By Scott Coner
Nashville Recording Artist, Songwriter, Performer, and Author
Writing
songs is like trying to find a four- leaf clover in a hay field. If you search
all afternoon, you probably won’t come across one. But if you don’t look too
hard, it will find you. Looking back over the many songs as well as attempts at
songs I have written, that seems to apply. I have got up early in the morning
with nothing on my mind but writing. I put my most comfortable jeans and shirt
on. I have a nice hot cup of coffee. And I sit somewhere looking blankly at a
piece of paper with a guitar in my lap with nothing coming to me. On the other
hand, I can get busy with life and ideas just come naturally.
Still shot of Scott Coner and Carol Chase during their "Whiter Shade of Pale" cover duet
Carol
Chase and I write together quite a bit when she isn’t on the road with Skynyrd.
She may show up with a piece of a song she has written on the road. Or, I may
show up with some music and an idea. We have even been “Skyping” to firm up
material as we get close to a recording date. She has been writing professionally
longer than I have. She has had songs recorded by Ronnie Millsap, Pam Tillis as
well as others. She has recorded a song that was used on “Every Which Way But
Loose.” And she has done back up vocals not only with Lynyrd Skynyrd, but
George Jones, Pam Tillis, and many more legends. She understands the concept of
writing a song. She has introduced me to the idea of shutting the world off,
sitting in a room with many ideas at the same time and writing. She and I have
actually spent whole days together and written as many as three songs in a
single afternoon. At the end of it all, I can only describe the feeling as
“purged” or “cleansed”. I’m not sure which.
As
far as I am concerned, music has been like a therapy to me. Without realizing
what I was doing, I have gone deep into my own mind and stepped out with
messages I didn’t even know where there. I think it is the process of turning
off part of your mind while turning another part on that actually takes place.
It all began while I was just a kid. I think I wrote songs because I didn’t
play other artists songs very well. It was early on in my playing career that
my limitations were what propelled me to be imaginative with what few chords
that were at my disposal.
Scott Coner and Carol Chase during a writing session
Lately,
I have been working on a book called, “In Case I’m Not Around.” In the last
chapter, I list all of the songs I have written so far and included the process
or idea behind each song. I have done this more for my daughters than for
anyone else. I just wanted them to understand why I chose to write certain
things I guess. As I have worked out the list and went over so many songs, I
can see the parts of me that showed themselves when I wasn’t looking. Words or
phrases that have been used in my family for years have shown up in songs. As I
have allowed my mind to tether out in the abyss, I found that I wasn’t really
out there too far, to begin with. I am simply a product of my family. My little
town, my friends, past relationships, loss and happiness all show up in the
music. I have always wanted to keep my music as down to earth as possible. I
don’t use a computer to find a word that rhymes or works well with another. If
I don’t have the word or phrase right away, I simply wait for it to come. If
someone happened to come across me while I was writing, they would probably
think I had lost my mind. I will sit and play the same lines over and over
until the right part comes. I may fill a void with a “dummy” line until the
proper one shows itself. Like I say, I have been in the clover fields before
and came up with nothing at the end of the search. But the search is part of
the blessing itself. If you have ever been on a beach early in the morning
looking at the sand for shells, you must know what I’m talking about. That time
spent along the water's edge listening to the tide, feeling the warm sun and
wind is never wasted time.
At the end of the search, you may come up empty
handed, but even then, you know you had a memorable moment that was worth the
walk.
Keep in touch!
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.
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