>We're glad you joined us.  We are lucky to have Bob Amos as a guest tonight.

<Bob Amos> Hi Larry!

<larry> Hi Bob,

> I was just telling Bob I'm not sure how many we'll have in here tonight because due to

    Valentines last week we changed the date.

> Seth will be joining us soon.

<Bob Amos> Probably a smart choice though

> I think the attendance would have been down last week. I sure hope we made the right

    decision. Time will tell.

<larry> Be right back, need my glasses...

> Bob, if you have any questions you can double click on my name and we will be in what they

    call Private Chat.

> I'll show you how it works.

[Tue Feb 21 19:57:16 EST 2006] larry

[Tue Feb 21 19:58:03 EST 2006] seth

<larry> I didn't get a chance to attend the Joe Val festival, but it sounds like it went well!

> It went really well.  We really enjoyed ourselves. 

<larry> Great!

> Claire Lynch did a songwriter workshop but we missed it.

<Bob Amos> Who played at it, besides Claire?

> Wildfire, Dry Branch Fire Squad, Mountain Heart, Grascals, Spinney Brothers, Freewheelin',

    the Lovell Sisters.

<larry> Ok, I'll ask a stupid question! Would trying to write a song about Katrina disaster, be a

    no,no?

> Dan Paisley, James King----too many to remember.

<Bob Amos> No, I don't think so at all. It would prob. be better if you had some personal

    connection, but even a story that moved you would be approp.

<seth> bob do you try to write every day

<Bob Amos> No, really just when the spirit moves. But I do find that when the spirit DOES

    move, it moves big time, and I'll work on several songs in quick succession.

<larry> Do the lyrics seem to come first?

[Tue Feb 21 20:04:22 EST 2006] Cosmo

> Welcome Cosmo.

> Is this your first time in the Song Writer Chat Room?

<Bob Amos> Not necessarily. No fixed way for me. Sometimes lyrical ideas come first, or

    sometimes a melody. I usually end up developing the two together.

<Cosmo> Thank you, This is my first chat session ever!

<Bob Amos> Me Too Cosmo!

> That's great.  We are lucky to have Bob Amos has our Guest Songwriter tonight!

> ooops  AS

<larry> Oh, ok Bob.  Guess that's how creativity works best!

<seth> Do you like to write story songs?

[Tue Feb 21 20:06:50 EST 2006] GL Booher

> Welcome GL Booher.

<Bob Amos> Very much. I think the songs that are most special to me are story songs about

    real stuff

<Cosmo> They are based on your personal experiences?

<larry> <Larry> Bob, did hurricane Katrina inspire you to write a song?

<Bob Amos> In many cases yes. Examples might be Mr. Beford's Barn, Fire In The Canyon

    and songs about my home and family

<Cosmo> Bob, whre are you from?

<Bob Amos> Wooops that answer was not to that last question

<larry> <Larry> no problem...

<Bob Amos> Well, I live in Vermont now. Front Range was based for many years in Colorado.

    But I've lived all over

> Are you originally from Vermont?

<Bob Amos> No. I was born in Delaware, but a lot of family in Vermont, and it's always been

    home to me in many ways

<GL Booher> Bob, how long have you been writing songs, and what was your first successful

    song?

<Bob Amos> Been writing since the early 1980s. My first successful song was prob. Where The

    Wild River Rolls which Hot Rize rec. on their CD Take It Home

[Tue Feb 21 20:12:02 EST 2006] Brink

> Welcome Brink.  It's great to have you join us tonight!

<Brink> hey Candi

<Brink> :D

<seth> Bob do you do much cowriting? Or do you like to write alone?

<Bob Amos> Never done much cowriting, but I'm not against it. Just haven't been in the

    situation to do it I guess. Actually Rick Lang and I have talked about it

[Tue Feb 21 20:14:31 EST 2006] gary darling

<Bob Amos> Oh boy, there goes the neighborhood, Hi Gary!!

> Thanks for stopping in Gary!  Glad to have you with us.

<GL Booher> Bob, do you write primarily bluegrass, or have you stepped outside the box in

    other genres

<Bob Amos> All kinds of stuff actually, but mostly I guess I'm more known for BG because of

    Front Range

<Cosmo> Bob, the lyrics first, then the melody? Or does it make a difference for you?

