John Braheny is a consultant for songwriters and the author of “The Craft and Business of Songwriting”.  Learn more about him at www.johnbraheny.com.

In Part 1 of our interview with John Braheny, he talks about the importance of mental preparation, current opportunities and demo production strategies.

In Part 2 below, John gives some great tips on getting the most out of your songwriting sessions, the value of re-writing, and learning how to communicate better with your audience.

6. What are some common mistakes you see songwriters make?

A. Assuming the first thing they think of will be their best idea.

B. Settling too soon just to get it finished. Have a check list you go through on each song you write so you keep up your own standards.

C. Deciding not to write any more until you get your songs demoed, published etc. That’s a good sign you’re not writing because you love to write. Most successful writers have written hundreds of songs before they get their first cut. That’s certainly not a rule, but as Malcolm Gladwell observes in his great book “Outliers,” most people who are successful at anything have spent at least 10,000 hours practicing their art or trade. In songwriting, it took Diane Warren 10 years to get her first cut after writing several songs a week. I can attest to that work ethic after hearing about 150 of the songs she wrote when she was 15. Check out her site at www.realsongs.com.

D. Listening to friends and relatives who tell them they can’t do it because: “You’ll never make any money,” “It’s a waste of time,” “What makes you think you have talent?” If you let yourself internalize those comments as negative self-talk, it becomes the voice of a destructive inner critic that’s poison to your creativity.

E. Refusing to re-write. Re-writing is how you learn and grow.

F. Not investing in classes, workshops, critique sessions to learn the craft that will better serve your imagination and creativity.

G. Giving up  when other priorities compete for your time. Even with a day gig and a family, if you want to write songs, write songs. Hang in there and make things happen.

H. Not getting help when you need it. For example, if you’re a great guitarist/singer but need help with production, you should seek the help of a knowledgeable producer.

7. What are some simple exercises songwriters can do to immediately improve their craft?

Write for 10 minutes every morning about anything that occurs to you. Julia Cameron, author of “The Artists’ Way”, calls it Morning Pages. Berklee songwriting professor Pat Pattison calls it “object writing” because you start by picking an object then just free associating. Don’t stop to worry about grammar, style and don’t rewrite. Just let it flow. Stop at 10 minutes. It gets so your subconscious knows you’ll be doing it and you find that during your day you’ll make a little mental note of what you’re going to write about. You’ll have a reason to pay attention. You’ll have to think about how you feel about things – how you’d describe things. You’ll write more clearly and deliberately, even when you free associate. Practice describing what you feel in detail in sensory detail.

You might invest in some Jump-starters. My friend Lisa Aschmann has a great book called “1000 Songwriting Ideas” that will give you that little shove to get the ball rolling. Another book like that is Barbara Jordan’s “Songwriters Playground: Innovative Exercises in Creative Songwriting.” Also, Robin Frederick’s “Shortcuts To Hit Songwriting” is full of great tips and exercises. It’s like a companion workbook to my book, “The Craft And Business Of Songwriting”.

On the music side you can do the same thing. Pick up the guitar or get with your keyboard for 10 minutes once a day. Try to just come up with a new chord progression, melody line or guitar riff each time. Record every session. Just sing nonsense. If you’re primarily a lyricist it’s very important to get used to focusing on the melody, otherwise you may have a tendency to get too wordy. Every time you get something started and come up with an actual lyric line, while recording, try out 4 or 5 more variations of the melody line.

8. How often should songwriters re-write?

As often as you need to make it as good as it can be. Although there are songs that come out pretty much finished the first time around, they’re very rare. In Nashville, the pro writers say “You don’t write songs, you re-write songs.” Jon Ims did 32 re-writes for his Songwriters Hall Of Fame hit, “She’s In Love With The Boy.” I asked him to chronicle that process for the “Rewriting” section of my book. It’s a great lesson.

