Introduction

So I've been talking songwriting and music appreciation with some on-line songwriting and appreciating friends. I've been having these discussions mainly on the forums at the 50 Songs in 90 Days and on the Bottle Rockets Message Board and I have a few ideas that might be interesting to them and hopefully others like you. I figured I'd better introduce myself and maybe let you in on what you can expect.

My name is T.C. Elliott and I've been writing songs for years as a hobby. I'm a fan of the guitar and blues and classic rock and some traditional music and all sorts of music in all sorts of genres. My favorite bands are The Holy Modal Rounders and The Bottle Rockets and Jimi Hendrix and Neil Young and the list goes on.

In 2008 I discovered the Timed Songwriting Challenge (TiSC) called FAWM. February Album Writing Month, in which you challenge yourself to write 14 songs in 28 days. I succeeded in doing this but most of the songs weren't very good. One of the first songs I wrote was called "It's Hard To Write A Song on Monday" and I couldn't (and still haven't) figured out the chords so I just sang it with some hand claps. (If I figure out how, I'll post a snippet of it here.) And really, it is. I mean Monday is just a bad day to write songs. The worst of all the days in my opinion. So instead of writing and recording music I'll spend Mondays blogging instead.

Since that time I've learned to record a bit better with some decent results. And my songwriting is entirely more consistent than before. I had some gems, but now I have a good chance of getting something productive from most any songwriting session. I've also collaborated with several songwriters, mostly on-line, with some really cool results. At one time that was nearly impossible for me to contemplate much less accomplish.

And on this journey of learning to write songs and record music and listen to other songwriters of all levels I've discovered that music really does get the blood moving. It can bring a bear of a man to tears and it can bring a wisp of a girl to roar. It can bring joy and cause pain. Music has in it all the thoughts and dreams of the human race and the ability to communicate it in new and inspiring ways. It has in it the ability to make each of us wince. Music is so powerful that it's hard to describe it in a few short sentences. I hope I can share my glimpse into the power and the joy I feel for and with and about music. I hope you can feel it as well.