I Wrote Ten Songs Today
— Each for a Different Band
Today I didn’t “wait for inspiration.”
I didn’t stare at a blank page.
I didn’t ask what I felt like expressing.
Instead, I picked ten bands.
Not actual contracts or real people — just ten clear targets. Each song knew, before the first line was written, who was supposed to play it.
That changed everything.
When you decide the band first, the song stops wandering.
The words fall into a posture.
The rhythm chooses itself.
The attitude shows up early and stays put.
This is backwards from how most people are taught to write songs. They start with feelings, or ideas, or “something personal,” and only later ask, what kind of song is this?
I did the opposite.
Band first.
Song second.
Each song became a delivery vehicle — built to fit a specific voice, groove, and stage. One wanted harmonies. One wanted grit. One wanted jokes. One wanted a long slow burn. None of them argued with me.
And here’s the part worth noticing:
Once the band is chosen, the song almost writes itself.
You’re no longer inventing everything.
You’re responding to constraints — and constraints are creative accelerants.
This approach also does something else that’s subtle but powerful:
it future-proofs the song.
A lyric written for a band already understands structure. It can be rearranged, re-grooved, re-tempoed later without collapsing. The spine is solid.
I ended the session with ten finished songs, each wearing different clothes, each speaking a different dialect — all written by the same hand, on the same day.
That’s not magic.
That’s targeting.
If you’re stuck, try this:
Don’t ask, what should I write?
Ask, who is this for?
Pick the band.
The song will follow.
Here’s a partial-list, just a small sample of the kinds of bands for which I write my songs:
British 60s pop band
-
The Halfpennies
(light, cheeky, instantly UK)
Festival Band – large crowd, big choruses
-
The Main Stage Union
Swampy, raw New Orleans band
-
Bayou Gravel
-
Old-fashioned Barbershop Quartet
-
The Four O’Clock Chords
-
Raw late-60s psychedelic blues-rock
-
Electric Ashlight Revival
Full Gospel Chorus
-
The Jubilee Voices
(classic, sincere, no irony)
Swing / Boogie-Woogie Female Trio
-
The Satin Belles
(playful, classy, era-correct)
Country Female Singer
-
Lila Rae
(simple, believable, radio-ready)
1965 L.A. Rock Band
-
Sunset Voltage
(L.A., amps, heat, motion)
Grand Opera (Verdi / Puccini style)
-
-
Teatro delle Stelle
(Theater of the Stars)
-
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Hey, here’s the Bardo bus already! Get aboard fast before it pulls away!
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See You At The Top!!!
gorby