It’s so difficult to come up with a unique idea that you owe it to yourself and your song to make it as good as possible. That’s how it is for Nashville writers and others who write for hit artists. They know those songs will go through a lot of scrutiny before a label will decide to invest a million dollars in producing and marketing a song. On another level, if you’re an artist who writes for yourself, you’ll become known and appreciated for the unique way you express yourself.

You want to take as much time as possible to hone your songs to reach into those listeners, your potential fans, and express their feelings as well as your own. Don’t be pretentious. Tell the truth. They’ll like you and identify with you because they feel they know you. So let them know the real you. Don’t obscure your feelings and attitudes by writing lyrics that are deliberately (or unconsciously) uncommunicative. Consider your songs to be conversations with your listeners. Don’t talk nonsense to them.

There are many creative, unique, poetic, profound and even somewhat abstract ways to express yourself. You rewrite with your imagination, art, and craftsmanship to achieve those goals, to communicate clearly and to entertain your listeners whether you’re delivering a message, expressing your feelings or just making music that makes them shake their butts and forget the world.

9. Truly successful songwriting depends on finding a receptive audience. With that in mind, how important is it for writer-performers to connect with their audiences? What can they do to improve their efforts?

Practice alone and with an audience every chance you get. When you practice alone, visualize an audience. Use a mirror or use a cheap video camera to record yourself and study it. Keep a daily journal of funny stuff you observe or think about in your normal life. Be honest. Work on developing those funny personal stories and sharing them with your audience in a regular blog and between songs at your showcases and gigs. No matter what your personality is, you’ll draw an audience who likes and identifies with it. Don’t forget that you’re not on stage just to express yourself – you’re there to entertain your audience and make them feel good that they invested their precious time coming to see you.

I see way too many artists just get up and stumble through their songs, apologizing, “Sorry I’m out of tune” (Just shut up and tune or learn to tune as you tell them a story.) “Sorry I’m not at my best/ I didn’t get much sleep” (This one better be accompanied by a VERY funny story!) “Hey I just wrote this today and I haven’t quite got it worked out yet.” (Don’t inflict it on them. It’s like saying “You only deserve to see me at my worst.”) They don’t care!! They didn’t come to see you at your worst! Don’t apologize! You don’t exactly have to put on a suit and tie (Unless you’re Michael Buble), but wear something that shows some respect for your audience. Comb your hair. Look like you care – like you’re going to meet your girlfriend/boyfriend’s parents. Well, that might be a little extreme but you know what I mean.

As a singer, make sure you’ve written lyrics that represent your true feelings, convictions, experiences and that you personally connect emotionally with every line you sing. Quantum Physicists are finding that there is an actual transfer of energy that takes place. It’s why you see some American Idol contestants who hear from Simon or Kara “You’re just not inside the song.” when they’re thinking about how they’re singing and how they look etc. and not what they’re singing. There are singers who can fake it and audiences who will buy it. There’s a famous line of David Lee Roth, if I remember correctly when asked by Johnny Carson what was the secret of his success, he said “Sincerity, Johnny, and if you can fake that you’ve got it made.” It’s much better, however, if you are sincere.

10. What can people do to keep their connection to an audience once they establish it?

Get their e-mail address. Make sure they can reach you. If you’re playing a club, persuade the doorman to use a stamp with your website on it so they can go to their iPhone or computer and enter it. Then send them something every week. Tell them about your next gig, video yourself and send them a link. Send them a newsletter, do a blog on your site, let them know with a Facebook message or a Tweet. Try using a site/service like www.Reverbnation.com that will let you post your songs on you fans’ sites so they can promote you. There are lots more of these things. Check Ariel Hiatt’s www.arielpublicity.com and Bob Baker’s www.bob-baker.com for great self-marketing info.

In Part 3 of this interview, John gives advice about making a living as a solo singer-songwriter, how to maximize your songwriting output even if you have outside responsibilities such as a job and family, and the best ways to seek out and secure publishing deals.

Putting on a successful live performance takes a lot of hard work and preparation. Booking your gig and rehearsing your set are important, but they’re only half the battle. Perhaps the most important piece of the puzzle is promotion. How do you get people to attend your show?

