If you’re a recording artist and you’ve wondered what moves someone to write a positive review of your song or if you’re a music lover who enjoys reading that type of content, I’m here in this edition of the weekly blog to pull back the curtain and give you a front row seat to this side of the equation.
Imagine, if you will, that little kid on Christmas Day who has a wide array of gifts to open in the morning. By the time they’re done, there are newly obtained toys and other items all around them on the floor. Yes, quite a mess with wrapping paper everywhere, but there is one clear cut winner in terms of the present that they’re going to go back to and not let go of for most of the day if not the next.
That’s the type of excitement, confidence, the “you just know,” that is felt when a song comes through that is hands down a Yes for writing a review about. It’s a track that you have no problem attaching your name to when it comes to publishing what you’re reading from me this time around.
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Keep in mind that the songs that artists are submitting to me that are a No, well, you don’t hear about those. While I do send feedback to the artist to let them know I’m not going to review it, nothing is made public. I don’t have any interest in putting something out there about a song I didn’t like.
So, when I heard “Highway Lights” by Sean Essary, it was like meeting that special someone who you knew would one day walk into your life. In this context, it was a song that I knew I’d be writing a positive review of. In the spirit of spring training being underway for Major League Baseball, I would say that this single – released two-and-a-half weeks ago – is a home run. It’s no wonder it has already been streamed over 3800 times on Spotify alone and the artist himself has over three thousand monthly listeners on that platform.
Above I mentioned that when I receive a song that I’m not going to publish a review of, I send a note back to the artist. I’m going to really pull the curtain back and give you exactly what I sent to Essary upon listening all the way through “Highway Lights.”
“Wow, I like this a LOT. There IS, as it says, an 80s feel to it. There are even a couple spots vocally that remind me a bit of Peter Cetera. I love that it starts right in with vocals and doesn't waste time getting to it. I can't find anything wrong with it and am happy to put my name on a review of this. I would include this song on a personal playlist, it's that good. Congratulations.”
I sent him that feedback more than two weeks ago and I still stand by it today.
For those of you out there who are making music, especially the young songwriters who are just starting out, get an uninterested third party to look at your new song before you go too far with it. Of course you’re going to love it. You should think that it’s great. But is it really?
When you hire a great producer, their expertise is a huge part of what you’re paying for. If they tell you they have some ideas on how to make the song better, listen.
Remember too that when you’re in the moment, you’re going to feel like you “just wrote a banger,” as so many songwriters in Nashville are heard saying. But guess what? The next day or a week later or when the day comes to bring the song to the studio, changes are already being made. (We talked about this recently on Episode 570 of my weekly “Now Hear This Entertainment” podcast with John PayCheck.)
I don’t know with “Highway Lights” how long it did or didn’t take Sean Essary to get to the finished product that we’re all hearing today, but his time was worth it because of a great end result. Who knows what the scratch vocal might’ve sounded like. The bottom line is, getting it right for release day so that fans, industry people, and reviewers are all really taken by it as you’re reading that I was when I first pressed the Play button.
Essary clearly took the get-in-and-get-out approach. There’s no wasted time in the song merely trying to add unnecessary instrumentation or, more importantly, an interlude. It’s a radio-friendly 3:05 running time because he was efficient and didn’t get cute with being tempted into overproducing it. He kept the song moving and holds your attention lyrically.
Come back to this track when you feel you’re adding to your song just for the sake of emptying out the toolbox. Resist the urge and stick to keeping it tight.
For more than twenty years I have been helping indie music artists, authors, actors, entrepreneurs, podcasters, filmmakers, small business owners, and more. What challenges are you having in your creator career that I can lend some insight to? Connect with me so you can take advantage of all my experience, and I can help and keep you moving forward.