Sound Possibilities

                                                                                By Scott Coner

                                             Nashville Recording Artist, Songwriter, Performer, and Author  

     I met Kenny about six months ago. Steve Dean, Carol Chase and I had just finished co-writing a song together, and we felt good enough about the piece to get it recorded. I had been working around Nashville in three different studios, but I had been looking for a place that put more emphasis on vocals. The next thing I knew I found myself in Kenny Royster’s studio and I immediately realized that this guy had a special talent that I needed to add to my music.

     Kenny is originally from Portland, Oregon. He also attended college in Oregon as well but soon afterward moved out to L.A. While he was out there, he began playing lead guitar and singing lead vocals in a pretty solid rock band that worked steady six days a week in California, Nevada, Idaho, and Oregon. It was during this season that he began to record his band with whatever equipment he could get his hands on. He eventually built a home studio and continually upgraded his gear as time and money allowed. He had a natural talent that allowed him to work with an established producer that had worked in the band, “Sugar Loaf” (Green Eyed Lady) earlier in the 70’s rock world. Kenny told me that he used himself as a guinea pig as he developed his approach to recording. It was also during this time that he won a songwriting contest in Sacramento and more people began to hear about him. His small home studio was flourishing, but the idea of moving to Nashville had started to make sense.

Kenny Royster

     Upon arriving in Nashville, Kenny met a drummer that was already hooked up with several capable studio players around town. Kenny set his studio up in a modest area and started working primarily in doing sessions for song demos. (A song demo is usually provided by the songwriter for an artist or a publisher to consider) Kenny told me that he began setting the studio up in blocks of time. He and his players would cut demos all day long and then he would begin doing a follow up on the vocals and the mixes that evening. They stayed busy because they were doing excellent work at very affordable prices.     

     Rene’ Grant Williams, the well -known vocal coach, began bringing her students to Kenny’s studio. This gave her students a great experience, and it gave Kenny a personal insight on better understanding the dynamics of helping singers working in the studio. The band “Lonestar” and Trace Adkins were just a few of the artists’ that showed up with Mrs. Williams. Upper tier songwriters began bringing their material to Kenny as well. Songwriters like, Buddy Jewell, Paul Overstreet, Dickey Lee, Craig Campbell, and Don Goodman started showing up with potential hit songs. The accumulative hours have flown by. I believe it is safe to say that Kenny Royster is a journeyman in his field of business. He has done great work for many artists including myself. I have seen first hand what he can accomplish, and it’s pretty fascinating to watch. Because of his attention to details, I have actually gone into his studio and re-recorded two of my songs. He understands the dynamics that I am pursuing. He listens to what I have to say and then he offers outstanding advice.

     At the time of this blog, Kenny is working away in his studio. He also currently has a number one song he co-wrote and recorded for a band called, “The Long and Short of It” in Australia. Three months prior he also had the #4 song in Australia with the same duo. He has been working in early development with an upcoming Sony artist named, Luke Combs. It is safe to say that Kenny will be around Nashville for a long time to come. I have worked with several different producers as well as engineers all around Nashville, and I can confidently say Kenny is light years ahead of them. Because he is a singer himself, he understands vocals and how to best record them. He has played guitar in a band. He has felt that special “live” sound we all chase while working in a studio. He has taken the art of recording music to a much higher level, and I am truly honored to call him a friend. He’s one those people behind the scenes that have developed music into something that takes your breath away. That is very cool.  

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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.         

The Time of Our Lives

 By Scott Coner

                                                                            Nashville Recording Artist, Songwriter, Performer, and Author  

     It’s a funny thing how we change as we get older. We begin to understand that life is shorter than we originally thought. When we are young, we wish we could be older. When I was little, I wanted to be old enough to play with the older kids. When I was ten, I wanted to be sixteen so I could drive. I remember sitting in school praying for the afternoon to pass so I could have my freedom back. These days, I wish the days could just be longer. I want more time with my wife, my daughters, and our home. The older I get, the faster time seems to go.

     When we first found out that Cyndi was pregnant, we could hardly wait for baby Emily Sae to be born. When our second little girl, Taylor was born, I remember being so excited for her to say her first words I could hardly wait. These days I’d give anything just to have both of those little girls in my arms again. Time isn’t just fleeting. In a way it’s kind of heartbreaking as well. The thing is, I had great times back then, but I didn’t have the capacity to truly appreciate what I had until some of the moments were long over. The problem with time is it moves along even when you aren’t ready to move along with it.

