Darius Coleman of NBC’s “Songland” Shares The Journey of a Song Writer

Show Notes

Darius Coleman of the hit NBC TV Show, Songland joins us to share about working with Ryan Tedder, appearing on Songland, who encouraged him to become a full-time musician, the power of mentorship and much more. 

DariusColemanMusic.com 

  1. Yes, yes, and yes! Darius Coleman, welcome onto The Thrivetime Show, how are you sir?
  2. Darius, you gave the Grammy Award-winning songwriter for the likes of Adele, Taylor Swift, U2 and Paul McCartney goosebumps on Songland. What was that experience on Songland like?
    1. It was an interesting moment for me, because, going into it, I had a clear idea of my own focus and intentions. I thought that my song was great and gave me a great opportunity to show off my voice.
    2. Getting the reaction from the producers was such a humbling experience for me.
    3. It was a really blessed experience
    4. Many times, people forget that someone put the people who are in the spotlight where they are. It costs nothing to pay someone a compliment.
    5. We can be more honest with one another and not let our ego get in front of us.
    6. If someone is on the fence about whether or not they should do it, I encourage everyone to just be the best you, you can be whatever you can do.
    7. I have had the fortune to build a career for myself and it has all been based on the support of people who believe in me.
    8. I want to serve as an example of what is possible
  3. How did you first hear about Songland and what was the process like of getting onto the show?
    1. There is someone I had a relationship within the industry and I didn’t know anything about the show until I heard it from my contact.
    2. They had referred me for the show and to look out for a call or an email.
    3. I heard from the casting department, we had a few interviews on the phone, and I got a call shortly after that I had been cast for the show.
    4. I didn’t know who’s episode I would appear on and I didn’t know until 2 days before we started filming.
  4. I heard you say on the show that working with Ryan Tedder was on your Dream Board…what does your Dream Board look like? 
    1. I had a vision board that I had created and it had very clear intentions.
    2. It had various producers and songwriters I wanted to work with.
    3. It had awards I wanted to win
    4. It had different venues I wanted to play in
  5. When I attended Oral Roberts University, Ryan Tedder live right across the hall and was one of the most diligent and hardworking people even at the age of 19-20 years old…what was the best coaching and musical mentorship that you received from Ryan during the show about your song “Better Luck Next Time?”
    1. The blessing was that most of the time we spent talking was learning about one another.
    2. The producers all felt that the core of the song didn’t need many notifications
    3. They didn’t want any lyrics to change
    4. Writing for another artist is like being a tailor. The measurements of what you’re designing has to fit the body of the person you’re dressing.
    5. It was great to be able to hear from someone you look up to that I should keep being an active listener.
  6. Is it true that you have had opportunities to sign with a company?
    1. Yes, I have been contacted and I was not willing to compromise for the deal.
    2. One of the things I learned when I was a kid while my dad and I were in the car is that you can never purchase a good reputation.
    3. You have to build your name to open doors
    4. I am the same person on camera and off camera 
  7. I heard you mention on the show that you have been singing background vocals…how did you get started doing this?
    1. I was in vocal school and was told by a musical prodigy that I could really sing well.
    2. That ignited my passion for music like I never had before
  8. What are your goals for the next 12 months with your music career?
    1. Dariuscoleman.com
    2. @DariusColemanMusic
    3. I have new music coming out with the other guests on SongLand
    4. My team and I are working to produce my next EP and I am currently working on it right now.
    5. I am working on a visual with my team as well.
    6. I have two shows I will be at in the month of August.

Darius Coleman 101: 

Darius J. Coleman was born and raised in Philadelphia always pursuing his passion for art. From his father’s house of worship to working with Timbaland as a lead songwriter for the hit FOX show, Empire, Darius has spent more than a decade pursuing a career in the arts, whether it be for dancing, fashion design or music. He’s an alumnus of the esteemed Creative and Performing Arts High School (CAPA) and after working several years in Philadelphia, moved to Los Angeles about a year ago.

With his recent appearance on the new and popular NBC show, Songland, his song, Better Luck Next Time, got chosen by Kelsea Ballerini (multi-Grammy & Billboard nominated country artist) to be released as her new single. The song dropped as the #2 overall song on the iTunes charts and was highest-charting song to date from Songland. As of mid-July 2019, the song has also been streamed over 5.5 million times on Spotify.

