Sunday Morning Comin’ Down

                                                                               By Scott Coner

                                          Nashville Recording Artist, Songwriter, Performer, and Author

     It’s a Sunday morning. It’s quiet around here, and I wanted to take a few minutes to write this week’s blog before everything takes off at full speed. We all suffer from this fast flying world, don’t we? It’s hard to know when and where to demand a slower gate. Anyway, Miles Davis is playing me a cut from 1959, and I feel pretty peaceful. I think we give too many other people and things credit for disrupting our lives. Isn’t it up to us what we allow in? Isn’t it up to us to build our own hedge and only allow what we deem necessary to deal with?

     I ask myself sometimes how in the world I even landed here. I was lying in bed this morning holding my wife next to me. The sun was up, the birds were chirping, and I took the time to count my blessings. I thought how wrong it is that we take so much for granted. We buy new cars that we love, but the new wears off, and it becomes just another vehicle. We build the house of our dreams, and we forget to sit in that special spot and take in the beauty of the structure. We marry that person we have wanted for a lifetime then just walk by them without acknowledging how we feel every time we get a chance. And life just passes us by. Before long, it’s too late. The show is over. The sun has gone.

     

     I don’t tell others how to live. It’s none of my business and Lord knows I am no authority. But let me share this part of me with you. When I was about 40 years old, I was given a new lease on life. I changed. I found peace like I have never had and I have held on to those feelings. I consider every day and every minute it holds. I tell my kids I love them every single day. I tell my wife how beautiful she is many times a day and how much I love her. I give my dogs and horses time every single day. I call my parents almost every day. And I even attempt to be nice to the guy in the gas station buying lottery tickets and cigarettes standing in front of me wasting both of our time. The thing is, there is more good than bad. We just have to groom it and nurture it, if we want it to stick around I think.

     This last year has been a good one for me. My music has done well, but there has been a disappointment. I have had someone representing me that didn’t do what she promised. Honestly, I’m not sure how we are going to handle it. It’s awful when people you believe in let you down and then step as far away as possible. But it will be dealt with one way or another. The thing is, it’s out of my hands. I have done my level best. Now it will be up to someone else as to when and where I take another step in this business. I feel confident that the proper course will show itself, but for now, I won’t be playing on the road anytime soon. It hurts pretty deeply. But, there are some good things too! I get to spend more time with my wife, my kids, my animals, my gym, and the ones I care most about. How can this be all bad? I plan on writing and recording more music. I want to go ahead and release a book I have finished. And I want to enjoy every minute of every day.

     We all get hurt sometimes. We step back from the flame feeling the hurt from the burn. But sometimes, there might be a reason for the infliction. Maybe we needed to learn something. Maybe, God Himself was sparing us from something we know absolutely nothing about. Last week, an old friend from high school messaged me about my weekly blog. (Thank you, Theresa Woodall) I told her I was taking a break. I was too embarrassed and hurt to tell her that I was reeling from the fact that the bookings I had expected were not coming. But there it is. I took a hit. We all do every now and again. I am trying to figure it all out. If we allow it, the pain will make us stronger. It makes us wiser. It makes us better.

     I love going to the gym. I love chest and arm days the most. I enjoy the burn. I like taking myself to failure. I love the extremely loud rock music in my headphones. What am I doing? I’m tearing small parts of my own muscle apart. I eat well. I rest. And like magic, my body repairs and replenishes itself. In the meantime, I’m getting stronger as I tear myself down. That’s what it comes down to. We find a way to repair ourselves as we take the hits life likes to throw every now and then. Just go outside today and listen to the birds and the breeze if it’s all going south on you. Don’t give in to despair. Turn up some real rock music and tell the problem where to get off.  

     Yes, I am aware this blog went all over the place. Since this will not be graded, I think it’s cool. The blog is like my mind today, going all directions. But it’s okay! I feel like the old snapshot of Johnny Cash as he flipped of the record industry. Sometimes you just get to laugh a little bit as you throw your arm around the prettiest woman on the planet and say screw it anyway! .... I already won! 

P.S.

If you are reading this blog, do me a favor and share some of my music/videos. I truly appreciate it!

Take care,

Scott

                            

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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.     

Chiseled In Stone or Maybe Just Written In Crayon

  By Scott Coner

                                                                            Nashville Recording Artist, Songwriter, Performer, and Author  

    We all leave a legacy. So, I would imagine it is better to plan the one that we’d like to deliver rather than just leave a few faded memories. The choices we make right now inside of these very moments may be the ones that end up mattering the most. Where do you stand with the ones that matter most in your life? Do you still have time to talk to your parents? Have you let your friends know that they matter to you? Have you tried to do what has always lived deep inside of you? These are just a few of the things that come to mind when I consider what a legacy means to me.

     One of the things I love about my life is the people I get to meet. My wife and I have talked for hours upon hours with Carol Chase about her life. She was just a young girl when she arrived in Nashville with her own dreams. She had left a little town in North Dakota to build her legacy. Because of her inner strength, she has written music for legendary artists. She has worked with George Jones and Ronnie Millsap and many others. For the last 27 years, she has traveled the world with Lynyrd Skynyrd. Lately, she and I have been writing and recording together. All told, I’d say she has built a legacy successfully.