<Bob Amos> Nope. Either way. Some times one way, sometimes the other. But I'm a big

    believer in toggling back and forth. Editing lyrics, then melody back abd forth

<Brink> Either way IMHO it is critical to match the lyric and meter perfectly to have a great

    song. Prosody :)

<larry> <Larry> Thanks all!  Need to jump out for now.  Door bell ringing!

<GL Booher> What's the fastest you've ever written a song without having to tweak it? (Bob)

<Bob Amos> Well, I wrote High Mountain Meadow in about 2 hours I think

<GL Booher> that's great!

<Brink> LOLOL....Gary is use to my writing.  I'm the "tweekmeister"  HEHE

<Bob Amos> Brink makes a good point, and I think that's why editing is so crucial

<GL Booher> LOL

<GL Booher> I guess Brink has taught me ...never rush to finish a song!

<Brink> And one of the biggest mistakes that I see writers have is that they think they need a

    "perfect" rhyme every time

<GL Booher> good point

<Brink> when in many cases "perfect" rhymes lead to cliche writing and "boring"!

<Bob Amos> Yeah, best not to force it. A good line should sound as if it just happens to rhyme

    by chance

<Brink> yup....that's it Bob...I agree

<Cosmo> What is your style of writing? Do you organize your thoughts, make a story line, etc.

    or just stasrt at the beginning and fnish at the end, not knowing exactly where it is going?

<Brink> Of course when you live in the South you can rhyme words like "strang and hang"..hehe

<gary darling> bob i know you play banjo-ever write an instrumental tune?

> Bob will be back.

> He's on a dial-up and it kicks him off.

<Brink> where does Bob live?

> He lives in Vermont.

<Brink> Doesn't Front Range hail from Colorado?

<gary darling> gary d-bob is living up in back of st.johnsbury now near lyndon border

[Tue Feb 21 20:26:12 EST 2006] Bob Amos

> Welcome back Bob.

<Bob Amos> Thanks Not sure what happened

<Brink> hey there Bob

<Bob Amos> I'm a novice at chatting online

<Cosmo> Is Bob Dick still with the band?

<Bob Amos> Well, yea, but right now FR is on hiatus due to Mike Lantz's illness. So we're not

    playing right now

<Cosmo> I didn't know Mike was ill. Sorry to hear that.

<Brink> Bob, do you actively "pitch" your tunes?

<Bob Amos> I have some. But not alot. I've done some pitching in Nashville.

<Brink> Trying to crack the country market?

<Brink> Pretty tough against all the staff writers

[Tue Feb 21 20:31:41 EST 2006] Bob Amos

<GL Booher> Someone told me that a great song will find a way to surface

<GL Booher> to the top

<GL Booher> :)

<Bob Amos> I think that's true, as long as it gets heard by someone

<Brink> Paul Craft made a comment like that one time. Get the song out there and just get it

    heard and cut by someone. he said a great song will find it's way

<Bob Amos> The trick is getting the approp. person to hear it. It's very hard to get that to happen

    these days

<Brink> Not like the old days of walking music row

<Brink> with a case of cassettes and a geetar

<GL Booher> Bob, do you find most bands or people receptive to you pitching song to them?

<Bob Amos> But in Bluegrass the folks are much more approachable, and that's great. The big

    market folks are just so innundated with stuff they have to protect themselves

<Brink> right Bob...very protected these days.  Attorneys have seen to that I suppose

<GL Booher> Sounds like the Nashville market is bricked up tight!

<Bob Amos> But there's always a chink in the wall

<Brink> I think even if you have a GREAT song you still need an "in"

<Brink> That is where all the "networking" comes in

<GL Booher> someone on the inside?

<Bob Amos> In all fairness, I prob. haven't worked on that aspect to know for sure. But knowing

    someone sure helps

<Brink> But there is always the exception that finds its way in there :D

<GL Booher> Bob, have you ever written a song specifically for one person or band?

<Brink> Carl Jackson told me that the reason he got "Fit for a King" on Garth's project was that it

    was Garth's Dad's favorite song

<Bob Amos> I think the key is to write the best stuff you can, and then just get it out there in any

    way you can

<Brink> AMEN

<Brink> agree 110%

<Brink> Don't do much sitting in your bedroom

<Brink> :)

<Bob Amos> I'm sitting in it right now

<Brink> LOL

<gary darling> i heard skip gorman got on prairie home companion because his secretary liked

    skip's stuff and put it in garrison k.'s rental car so he heard it driving from the airport

<Bob Amos> So are most people here right now bluegrassers, or otherwise?

