Welcome and thank you for taking the time to read this. I started writing songs with a bit of seriousness after a severe traumatic brain injury somehow made me a more prolific (and I think better) songwriter. I’ve talked to countless doctors about possible explanations but the only one that feels close to true is that the injury changed the connections between the right and left sides of my brain. As a result, I’m better able to put abstract, seemingly non-nonsensical thoughts from my right brain into a sequence of melody, rhythm and sound in the left. If you'd like to hear more tunes or see more photos, please visit www.jeffshattuck.com - Jeff
Music is like air, without it, I would surely perish.
For a song of mine to be heard on some sort of big stage, be it radio or a TV series or a movie, anything. I'd just like to be heard by more people. That said, I suppose the biggest dream of all would be to make a living writing songs.
Education. An informed, literate and intellectually active population is the best defense against tyranny and getting there starts with education. And not just science and math, but also the arts. I think it's an absolute tragedy that we are emphasizing the arts less and less. If you don't want a computer to take your job, learn how to do stuff computers are terrible at, and art remains well beyond what computers can do.
Roll Over Beethoven by The Beatles. (I didn't hear the original until YEARS later!)
This list could get long so I will limit it to five: The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Lyle Lovett, Jason Isbell, Neil Young.
The daily goings on of life, both the happy and the sad as well as the mundane. Songs are everywhere.
I don't have a message. I just try to write good songs.
I almost never perform! I used to more often and I was always nervous at first and then all smiles.
The way songwriters get paid dates back almost 100 years and I think a reboot is needed. Everything should be rethought to reflect the modern reality of hyper niche audiences, easy distribution and streaming, streaming, streaming. The fact that we are still using a model based on player pianos is insane to me. Sadly, there are a lot of deep pocketed companies with a vested interest in the way things are.
Drooble is great for the simple reason that people actually listen to my music and I listen to theirs. Facebook was the worst. No one ever checked out my tunes! I felt so... ignored. On Drooble though I have kindred souls, which I really appreciate.
I have terrible rhythm. I can lock in for a few seconds and then... I unlock. I've tried everything, no dice, I'm just missing that gene. Luckily, I have talented friends to play the parts I come up with and play them in time!
Honestly, no. I'm a hermit. I am trying to change my stripes, though. I've joined the Austin Songwriters Group and I'm starting to go to a few more shows.
Same as it ever was, talent and grit and luck. And even then...
Well, there's a Drooble artist I love, Alexandra Fernandez, great singer and songwriter! Others are Green on Red, The Lyres, a friend of mine named Toby Germano (he is incredible, most prolific songwriter I know of), Les Negresse Verte (back when they had their original singer), Tim Young (he's the guitarist on the James Cordon show and helps me with my music), Sam Bevan (the world's best bassist), Larkin Gayl (she sings my most popular song on Drooble).