Visit http://www.MichaelBrandvold.com This week’s episode #128, October 10, 2013 – The Craft of Songwriting with Adam Mitchell, Award Winning Producer & Songwriter.
Adam Mitchell is an award winning record producer and songwriter who has had his songs recorded by and worked with many of the music business’ most illustrious names like, Kiss, Chicago, Linda Ronstadt, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Manhattan Transfer, Art Garfunkle, Olivia Newton-John, Graham Nash, and many others .
A former Warner Bros. recording artist, his songs have been recorded over 150 times, in all genres and in several languages by many of the top names in music around the world. Several of his individual songs have been recorded over twenty times by different artists and his work has won numerous busic business awards, including Canada’s Juno and RPM’ Magazine’s Best New Artist.
In addition to Adam’s work as a producer and writer, he is a board member of the Songwriters Guild of America and in frequent demand as a teacher of songwriting and contributor to songwriting clinics around the world.
A partial list of artists who’ve cut Adam Mitchell songs includes…
Olivia Newton-John -“Dancing Round and Round”
Kiss – “Creatures of the Night”, “Crazy Nights”, “Danger”, “Keep Me Comin'”, “I’m a Legend Tonight”, ” Partners in Crime”, “I’ll Fight Hell to Hold You”, “Little Caesar”
Chicago – “Man to Woman”
Art Garfunkel – “The French Waltz”
John Waite – “Tears”
Nicolette Larson “Fool for Love”
Merle Haggard – “Out Among the Stars”
Anne Murray – “”Yucatán Cafe”, “TheFrench Waltz”
A cross-section of some other Artists who Have Recorded Adam’s Songs….
Hurricane / metal
King Cobra / metal
Black and Blue / metal
Silent Rage /metal
EZO / metal
Peter Criss/ rock
Tom Johnson of Cheap Trick/ rock
Patty Smyth and Scandal /pop rock
Bonnie Tyler / rock
Wendy O. Williams /punk
Waylon Jennings / country
The Good Brothers / country
Bette Midler /pop
Susan Egan / broadway
Jane Oliver / pop
Cher / pop
The Country Gentlemen / bluegrass
Leon Ware / soul
Adam Gregory/ country
Jason McCoy/ country
Clare Lynch /bluegrass
The Seldom Scene / bluegrass
Randy Kohrs /bluegrass
Commander Cody /pop rock
Doug Kershaw / country
Joe Sunn / country
Lynn Anderson / country
Wes Hutchinson / indie rock
Reed Foehl / indie rock
Jason McCoy / country
McKendree
Spring / folk rock
Paul Anka / pop
…And many others
Adam also produced the recent “Song Stories with Graham Nash”. This highly acclaimed series for XM Satellite Radio was their most popular show ever and featured, Adam’s interviews with Carole King, Paul Williams, Waylon Jennings, Grace Slick, Steve Cropper, David Crosby, Mac Davis, Graham Nash and many others.
This podcast was brought to you by MusicXray.com.
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Michael Brandvold is a freelance music industry consultant based in Northern California. Having launched Michael Brandvold Marketing to leverage his years of experience to provide direction to large and small clients in the areas of online & social marketing as well as e-commerce and customer acquisition and retention.
Gene Simmons of KISS first tapped Michael’s skills as a pioneering online marketing strategist to launch and manage all aspects of Kissonline.com’s multi-million dollar enterprise, including their ground-breaking VIP ticket program.
Michael has also managed the online efforts for SOiL, Killer Dwarfs, Accept, Russ Dwarf, Dream Theater, Little Caesar, Bill Ortiz, Motley Crüe, Rod Stewart, Madonna, Ozzy Osbourne, Madonna and Britney Spears to name only a few.
Brian Thompson, Managing Partner for Thorny Bleeder Records, is a Vancouver based music industry entrepreneur, record label owner, artist manager, marketing consultant, radio promoter, publicist, web designer, blogger, and industry speaker.
Formerly the corporate head of music buying and marketing for a large national music retail chain, Brian has since moved on to become a well respected voice on the convergence of artist development, music marketing, social media, and technology.
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The idea that you have to have perfect words and stories for a song to be successful is complete non-sense. In a song Melody is King and words are second. There are millions of metal fans outside english-speaking countries that worship Iron Maiden and their songs, without knowing or understanding the lyrics. Bands like Iceland's Sigur Ros have played around the world and made a career out of playing songs sung in a made-up language that nobody understands. People cry watching Sigur Ros live.. without having an "idea" or understanding what the songs are about… Chevelle has sold millions of records, and most of their lyrics make no sense.. That is the problem with most songwriters.. they think that everything boils down to a formula (that they only know) and that everything has to be perfect, and they end up writing canned, contrived, boring songs,
hornybleeder..change your name
I love listening to Adam, I've learned a lot from him, but cmon man….
The Elder is a record of "Bad songs"? Play it for someone with no preconceived notions about it and no prejudice either way for KISS, (as I have done many times) and you'll discover it's not just a great KISS record, it's a collection of songs that are amongst the best the Rock genre has ever produced. I don't think Adam has ever heard it.
nice work get back.
this is gold
I liked your video! Please check out my vid!
the 2 guys on either side should just SHUTUP! … and just let this Master Speak! … HELLO!
Great conversation, very thought provoking.
Yeah, the original version sounds really strange. That lyric didn't fit at all.
Isn't everything a craft when it all boils down to it? you have to work at anything to get better. I really enjoyed this talk as it debunks the 'lone genius in a garret' myth, artists have to get away from this too…
Joseph Campbell analogous!! yay!
This is Great!!!
Good vid guys
no problem Michael you know I am a big fan of all the content you've been a part of here on youtube….great things will come of all this. Brian you rock too…but should post a little more in the comments
🙂
Glad you enjoyed it Joel.
BOOM!!! That was my head Mike. Thank y'all so much for this episode.
Thanks! Adam was amazing, such great information.
Damn you! lol…, "Miley Cyrus may not have a career in 5 years, other things are age and youth dependent, writing is not… now I'll give you an example"… then he was cut off… 56:50 …
awesome show guys…Adam is amazing and I really hope tons of people find this.
It's essentially the fundamentals of the creative fields in a nutshell…the problem sometimes is with young artists…is it's too black and white…they want a magical pill that takes them further down the road…but essentially it's spending the time, refining your skills, being prepared when an opportunity arrives…and then taking that opportunity down and not letting it go….then comes working on maintaining.
how cool. I am going to subscribe to his site for a month or two…listened to the three sides of the coin a podcast and really enjoyed it.
I am sure this is going to be incredibly inspiring and informative as well…listening right now!