     When we are young, we don’t understand that our grandparents are just around for a while. We think we will have the same dog and cat forever. And our best friend will always be our closest pal. What we don’t know is that we will find ourselves visiting those very moments for the rest of our lives because those moments are all we have. I have a few of my grandpa’s flannel shirts and an old hat. I have three of the glasses I drank out of when I was a kid at my Grandma’s house. And every now and then, I wear “Old Spice” cologne just like my grandpa did. I know it’s a little strange, but these are the things that allow me to re-connect for just a minute. That’s the thing about age. You find yourself walking around with a mind full of memories and the need to let those closest to you how much you love them.

      I have given my whole heart to my family. They are simply everything to me. I have sat around watching our kids grow up with a guitar in my hands. Foolishly, I have always wanted to be out on the road playing my music. And because of my persistence, I guess this is about to become a realty soon. I never dreamed the heaviness the idea of leaving would actually bring to my heart. I have always worked very hard at whatever I have wanted. That’s one of the culprits that stole time from my family. I push and push until I get what I want. Now with the reality in front of me, I recently realized that this is going to be much, much harder than I thought. My world is right beside my wife, my home, my powerful memories that I constantly visit. I know now that the warmth and beauty of my wife, the laughter of my kids, and unconditional love of our animals is far more than I ever deserved. I only want to be with them. The rest of what the world offers is certainly appreciated. But, we are going to need to find a way to work it all out somehow.

     Believe me when I say that I am fully aware that my children are all but grown. It won’t be too much longer until they won’t need me as much. One is a junior in college and one is a junior in high school. I guess I just don’t want to miss anything as it comes anymore. I think the greatest lesson I have ever learned is the one that time taught me. That measure of heartbeats that we call a clock has shown me what if feels like to truly appreciate every single minute. For that, I am thankful because I know there are people all over the world that only have regret for the life they didn’t choose to live. For what it’s worth, I will live the years that I have left on this earth doing my best to be a better husband, a better dad, a better son, and a better friend to the few that I actually have. In the mean time, I guess time will just have to continue marching on. There’s not a thing in the world I can do to slow it down.

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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.         

Jackrabbits Straight Outta Compton

 By Scott Coner

Nashville Recording Artist, Songwriter, Performer, and Author

 

     Today was different than many days in my life. I went to bed last night knowing that as soon as the sun came up my entire day could be focused on music.  I have been in need of some quiet time to be simply alone and focus on getting the songs ready for this upcoming tour. I wanted to think about each song and how it could be placed into the set. I want to be certain that the songs don’t all stay in one specific chord or theme, or “feel”. I want each song to have a purpose for being there, and I don’t want any wasted movement. I have seen my share of shows through the years where I have been bombarded with a quick look back at most of the popular songs for the artist, “But tonight we want to share a boatload of new material you have never heard before.” I don’t want to do this, even though I will be playing in areas that aren’t familiar with my music. What I will do to make sure the listener has a good time is to include songs from his or her past. I want to push those pleasure buttons with songs that excite the soul a little bit and make you smile. 

     This concept sounds pretty easy. It did to me anyway. At least until I remembered I don’t have a full band on this trip and I might need a few pole dancing jack rabbits in order to keep everyone’s attention. The whole idea was going to work until I realized that although rabbits are insanely sexy creatures, they simply don’t have the proper grip to dance and spin around a pole. I also understand that they can be very rude and demanding and your not supposed to look directly at their ears, or it is considered a threat. And things go south from there because you never feel at ease around a rabbit that would just as soon kick you in the private areas as look at you. Who wants that right? I know I don’t.

     Sorry, I got off topic for a second. Anyway, I want the songs to be thematically aligned with the lights and the video above the stage. I want the people that are kind enough to show up to know that they are about to go somewhere cool without even leaving their seat. Now understand that I am in no way trying to say that I am the golden ticket to musical nirvana. But what I am trying to say instead, is that I have spent my life loving and thinking about music. I believe I have considered nearly everything. I don’t want pre-climactic parts bringing the observer up and down all night. Instead, I want that person, every single individual, to take a trip into their own past and feel emotions that they haven’t felt for a long time. Remember that time you talked to that certain person in the hallway at high school and you couldn’t do much but stand there and look goofy? I want you to feel that again for just a minute. Do you ever think about where you were the first time you heard “The Dance”? What about some Marshal Tucker? Tim McGraw? Hey, what about this new guy they call Scott Coner? He is such a nice guy. If you don’t believe me, just ask his mom…

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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.