There’s a bit of self-protection that comes with co-writing. When there’s a list of writers on a song, you don’t feel the same weight of responsibility for the quality of the finished product that you have when it’s one you wrote all by your lonesome.
Got a note from a songwriter I admire who had listened to a bunch of co-writes I’ve done over the past couple of years. He had heard some of my originals from years back, but hadn’t heard anything since the pandemic. I appreciate his encouragement and honesty.
In fairness, he had some super positive things to say about two of the co-writes. He said “Til I’m Out of Stars” written with Saylor Brasseaux and Megan Kelley really got to him. And he said that “Big Bass Problem” (written with Robert Abernathy) should be on the radio, PERIOD! But what really impacted me was the rest.
“These all sound great! I would encourage you to write on your own when possible so that you only listen to your voice – your idea. I write so little these days because I enjoy spending more time with the few ideas that really strike me. You are a fine writer – dig deeper. If I didn’t mean it, I’d have stopped with “these all sound great.”
The idea of digging deeper, and listening to my own voice sounds daunting to me. But I’m ready.