Questions
Short and Sweet
Frequently asked
Questions? Oh yes we get questions. There are several we get quite often … and we always give the same answer. So to save you time asking … just click your question below, and watch the answer cyber-magically appear! (If your question doesn’t appear, hit Gary up on the Contact page.)
Can I send a song or lyrics for Gary to listen to?
Short Answer: No. Any songs received by mail will be returned unopened, and any sent by email will be deleted without being downloaded or opened, and you will be notified of such.
Sound mean? Well here’s the reason behind it: It all comes down to legal problems. We all know how music can get stuck in your head… well, that happens to writers too. If Gary were to listen to or read an unpublished song, and then unconsciously use parts of it in a song he was writing, and that song gets cut, then the real owner of that bit of song can then demand to be called a writer or sue, and we have legal issues on hand.
But, if Gary has never had a chance to listen to or read it, but happens to write something similar by his own skills, we can prove that he never heard the other song due to it never having been opened. So, due not only to writer’s common sense, but also due to our hermetically-sealed room full of lawyers and those that run Gary’s publishing, we simply will not accept music or lyrics from anyone.
Sorry.
Can I write a song with Gary?
Short Answer: Sadly, no.
Long Answer: Because of Gary’s schedule these days, the small amount of time that he spends writing he uses only with either fully established writers (who have a good track record of getting hits), people that he is familiar with, or people with recording contracts. Besides, if Gary wrote with every person that wrote in wanting to write with him, he’d be booked until he was 90.
How can I get my songs heard?
Short Answer: Read this Musing
Long Answer: You go to every songwriting seminar you can afford to go to, so you get to play your best work in front of people who can tell good from bad. You come to Nashville, when and if you can, so you can gauge yourself against the writers here. You can be the top tier writer in your town but remember… Nashville is the All Star Game of songwriting. Many writers came here thinking they were ready just to find out that they had a lot to learn. I used to go to the Bluebird every night I was free so I could listen to the great writers and get inspired…
If you are talented and do good work and have a great work ethic good things WILL happen. But really, read my blog on the topic.
What if someome steals my song or idea?
Short Answer: Read this Musing
Long Answer: You asked: “If I go to a seminar and play a pro writer my best song… what if he steals the song or the idea… or my guitar strap?”
The blog above offers a bit of a deep dive on this subject.
You can’t copyright a title… or an idea. Your idea or title is probably not that original anyway. (Sorry but it’s true) I get it. When I want to play a new song at the Bluebird I ask everyone to turn their phone cameras off because it’s a new song and maybe not quite finished. I certainly don’t want it out there in the cloud where anyone can steal it.
Whatever song you are convinced is precious and THE SONG that is gonna make you a legend in your own blue jeans… in six months you probably won’t even remember it. When I was starting to play the Bluebird, I hit them with all my precious, classic stuff. I don’t remember any of those songs today. Why? Because I got better and left those songs in the dust.
The odds of something good happening from playing your song at a writer’s night, or at a seminar, far outweighs the odds of something bad happening.
Register your song. Register it with ASCAP or SESAC or BMI. Send it to yourself in a registered letter and then don’t open it. Copyright it with the Library of Congress. If you wait until you have half a dozen or so, you can call it a portfolio and register the whole thing as one work. It’s lots cheaper that way. Protect your song the way you would anything of value.