I stand strong in the idea that music is art. I don’t believe that art should be copied. When I sit down to write alone or with co-writers, I approach the piece as if it might be the very last song I’m ever able to be a part of. I want the song to say something. I selfishly want the song to share some secret about me that I have never told anyone. Wither it’s a thought or an opinion; it doesn’t matter. I just try to sneak my DNA in there somewhere. My hope is that each song makes some kind of statement. As far as I’m concerned, if we are going to ask the casual listener to give us three minutes of their time, it should be three minutes well spent.

Recently, I wrote a song with two very successful writers. After the song was complete, I looked at the lyrics sitting there in front of me on a piece of paper. It opened with a chorus followed with four lines in a verse. The verse was followed with another chorus, two verse lines, a chorus and a half and the song was done! I like the song. I think it’s uplifting and I’m proud to have been part of it. It’s just so odd to me that this is where music is trending these days. I don’t think the market is dumbing down its listeners. Instead, I think maybe radio representatives are trying to crunch as many songs as possible into small portions of allocated time due to advertisements. I truly don’t know for sure.

So, getting back to the Tanya Tucker song. I will gut the song like a fish and try not to complain too much. We will enhance it a few different ways by changing the bass lines and thickening the drums. But in the end, we will remove an important part of my song. We will re-release it and see what happens. But as we make the song available to the buyer, I will always want the full -length version ready for the taking just in case anyone still cares. To me, it’s like sharing half of a picture. You know the ones. The photos with the odd scissor cut up one side of the photograph and someone from another time or relationship is missing?

Keep in touch!

Friday, October 21, 2016

Shades of Blue and Gray

By Scott Coner

Nashville Recording Artist, Songwriter, Performer, and Author

To me, the beauty of art is what it represents. I don’t know very much about painting, or photos, or anything like that. I know what I like when I see it. I know I have never wished I had some paintings of soup cans on my wall. To be honest, I probably like the photos of my family on the walls around my house than anything else. Like they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If you like something, isn’t that what matters most?

I don’t paint pictures. I do take photos with my phone sometimes, but for my own enjoyment. I write songs. I hear melodies. I hear phrases. I search my little piece of the planet for songs. I consider myself a serious songwriter because I truly do apply myself to the craft. I don’t align myself with too many of the publishers that look around for yet another song that “feels” and “sounds” like the last song they had on the radio. I just trudge along doing what I do. No matter what anybody says, I will not chase a train that has already passed me. I think if you consider yourself any type of artist at all, then you have to be yourself. For instance, just because Van Gogh used blues and grays doesn’t mean another guy with a brush can bring out the same beauty using the same colors. And just because some other song talks about how “country” it is to drink whiskey and listen to a train, doesn’t mean I am drawn to that theme.

I had a conversation recently with a man from Nashville that is involved in my music to some extent. He truly believes that in order to be viable in today’s market that you need to listen to and study the other writers of current radio releases. I think there is some merit to that approach. I do believe if you copy other music, you might actually achieve something. If you listen to twenty minutes of today’s country music, you might walk away believing this approach is pretty popular. But, that’s not how I want to work.

I instead believe that any genre of music needs to come from somewhere close to the heart. I think it needs to feel good when you play it all alone with just an acoustic guitar or piano. I think it should take you somewhere in your mind. I like the “no-rules” approach to writing. I don’t have a pre-conceived idea of where I want to go with a song. I follow it. It doesn’t follow me. The music getting radio play is something I don’t spend a lot of time following either. I compare trying to figure it all out to understanding the highs and lows in the Wall Street market. I think if you stay true to your own sound, you might make some headway, but I’m not certain of this. When it’s all said and done, it only makes sense to do things your own way.

I approach music the same way I try to approach life. I don’t compare myself to others. I am comfortable with who I am. I write from my point of view. I live by my rules, not someone else’s. And I strongly believe this is the direction I must take in order to be whole. Have you ever made the mistake of looking at someone else’s set-up and wished it could be yours? I have, but thankfully I came to my senses pretty quickly. I have had some success with my music, but not enough to fulfill me. I have had visions of where I want to go, and I will follow those visions all the way to the end. Like they say, the destination isn’t the fun part. It’s the journey. I have weak moments. I have times when I wish I hadn’t picked up that first guitar. But, I am what I am. We are who we are.

Keep in touch!

My relationship with music seems to revitalize itself pretty often. As I have said before, music has brought me nearly everything worth having that is in my life. I have gone deep into my personal world and shared my feelings with strangers through a song. My closest friends are all part of the music world. Music allows me to see the world through a slightly different lens than how I might have originally viewed it. It gives me so much it’s very hard to put into words. Somehow, it gently just became what I am. I think it is comparable to a farmer that gives his heart and soul to the earth. He works with. He knows it. After a while, he doesn’t seem comfortable anywhere except in his own God-given world.

Sunday, October 9, 2016

Finding What Matters

By Scott Coner

Nashville Recording Artist, Songwriter, Performer, and Author

I had a long talk with an old friend today. We talked about family and friends. We talked about how quickly time goes. But we eventually always talk about music. We discussed the beauty of the feelings that visit us when we write a song. We talked about the differentiation of music and the business of music. I don’t suppose we discussed anything that hasn’t been discussed a million times before. What struck me, though, wasn’t what took place on the phone. What got to me were thoughts I had as I drove down the road alone considering the topic itself.

Recently, I have pushed myself to limits I hadn’t needed to go to before. I have prepared a show that will be around for quite a while if all goes well. I would compare it to a very small off-Broadway play. During the show, I will discuss why certain songs mean so much to me. I will also discuss the ways and reasons I have written many of my own songs. Along with this, we will be incorporating quite a bit of media behind me on the stage. I will include some portions of video from my own songs. I think we will be including photos and video of my family. I also hope to include quite a few unique videos from around the countryside from where I’m from. The people that I work with in Nashville have taught me the importance of refining everything that goes with the show. They have helped me understand that I need to keep the things the same at all times. Sometimes life just happens, and we might find ourselves a bit off balance or disheartened. Specific structure will help me maintain the quality of the show. In truth, this probably keeps me from getting in front of people and rambling on unnecessarily. I know I have done this in the past, so believe me, structure and rules need to apply.

Anyway, after talking with my friend about music, I began to think how truly blessed I am to be able to do what I love so much. I truly hope that whoever is reading this has a personal perspective of being whole and full of what matters. The world seems like a pretty crazy place to me these days. But it all melts away when I turn it off and visit the place that music takes me. Life is hard. I know that we can’t hide from the fact. But, I truly believe that if we could all find our true purpose, most of the world’s craziness would just go away. True peace really does come from within.

I might sound like I need to be handing flowers out an airport, but our busy surroundings

don’t allow for nearly enough time to enjoy what feeds our soul.

Keep in touch!