"I have been writing songs since I was nine years old. 

My parents were musicians and song writers,

so it just came natural for me.

I thought every kid's parents wrote song."

 

Here, you will find a collection of songs and song lyrics that span a lifetime.  I can list to my early songs and hear the wide eyes innocence and carefree dreaming.  Little did I know that life would be hard!  Being a songwriter, you can create the world you want! However,  The best songs are raw and authentic.  

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A few years ago I would have said that a good song is relatable...but not any more.  I have spent too much time under the bridge, talking to homeless people and have come to appreciate their ability to see through the phony.  The fact is, if you write from a place of authenticity you will be a better writer.  To write a "relatable" lyric is good, but if relatability is your goal than you are ignoring half of your audience. It's like trying to be "normal".  What is that?  Normal according to whom, if I may ask?  Just be authentic.  That's all!  Oh don't think it's easy or a cop out.  In fact, to be authentic is to be vulnerable. That is where you do stop caring about what others think or if this song is going to be a HIT!  Just write to make YOU feel it!  If you feel it...so with the guy under the bridge.  Write a song for HIM!  

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I grew up on a stage, singing from the age of 4 and write songs from the age of 8 or 9.  By the time I was 15, we had been around the world.  By the time I was 22, we had visited over 35 countries and all the United States of America.  We performed on countless TV shows and recorded over 20 albums in those days.  My little sister and I were considered the youngest regulars of the Grand Ole Opry when we were 7 & 9.  Although we lived a very unusual lifestyle, I thought we were normal.  Looking back, I can appreciate the sacrifices our parents made to live that way.  I never attended a single day of school nor did I own a pair of blue jeans or tennis shoes until I was a teenager.  Our mother sewed all of our clothes too, and we were literally on stage 7-10 times each week.  We worked hard as kids but we loved it!  My top bunk on our bus was the cocoon, where I wrote most of my early songs.  The hum of that diesel engine was the sound buffer and kept my songwriting a privet session.  But, if I ever needed a keyboard, my dad had one custom built inside a small desk in the front lounge.           

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As I upload these songs, I don't remember writing so many of them.  My father allowed my sister and myself to record the songs we wrote, in the top studios in Nashville.  He was not rich, but he hired the top players here and elsewhere.  One of our records had string from the London Philharmonic Orchestra. 

 

DADDY BELIEVED IN THE POWER OF A SONG AND THE RIGHT ONE COULD CHANGE THE WORLD!

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My parents have been blessed enough to have changes the world through a song that they wrote back in the early 1970's.  If you look up the song Heaven's Sounding Sweeter All The Time on YouTube, you will see hundreds of uploads of people singing that song.  They are from all over the world and singing it in many different languages.   It is humbling for our family to watch especially since my parents are aging.  It is fare to say, that one song (and they have written hundreds more) will live on in the hearts and memories of a million families around the world!   Thanks Levoy and Cleon Dewey!

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Below, I have included a few videos from my MAKEUP STORIES series where I talk about these things in greater detail.  Hope you enjoy!

 

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