In a previous article, I talked about how to grow your band’s email list. In this article, I’ll cover how to capitalize on those efforts by crafting and sending emails effectively.

It’s important to consider both the content and the timing of your email blasts. It has been my experience that a two-email approach for an upcoming gig works best. The first is an announcement email, meant to plant the seed and mark the approaching date on the calendar. The second email is a last-minute reminder, meant to catch the folks who might make a game-time decision to attending your show. Here’s how these two emails break down:

Email #1: Plant the Seed

The first email is to be used to officially announce the show. This should be sent no sooner than two to three weeks before the date of your show. The purpose of this email is to plant the seed in the minds of your recipients. It marks a mental spot in their upcoming calendar of “things to do”. Include all of the necessary information: The venue, your set time, street address, cover charge. A nice touch is to add a link to a Google map of the location.

Obviously, you’ll want to add a bit more to it. Entice your fans to make the effort to come out. Use your own personal style to keep the message positive, uplifting and exciting. Feel free to be casual and conversational, even a bit personal. You want to create that sense of intimacy with your following. You don’t want to come off sounding like a corporate mass-email blast promoting a product.  Of course, you are promoting something.  Your music.

Include your website or myspace link at the end of the email. Not all of your subscribers are familiar with your music. They might not even remember signing up for your newsletter. Give your recipients a quick and easy way to go check out your tunes online before making the decision to come see you live. You might also include a link to the facebook event you created for this gig (more on using social media to promote your gig in an upcoming article).

Email #2: Lock it Down

The second email is a quick reminder about your show. Re-state the essential show info (venue, address, and time) along with a very brief message. Don’t use the same text from your first email. This will come off as borderline spam. Keep it casual, fun, and again, enticing.

Send your second email sometime during the week of the show. If it’s a weekend gig, send it early in the day on Wednesday. Catch your audience right when they’re beginning to plan their weekend. Maybe they have a date and they’re looking for something fun to do- like catch a live band! Or they have friends coming in from out of town looking for a raging night out in your city. This email just filled their need for that awesome “thing to do” this weekend.

Don’t Over Do It

Remember, people are very fickle about their email preferences. You don’t want to risk losing subscribers by sending too many emails. As a rule of thumb, You should never send more than one email in any two week period. Pack enough interest and purpose into each message so that each one is a welcomed delivery in your fans inbox.

If you have a packed schedule of upcoming gigs, you might want to consider promoting several gigs in one email, or pack an entire leg of a tour into one or two emails.

Keep it interesting and mix it up. Don’t re-use email content. Always take the time to add a unique twist to your message and tone so that each email has a fresh feel to it.

Over to You

How do you use email for your promotional efforts?

Today I’m going to discuss how to construct your live setlist to ensure a successful concert from the opening song to the encore. Many artists and bands who are just starting out in their gigging career tend to overlook the importance of considering the order of songs in your live set. Don’t make this mistake. Craft your live setlists wisely.

Song Order: It’s All About Energy

Every song brings a certain level of energy. This should be the first factor to consider when determining the order of your songs. Some songs are loud and fast, others are soft and slow, some fall somewhere in between. It often takes a couple of performances to determine where your songs actually fall within the spectrum of your set.

The general approach is to start at a high energy level, then bring things down for a bit, then have a mid-set spike in energy, then back down again, then finish the set with a bang. See the diagram below:

You don’t want to change energy levels too abruptly. You want to ease the audience from one song to the next.  Try and find songs that work well as transition songs — something to work between the high energy and low energy points in your set.  Don’t go from hard to soft too quickly.  A sudden drop in energy level can quickly kill the excitement in the room.  A sudden jolt of noise right after a soft tune can cause your audience to find a better listening location — possibly at the next bar!  Harness the flow of energy and sense when you’re audience is ready for a change of pace.  Then ease them into it with a transition song.

Vary the Mood

Energy level is important.  But so is the mood.  Great songwriting is all about capturing emotions.  Hopefully the songs in your set will present a variety of emotions and subject matters.  Mix it up as much as possible here.

