A Nashville-based singer/songwriter that has written approximately seven THOUSAND songs, he makes an exclusive announcement about his current group, Asteria Lux. CJ has performed at the famed Ryman Auditorium and the Bluebird Café, and was part of the first rock band ever to tour China. He also wrote a book on songwriting, has had TV and film placements, and his music has been featured in the Rockband video game.
“That’s how you become a good songwriter, is, you write a whole lot of bad songs and eventually you run out of all the bad ideas and get to the good ones.”
“Most of the people in the songwriting business co-write, they write with other people, because you get two opinions to get rid of the bad lines and twice as many ideas for good lines.”
“The most important thing, though, I can’t stress this enough, is sleep. If you don’t get sleep you lose your voice and then you get stressed over losing your voice and then you can’t sleep and it’s a vicious cycle. Staying hydrated is probably number two.”
“For the most part the road is great for inspiration and for getting ideas ‘cause you’re seeing new places or favorite old places, making new friends or seeing old friends, and all that activity in your brain stimulates the creative part. You’ll get a lot of song ideas.”
“If any part of their financial plan (for moving to Nashville) includes get a publishing deal or get famous and then pay your bills with that, that’s a mistake… You really have to have something in place that you can do to make money that doesn’t include music.”
“Have a lot of savings, have a job lined up, and have a plan that allows you not only to survive and pay your bills, but also to keep plenty of time to invest in your music career.”
“Sometimes you just write for fun. And that’s always part of the process, because if part of it isn’t just for fun, you’ll never get a great song.”
"Leave a Mark"
"I Never Thought"