<Brink> I've had the majority of my success in bluegrass/Americana but trying hard to move

    into the country markets

<seth> Bluegrass and old Country for me.

<Cosmo> Bluegrass fan for me

<seth> Stanley Brothers right Gary?

<Brink> Course it is hard to get a name as a writer cuz most times folks don't know who wrote

    the tunes

<GL Booher> <GL Booher> Bluegrass for me

<gary darling> gary d-bob knows me..stanley/monroe.jval

<Bob Amos> But the people who pick tunes to record do pay attention

<Brink> yes they do and that is where word of mouth amongst the bands is critical IMHO

<Bob Amos> Yup

<GL Booher> I've seen that done first hand

<Brink> Bob, how many tunes have you had recorded total?

<Bob Amos> Prob. abt. 75, including all the Front Range CDs

<Brink> excellent!

<Brink> how many outside of FR?

<GL Booher> so your raking in the royalty checks now, huh?

<Brink> I know I've heard several

<Bob Amos> Hard to say, cause there've been a lot of local and regional bands that have

    rerecorded some of my stuff.

<Brink> gotcha

<Brink> find out when you get your $85 from HFA huh?

<Bob Amos> Only a handful by what, in bluegrass would be major bands

<GL Booher> In our band, we're always looking for good material, new or old.

<Bob Amos> The Chapmans just recorded Fire In The Canyon, which was one of my older ones

<Brink> oh yeah.....they did a good job too.

<Brink> What is the one that Hot Rize did>  Where the River Flows?

<Brink> kewl tune!

<Bob Amos> Where The Wild River Rolls

<Brink> yeah....EXCELLENT

<Brink> love that one

<Brink> :D

<Bob Amos> Thanks

> Bob, who is your favorite songwriter?

<Bob Amos> Gordon Lightfoot, John Lennon, and Carter Stanley

<Brink> good list

> That's quite a list!!

<Bob Amos> Well I listen to lots of diff kinds of stuff

<GL Booher> Love Lightfoot's material, and James taylor

<Bob Amos> Taylor is awesome. Gets better and better

<GL Booher> yup

<Brink> yeah...Dylan, Steve Goodman, Fogelberg, MUN-roe

<Brink> :D

<Bob Amos> I should mention that reading is a great source of inspiration for me too...

<Brink> Interesting you say that Bob

<Brink> I have found that songwriters in general love to read

<Bob Amos> Gary's here, and he knows that too, as he's given me some very cool books of

    poems and stories by Vermonter Walter Hard

<GL Booher> Dixie Hall reads for hours everyday

[Tue Feb 21 20:52:08 EST 2006] Cosmo 2

<Bob Amos> I think hearing words put together in different way helps to get the imaginationa and

    the creative juices flowing

<Brink> I love story songs and sometimes if I'm in a rut I make up a name. Then I build a story

    around the name

<GL Booher> You do that well, Mark!

<Brink> :D....try to

<Bob Amos> Neat idea.

<Brink> Sometimes the name doesn't even get in the song at the end but funny how names

    suggest a personality and a story

<Bob Amos> Absolutely. Don't know if you know my song Mr. Beford's Barn, but somehow it

    just kinda wrote itself. ıut in that case he was a real guy, as is the story

<Brink> is that on a FR album?

<Bob Amos> Nope, it's on my first solo project, Wherever I Go

<gary darling> gary d-i for one really like seth's stuff-the engineerw/out train, the house burnng

    w/200 yrs of memories-, great stuff-

<GL Booher> True stories are what I really enjoy most in songs, and are what triggers me to

    write

[Tue Feb 21 20:57:51 EST 2006] brink

<brink> oops

<brink> pressed the wrong key

<brink> and pphhhhhffffttttt I was gone

<brink> LOL

<brink> Bob, how many CD's do y'all have on Sugar Hill?

[Tue Feb 21 20:58:54 EST 2006] Wayne Morrison

<Bob Amos> Computers, you gotta love'em, cause no one else will

> For this being your first time in a Chat you are doing a GREAT job!!!

<Bob Amos> Five CDs on Sugar Hill, I think.....

<brink> Bob, you don't have to answer this if you don't want to.....did Sugar Hill try to pay you

    less that statutory rate mechanicals because you wrote many of the tunes on your own

    project?

<brink> Just curious at which labels try cut the rate w/ writer/artists

<gary darling> gary d-bob didnt you sling hundreds of tapes cross country b4 you had a label?

    did it work?

