Q:
First time caller long time listener here, i had a question regarding your stories. Your songwriting is very heavily laced with real stories from your life, which I love.
I have two question surrounding this. 1. What’s your protocol to clear that story with everyone involved? Because obviously sometimes these stories do not paint people well, I wanted to know what you have to do to be able to write about these stories. Do you have them sign something? Do you text them? I have no clue.
2. How do you decide if a story is good enough to include on a song? Sometimes the things you include in your writing are mundane, but they work in some weird way. Do you have a checklist or system you use? Or is it whatever fits the rhyme scheme? I’d love to know.
That’s about all I have about this but i might ask again if i think of something else. By the way if you could email me an mp3 of Pick Up That Knife that would be swell, ive been obsessed with that song since I heard it at the august asheville show. Thanks for reading this and thanks for making music, cant wait for everything that happens
A:
I think every situation is kinda different with this. I have not always asked people permission, but it’s always felt much much better when I do.
For example, I ran into the kid from high school who had overdosed on benadryl from “Chosen to Deserve” at a show once (he didn’t know I was playing lol) and we had already recorded the song but it wasn’t released. I was basically like “yo I hope that’s okay” and he was like “of course, I love that” and it was cool. Plus he’s doing really well in life so it’s like not kicking him while he’s down or something. Plus I don’t often use people’s real names so there is no real harm that would come from it.
Usually it’s best to have the finished product ready to show them so they can see the inherit beauty that lies within the story of theirs that you’re telling??
Idk I’m still figuring out this process though.
For your second question, idk, I just know when a story would make a good song… feels very natural. I think that is a part of my process that’s just always been there. I def have a list going of stories I wanna get to telling through song one day. I’ll never get to all of them…. at least in song form hehe.
I’m not gonna email you that, crazy!! But don’t worry you won’t have to wait too long for dat one in particular