     Very recently, I have had a few phone conversations with Beverly Gosdin Knight. She is the widow of Vern Gosdin. She has told me about some of the hard times she and Vern endured during the early stages of their life together. She was right there with him as he gave the world some of the most powerful country music ever recorded. Through her eyes, we will soon be able to see the world she and Vern shared together. She has just finished her life story, and I believe it is going to be something truly worth reading when it hits the stores very soon. She is a strong woman that has built her legacy.

     I have a friend named Kenny in Nashville that owns and operates a successful studio. Lately, he and I have been working together on some of my music, and I have found him to be the kind of guy I need to listen to. He has worked on the west coast but was drawn to Nashville years back. The thing about Kenny is he digs into a song like no other. Several times over he has forced me to re-consider my delivery of a song with pretty special end results. My wife has had the good fortune of seeing me freak out as I have tried to re-learn a song that I wrote in order to put proper emphasis on certain words. Kenny has given me some of the best players on the planet to work with. (I’m talking over 100 million in sales type of players) He is strong enough to challenge me without blinking when I need to do better, and I respect that. But what I respect most is the fact that he has built his legacy squarely on what he has a special gift for. He has made a difference in a huge industry.

     In the coming weeks, I am going to begin writing more about these people as well as others. I want you to be given an insight on some of the things I see with my eyes. I have written weekly blogs for well over a year now, but most of them have been about me, or my opinions. I’d like to share some of my friends with you. I want us all to better understand just how important each of our lives truly can be. God gave us these heartbeats. He sent His Son down here to die for our salvation. I’d say the least we can do is live this time that we have to the best of our ability. We don’t know what’s around the corner.

     Again, each of us has something to share, something to leave behind. Soon, we are going to put a link up on my web site. It will be a place for you to share bits and pieces of your legacy and your life with others. I will do my best to bring good examples from my world. I would love it if you did the same. If we connect the dots, it’s pretty easy to see that we are all connected in this life.  

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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.         

The Chicken and the Ant

  By Scott Coner

                                                                            Nashville Recording Artist, Songwriter, Performer, and Author  

     Life lessons have a way of staying with us. Sometimes we forget about them, and they lay in wait until they need to be applied. Some of my own lessons come to mind. How about the time I asked a lady when “she was due” when she wasn’t due at all? Or what about the time I played on the men’s baseball team at church when I had never played a game in my life. The truth was, I didn’t know where to throw the ball, where to stand, or what to say to cover my embarrassment. Lesson learned I guess, but it would have been good to know that quite a few people show up to watch the game.

     When I was a little kid, my mom used to dress me in these weird outfits she called, “sun suits.” Best that I can remember, they weren’t anything more than shorts with a built in suspender type deal. The reason I say this, is to describe the time I was at the corner of my grandparent's yard in Florida playing with my match-box cars. Things seemed pretty innocent with no problems on the horizon. Just a kid in his sun-suit imagining he was driving a miniature Mustang. I noticed a small ant climbing along my thigh before the gates of hell opened up. I smacked at the ant, and that must have been a distress signal for all of the ants in Florida to bite my little boy parts in unison. There were several life lessons to be learned that day. First of all, those strange little sun suits are very hard to get off your body when your strapped in like a paratrooper. Secondly, when your parts are on fire, you need to have command of the English language so you can instruct your mom of the issue. And I would imagine another important lesson is to not find out you have turrets syndrome in front of your mom and both of her parents. They probably forget how cute you are. Yeah, that day was chalked full of little lessons.

     There was another time right around the same season of my life when I was savagely attacked by a rooster. My grandma had warned me not to be throwing rocks at the chickens, but I have never been a great listener. So, while the grown-ups are all inside having coffee, I found myself all alone throwing rocks at chickens because that’s the kind of kid I was. I was a terrible human being. Anyway, as I’m standing in the barn lot throwing rocks at the poultry, I look to my left as a very angry rooster is viscously flapping up my fat little leg. I was terrified. I tried to run, but the rooster was faster. I fell several times as I cried and screamed for my terrible young life. Was there a lesson learned? Not really a “life lesson,” but I wouldn’t throw rocks at chickens unless you’re wearing a full set of Car-Harts and running shoes. This might apply to glass houses too, if you happen to live in an aquarium.

     As we get older, I think it’s a natural thing to laugh at our little mistakes. We have hopefully evolved to some degree, but there is always room for improvement. I have learned not to play with ant- hills. I don’t throw myself into baseball games like I’m the great Bambino. And I avoid all eye contact with full-size ladies for fear of blurting out something insanely stupid. The thing is, I am still prone to doing and saying things I regret. If I have learned anything, I would truly hope I am finally smart enough not to say something that would hurt someone’s feelings. After all, it’s absolutely fine for me to share my own mistakes and make fun of myself. On the other hand, it’s never ok for me to hurt someone else’s feelings either by accident or on purpose. As I’ve gotten older, I have realized just how important every single person is in my world. Everyone I know truly has a reason for being there. It’s almost like every person is a puzzle piece. Many people have taught me some pretty applicable lessons in spite of myself. The most important one? I’m not sure, but maybe we shouldn’t take things so seriously.  

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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.         

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?         

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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.