Writer Of The Week: Denison Witmer

Rolling Stone once named Denison Witmer their “favorite underrated singer-songwriter.” His ninth album, Denison Witmer, was recorded for Sufjan Steven’s label Asthmatic Kitty (Stevens guests on the record).Witmer talked to us about why he named the album after himself, writing on a schedule, embarrassing first song attempts and more.

Who are your songwriting heroes?

Neil Young, Graham Nash, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, Susumu Yokota, Max Ritchter, Olafur Arnalds, Debussy, Henri Goreki, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane.

What’s your typical approach to songwriting? 

Free association, free association, and a little more free association. I play guitar until a chord structure takes shape and then I adlib words and a melody until things fall into place. A lot of my new album was written in front of the microphone, though a few songs were just instrumental tracks that I put on my iPod and listened to when I went running. I came up with the lyrics while I let my mind wander.

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Paul McCartney, “My Valentine”

Writing a good love song, one that will bring tears to a woman’s eyes quicker than a dozen roses (or in the case of a man’s eyes, maybe quicker than tickets to a NASCAR race), is one of the hardest things any writer can do. Paul McCartney’s written a few that are part of pop music history. But maybe none of them have been as genuine, or sound as effortless, as “My Valentine.”

From McCartney’s Kisses On The Bottom album, “My Valentine” is one of only two originals on this album of standards that McCartney wisely released just before Valentine’s Day in 2012. The song couldn’t be any more beautiful in its simplicity, a few lines about how his sweetheart predicted that the sun would shine again after a storm, and his acknowledgment of what her love has done for him. Straightforward as that.

Click here to read the lyrics and listen to “My Valentine”

Gary Allan: On Record

This article appears in our upcoming May/June “country” issue. Subscribe here.

Earlier this year, Gary Allan topped the Billboard 200 with the stellar Set You Free. The poignant lead single“Every Storm (Runs Out Of Rain)” earned him his first #1 on the country music charts since 2004. We asked the amiable Californian about hitting the bars early, writing in threes, recapturing success and more.

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Doc Watson and Family
Milestones: Legends of the Watson Family Clan
(Open Records)
4.5 stars (out of 5)

Click here to read the album review.

Free Download: The May 2013 Muse Sampler

In conjunction with our May/June issue, American Songwriter proudly presents The Muse, May 2013 Sampler, featuring 12 must-hear tracks from some of our favorite artists. And the best thing about it? It’s free!

Download it by clicking HERE.

Master Craftsman: Randy Wood

Randy Wood describes himself as “old fashioned” as we sit in his workroom in Bloomingdale, Georgia, only minutes down the road from historic Savannah. On the walls hang unfinished instruments and seasoned tools. Each work station is stocked with carpenter’s glue, a sanding stone and a variety of utensils for crafting or restoration. He cradles an infant mandolin in his lap, cultivating a small mound of wood shavings at his feet as this combination of wood and glue slowly becomes another high quality, hand-crafted Randy Wood instrument.

Wood speaks in a pristine southern drawl that can only be earned through a lifetime of humility, honesty and hard work. Humility is probably the most prominent of these three and the most surprising given Randy Wood’s long-standing reputation as a master craftsman and a man who has built and repaired guitars for Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Eric Clapton. It would be assumed that receiving compliments from true music legends might have some effect, cause an ego to grow like a wild, conquering kudzu vine, but for Wood the praise is appreciated without ever being dwelled upon long enough to take root.

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Greg Wattenberg: From Five for Fighting to Phillip Phillips, A Musical Force For Over A Decade

isten to any adult contemporary radio station across the country, and it’ll be easy to hear a song that Gregg Wattenberg has either written, produced, or both. “I recently drove from Seattle to San Fransisco, and on the radio during my trip I was always hearing songs I’ve been involved in,” Wattenberg says from his office in New York City. “I think it’s awesome! Especially having a kid now, you realize the importance of having a legacy.”

Fortunately for Wattenberg, his legacy is full of some of the biggest tracks of the past decade; songs that were not only mere hits, but smashes that reverberated throughout pop culture. Bouncing around between writing and producing for artists like Train, Daughtry, Finger Eleven, and Five for Fighting, it’s hard to believe that Wattenberg didn’t get interested in the craft of making music until during college. “I went to Tufts and majored in economics and music.  When I was there, I took a Music Composition class which did a lot for me. What I really wanted to learn was classical guitar,” Wattenberg remembers. To pursue his guitar interests, he connected with a music teacher who taught at the Boston Conservatory for Music, who soon became a mentor-like figure. “I had this whole mission that I was going to learn every style of guitar, but he ended up not only teaching me about playing, but about life and songwriting as well.”

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Bob Marley & the Wailers
Kaya-35^th Anniversary Deluxe Edition
(UME/Island/Tuff Gong)
Music: 4 stars (out of 5)
Reissue: 2 stars (out of 5)

Click here to read the review.

Video Premiere: Aidan Knight, “A Mirror”

Check out folky indie rockers Aidan Knight’s new video for “A Mirror,” a song from their U.S. debut album, Small Reveal. Recorded from the floor of Toronto’s Rogue Studio, the Canadian band takes a simplistic approach for the video — if  it looks like you’ve just stumbled into a band’s recording session, and you have.

“A Mirror” is a ballad of sorts, with band namesake Aidan Knight’s baritone vocals and the horns fleshing out what the understated drum, guitar, and bass leave out.

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Imaginary Cities: “Bells Of Cologne”

“You won’t hear it on the radio.”

If you keep your ears open, inspiration can strike at any time. Just ask Rusty Matyas of Canadian rock band Imaginary Cities. Matyas wrote the catchy, cascading “Bells Of Cologne” when he was far from home, after a bit of divine intervention from the heavens.

Click here to continue reading and watch a lyric video for “Bells of Cologne”