<Bob Amos> There's sort of a standard deal when your the artist and writer, so it usually is sl

    discounted

<GL Booher> I know of some labels trying to weasel out on paying Mech. Licenses and

    Royalties

<Bob Amos> Yes, the Road Home CD went out to about 500 radio stations, and High Mountain

    Meadow got on the charts

<brink> Man, that rubs me the wrong way

<GL Booher> I'm sure you've heard of some as well, perhaps the same ones

<brink> I understand it but I don't have to like it. I look at what the feds have set in statute as

    minimum

<brink> but of course the label has you over a barrel of sorts

<brink> :(

<GL Booher> sometimes they do

<Bob Amos> One pc of advice is to always keep your publishing if poss

<brink> good advice Bob

<brink> especially in bluegrass....no need to give it away

<Bob Amos> If the label gets the publishing, that's a fifty percent cut right there

<brink> And HOW are they functioning as a "publisher". Are they going to re-demo the

    song...pitch it to other artists? etc etc All the things a publisher is SUPPOSE to do for their

    50%

<brink> NOT

<brink> LOL

<GL Booher> that's a no no for writers

<brink> So the song gets cut 4-5 more times...the label gets 50% of those cuts too...for doing

    basically nothing

<Bob Amos> Gary had a good point back there bout getting stuff out to radio. Critical.

<Bob Amos> We were virtually unknown, sent out 500 CDs with 90 percent orig material and

    got noticed

<brink> Prime Cuts is good for bluegrass. I think I've had 4-5 tunes on Prime Cuts over time.

    They tend to do better that way

<Bob Amos> And onto the BG charts

<GL Booher> was that out of pocket for you Bob?

<GL Booher> or Label?

<Bob Amos> Yeah,  that first CD was expensive to promote, but we went for it.

<Bob Amos> 100 percent our cost

<GL Booher> tough to absorb!

<GL Booher> I solute you!

<brink> You have to spend it to make it

<Bob Amos> Well, yes, but with the sales really picked up and we did quite well with it after that

<GL Booher> tough to do that, with packaging, postage, and cost of units

<GL Booher> expense

<Bob Amos> I should mention that that first CD was our label. When we went on Sugar Hill they

    of course did all the promotion

<Bob Amos> I think the total cost to produce and ship out 500 was about 1500-2000

<GL Booher> Thank God some labels are still into promoting their artist!

<brink> now now Gary....LOL

> You've given a lot of good advice tonight. We usually end around 9pm but feel free to go as

    long as you want. It's been a treat to have you as a Guest tonight!!!

<Bob Amos> Pardon my chat ignorance but does LOL mean lots of luck?

<brink> Laugh out loud

<Bob Amos> Right...thanks

<GL Booher> Lose On Labels

<gary darling> i wazs wondering about that too

<seth> land of lost

<brink> Is Front Range going to cut another project anytime soon?

<brink> ROFL

<brink> Rolling on the floor laughing

<brink> etc

<brink> hehe

<GL Booher> Thanks everyone, enjoyed it...........good night!

<Bob Amos> It's hard to say. Mike is very ill, and right now we're just taking a break and seeing

    how that goes

> Thank all of you for joining us.  If you are not on our mailing list be sure to sign up for it.

<Cosmo 2> This was my first chat. Really great! Thanks Bob and everyone.-- Cosmo

<Bob Amos> Thanks Candi Been lots of fun

<brink> Well whenever you do and start looking for material I'd love to send some tunes your

    way

> I can't thank you enough.  I feel bad that Rick couldn't be with us to enjoy it. 

<brink> where is Rick anyway?

<seth> Bob you were great  thank you.

> Rick is sick tonight so he wasn't able to join us.

<Bob Amos> Thanks to all of you for hanging out for a bit..great fun!

<brink> ah....well hope he feels better

<brink> thanks Bob

<brink> keep up the great writing man

> I hope you'll join us again sometime.  You brought a lot to the Chat!

<gary darling> --gary--see you in a few weeks bob-have fun in fla!

<Bob Amos> Be happy to. Tell Rick hi

<brink> bob....check out my website.    www.brinksongs.com

> We will!!!

<brink> gotta get my shameful self promotion in there ....right Candi

<brink> HEHE

<Bob Amos> Will do

> Thanks again!

<Bob Amos> Bye everyone

<brink> bye

<Cosmo 2> bye