here's a hint

today i had some good luck. i scored some last minute tickets from my favorite sister in law @mel___issa for the Jimmy Eat World show here in nashville. @adamagee was there and let me tell you it was pure bliss. whenever i go to one of their shows i turn into a 12 year old kid who's at his first concert singing along with every word. get this - i even bought a t-shirt. i NEVER buy merch. what the heck is wrong with me?

i was thinking to myself during the shows - what is so special about them? and really, the answer is absolutely nothing. that's right. nothing. there is nothing spectacular about this band - except for the songs. they're not incredibly good looking. they're good players, but they're not virtuosos. they don't have any sort of gimmick to their live show. their light show was cool, but it certainly wasn't what made the show. they're not really funny. but their show is incredibly entertaining because of the songs. ever been to a show where halfway through you start looking at your phone to see what time it was? ya, most shows i go to are like that. what about when a show ends and you feel like it just started?? how often does that happen?

now here's the thing - i've been going to LOTS of shows since i was a kid. and for the last few years i've played plenty of shows in front of thousands of people. after a while it's easy to get jaded. truly original ideas are very rarely conceived nowadays. everybody is copying someone else. there's always been a distinction between bands that are successful and bands that are successful and are respected by other musicians. for instance, you won't find other musicians going to a justin bieber concert, but you'd definitely find them at a muse concert. but even at a muse concert, they're complimenting the crazy light show and how good a guitar player Matt Belhamy is. Jimmy Eat World has none of that, but tonight i saw i whole crowd singing at the top of their lungs and dancing around and truly having fun. why? it's all about the songs. they've always been known for great songs. you like them on first listen, but over time they become so ingrained that they're a part of your life.

this got me thinking that with so many bands trying to get noticed, they reinforce the rule that it's all about the song.

to all you guys and girls in bands out there trying to make it, think about this:

is nobody coming to your shows? write better songs.

are you having trouble selling your CDs to people other than your friends? write better songs.

having trouble getting labels to notice you? write better songs.

are you frustrated because it's always somebody else's band that's getting popular? write better songs!!

(i'm not trying to trash indie bands, i truly want to help)

if you're beating your head against the wall trying to get ahead and get noticed, i'm giving you the answer to all your frustrations - write better songs. don't worry about passing out fliers. don't take out huge loans to buy a tour van and trailer. don't buy tons of merch to sell. i've seen it happen with tons of bands. when an artist has great songs, everything gets easier and starts to fall into place.

it's kinda like this guy

it's kinda like fishing. when i go fishing, for the first hour it seems like i'm fumbling around with tons of variables to figure out what magic combination of bait, lure, hook size and technique will resonate with the fish. i try different hooks. different lures. and it seems like as soon as i find the right combination, it's like a light switch has been flipped and i'm pulling them in left and right. the same is true for your band - except you don't need to fumble around in the dark looking for the right lure. i'm telling you - write better songs!!

sit down one day and figure out how much time in a month you spend doing anything related to your band - practicing, playing shows, putting up fliers, etc. Now take that amount. double it, and that's how much time you should spending writing, refining and re-writing your songs. if you successfully do that, it won't matter if you aren't pretty or if you're not an amazing player or if you can't put on a crazy light show. a person's connection with a great song will forever be far more entertaining than any light show, physical attributes or any other gimmick.