In last week's email, I promised to send you some of my favourite lyric writing exercises. This one is about clichés — and I know what you're thinking. Avoid clichés. Everyone says so. Got it. But here's what I actually think: Clichés are one of the most powerful raw materials a songwriter has. Not because they're good, but because they're known. When I say "my heart was broken," you don't have to work to understand me. That meaning arrives instantly, pre-loaded, ready. The phrase has been...
27 days ago • 1 min read
AI can't actually write better lyrics than you. I want to tell you something important, songwriter to songwriter: AI cannot write better lyrics than you can. I'm going to tell you why, and it's not what you think. Not "AI can't feel," or "your perspective is totally unique" (both true, but easy to dismiss when AI spits out something that resembles feeling, and is a passable equivalent of lived experience). I went to AI school These past two weeks, I've been taking a short course on AI for...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader! On Sunday, the epic Early Bird access to the next 8-week Songwriting Sprint closes! Join now before the 33% discount disappears, and the Sprints become full-price (at $75). Register Now What really shows the impact of deadlines, accountability, and creative prompts aren’t my words—it’s the experiences of past Sprinters: Joan H. "I’m just so happy to have other ears to listen to my songs. It’s like a whole extra bonus, knowing that I can put something out there that’s not finished...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
There’s a quiet trap most songwriters fall into. And it’s not about rhymes. Or melody. Or structure. It’s this: We assume the listener knows what we know. This came up in one of our live feedback sessions this week (the fully human kind. Real faces. Real songs. Real-time reactions. No sycophantic AI applauding everything you do as a "great choice"). One of our members shared a beautiful song about a lonely touring musician. The imagery was cohesive, the world of the song was clear, and the...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
The June Songwriting Sprint is open for registration! Register Now Early Bird pricing ($50) closes May 17th What's a Songwriting Sprint? The Songwriting Sprint is a focused, 8-week creative experience designed to help you write more songs — consistently, simply, and without overwhelm. You’ll join a small group of up to 12 songwriters, receive a fresh songwriting prompt every two weeks, and use built-in deadlines, community support, and feedback to keep your songwriting moving forward. You can...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader, It's Keppie here! There’s a storytelling mistake that shows up in songs all the time. And it has nothing to do with rhyme schemes or chord choices. It’s this: We bury the most interesting idea. This came up inside one of our live feedback sessions this week — the real, live, slightly messy, beautifully human kind where we can actually move sections around and hear the difference instantly. A songwriter had written a strong verse with a compelling image buried halfway through: “He...
2 months ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, Most songwriters assume that getting better means learning more theory, finding stronger rhymes, upgrading their gear, or simply waiting for a worthier idea to arrive. After years of teaching, writing, releasing, and watching hundreds of songwriters grow inside our programs, though, I've noticed something: the real breakthroughs tend to come from elsewhere. They come from a handful of habits that, on the surface, look almost too ordinary to matter. Here are three that genuinely...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader, When Matthew Jenkins joined his first Songwriting Sprint, he was already a musician with decades of experience. As a bass player, he’d spent years supporting other people’s bands—always the one holding down the low end, but never sharing his own songs. Meanwhile, his notebooks were overflowing. Pages of ideas. Half-finished lyrics. Fragments of riffs. All of it adding up to… nothing finished. “I had notebooks filled with song ideas but nothing to show for my creativity—just...
4 months ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader, What do Aerosmith, Cher, Celine Dion, and LeAnn Rimes all have in common? It's not numbers of hits; it's not "worked with the same producer"; it's not Grammys. They’ve all had massive hits written by the same person. Not the performer. Not the producer. Not a “songwriting camp” with five names in the credits. One songwriter, alone in a room, writing songs that somehow keep finding their way into the world. Her name is Diane Warren — and even if you don’t recognise the name, you...
4 months ago • 1 min read