Don’t bunch all of your sad songs together, or all your political songs together.  Don’t make the first half of your set packed with fun-loving songs about surfing, and the second half of your set all about your demons within.  Unlike smoothing the transition of energy levels, you want to show your versatility here by flipping between subjects and moods quickly.

Most of your audience could be first-time listeners.  Show them what you’re all about in the little time you have to convert them.  Varying the mood is a great way to keep things fresh while staying within one energy level.  For example you might play two soft songs back to back, but the first is a haunting introspective piece and the next is a sweet love song.

Consider the Key and Tempo

Another thing to consider is which key each of your songs are in.  If you have several songs in the key of E minor, it may not be such a great idea to play them next to each other.  Changing the key from song to song can create a sense of variety and progression – even if this is sensed subconciously by your audience.  Too many songs in the same key can give the impression that many of them sound the same.

Tempo is another key factor in determining the order of your songs.  It’s common to start off a set with something up-beat.  Personally, I also like to follow with another fast-paced tune for the second song.  This sets the excitement level for the rest of the set.  Be mindful of abrupt changes in tempo from song to song.  Sometimes this may work well, but sometimes not.  Use your best judgement in conjunction with implementing the tips mentioned above.

Some Practical Tips

When creating the set list, I like to write down a random list of all of the songs I want to incorporate into the set.  Then I’ll visually pick from that list, and compile the final ordered set list.  This way I don’t miss anything.

It’s best to write up the final set list using a dark black marker and large letters.  Even better, use a computer printout with a large bold font.  The lights can go in and out when you’re on stage and you want to be sure you can easily see which song is coming up next.

Stay tuned in to what works and what doesn’t.  Take feedback from your audience after the show or your manager to get a feel for which parts of the song order were effective, and which ones may need tweaking.  I personally like to vary set lists from show to show as much as possible, but it’s always good to know which songs generally work well when played next to others.  If you play a different set every night, post the latest set list to your website!  This is a great way to keep your online audience interested and it builds anticipation for your next performance.

Just like everything else in the world of songwriting and performance, everyone has their own style.  I’m interested to hear what works best for you when it comes to writing set lists.  Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments section below.

Open mic nights at local bars, coffee shops, libraries, and other places are a great outlet for songwriters looking for an easy way to take their music to a receptive audience.  If you’re a newbie to public performance then playing some open mics when you’re just starting out is a must.  If you’re a more experienced gigger, you might use open mics to try out your latest songs on a real audience, or use your open mic performance to promote an upcoming full set performance in the area, or at the same bar.

Here’s a list of some of the best go-to resources for finding a great open mic.  If you know of any other directories out there, please share them in the comments section.  Or if you’d like to promote a specific open mic, give it a shout out below and be sure to include the city, address, and start-time!

openmikes.org – This is a great resource.  Search nationwide by zip code, and find open mics in your neck of the woods.  They recently added embedded Google maps which makes the whole process even easier.  Another great feature of this directory is the comments section for each open mic listing.  User’s give some very helpful (or not) reviews of each spot, how it’s run, their experiences, tips, and advice.

Craigslist Open Mic Search – Craigslist is still a tremendous resource for just about anything.  This link takes you strait to an open mic search for New York City.  If you want to search in your city, and you’re new to craigslist, and you have come out from under the rock you’ve been living under, here’s how to quickly search for an Open Mic:  Click on your city, click on community, in the search box, type “Open Mic”, click submit.

Myspace Open Mic Search – There’s more to Myspace than posting mp3s and skinning your profile with nauseating designs.  The classifieds section is  pretty robust.  This link takes you strait to search results for “Open Mic”.

NJ Open Mic – This is a directory for all open mics and open jams happening in the glorious state of New Jersey.  It’s separated by the day of the week which makes it nice.  However if you’re not local to the dirty Jerse, then nothing is nice about this site.

Gigglechic.com Open Mic List – This list has a decent amount of open mics from a few specific regions.  There’s a detailed submission form for folks to post their open mics to the site.