Major Projects, Associations & Musicians Darius Coleman Has Been Part Of:

    • FOX network show EMPIRE
      • The FOX network television show, Empire, centers around the hip hop music and entertainment industry. Empire Entertainment is the media company with headlines stars of the show, Terrance Howard & Taraji P. Hensen, leading the dramatic encounters, twists and turns of each season. The show will conclude with its sixth season in the fall of 2019 and its produced various nominations and awards from the BET & Golden Globes. 
      • Darius Coleman serves as the lead songwriter for the show with his music and entertainment production company, North 13th, providing support on the backend. 
    • Becky G
      • Rebbeca Marie Gomez, or famously known as Becky G, works as an American songwriter, singer & actress. She’s known primarily for her music in the latin america genre, with hits like “Mayories (ft. Bad Bunny)” receiving multiple awards at the Latin American Music Awards. 
      • During Darius Coleman’s time working on the tv show, Empire, she was among numerous artists he collaborated with.
    • Jussie Smollett
      • Beginning as a child actor in hit films like The Mighty Ducks in 1992, and North in 1994, Jussie Smollet continues to work as an American actor and singer. He shined as a prominent role in the first two seasons as “Jamal Lyon” in the FOX television series, Empire.
      • Jussie Smollett also worked with Darius Coleman during their time working on the television show.
    • Timbaland
      • Timbaland (whose full name is Timothy Zachary Mosley), has created an empire with his work as a rapper, producer, DJ, songwriter & even singer. He’s become wildly successful in the music industry not only for his legacy as a producer with the creation of American R&B’s “stuttering kick-drums template,” but also for plenty of major hit songs including Apologize with Ryan Tedder & OneRepublic, Summer Love with Justin Timberlake, & Promiscuous with Nelly Furtado. 
      • Darius Coleman got the opportunity to work closely with Timbaland during his time writing on Empire and for multiple records afterwards. 
    • Babyface
      • Ken “Babyface” Edmonds lives on as one of the biggest R&B names in the business. With over 26 #1 R&B hits that he’s written and produced plus 11 Grammy Awards, you could say the man solidified himself as an all-time great American record producer, singer & songwriter. He’s even been ranked in the New Music Express’s “50 of the Greatest Producers Ever List” as the #20 producer all-time.
      • It’s unclear how and when Darius Coleman collaborated with Babyface, but he Darius remarks that Babyface gave him the best advice he’s received so far from anyone in the business. “Never forget that only you can tell your story the way you can tell your story.”
    • Anita Baker
      • As a legend in the singer-songwriter and R&B genres, Anite Denise Baker is often propped up as a top 10 singer of soulful romantic ballads in the 1980’s especially. Ever since the mid-2010’s, Anita holds eight Grammy awards, five platinum awards & on platinum album.
      • Darius Coleman opened for Anita Baker at one of his appearances in the African American Heritage Festival in Philadelphia.
    • The Creative and Performing Arts High School (CAPA)
      • As an esteemed arts high school not just in Philadelphia, but throughout the country, The Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts, commonly known as CAPA, exists as a magnet school. Students apply to attend and if accepted, they graduate with a certain arts focus out of the seven they choose from; Theater, Dance, Television (MDTV), Visual Arts, Creative Writing, Music & Media Design and Instrumental Music. 
      • Darius Coleman graduated from CAPA and joined an a great group of talent with artists like Leslie Odom Jr., Jazmine Sullivan, Black Thought, Questlove & the Boyz II Men group.
    • Channel 6 ABC Thanksgiving Day Parade
      • Currently the longest running, oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States, the 6abc Dunkin’ Donuts Thanksgiving Day Parade is organized every year in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 
      • Darius Coleman made multiple performance appearances during the several years he worked in Philadelphia, his hometown.
    • The HOT 107.9 FM Philly Radio Station 
      • a commercial FM radio station that operates in the Philadelphia region. At the start of 2013, Darius Coleman was named as one of their “Top People to Watch Out for in 2013”. Here’s what the station had to say about Darius Coleman in their article featuring him as their “Watch Out Artist” in 2013.
        • “Get ready for a revolution, the likes of which have not been seen before. If you’ve been waiting for radical change, your wait is over. Darius has the goods and is willing and able to deliver.”
    • Interviewed by Talent Recap
      • Talent Recap is a media company exclusively investigating and writing updates for talent competitions. These would include shows like America’s Got Talent, American Idol, The Voice & other similar shows. As their website discusses, they are “the only independent website which is exclusively dedicated to the fans of the most popular talent shows around the world.”
      • Darius Coleman had a sitdown interview on camera with Talent Recap after the results from episode 3 of Songland. 
    • Interviewed by iHeart Radio
      • Originally found as iheartmusic.com, iHeartRadio functions as a subsidiary of the internet media company, iHeartMedia. Headquartered out in San Antonio, Texas, the media company earned approximately $6.33 Billion in revenue for 2018. iHeartRadio aggregates over 850 radio stations locally across the United States. 
      • iHeartRadio looks to have a partnership with Songland to record audio podcasts/radio broadcasts of interviews with each winner in each episode. Darius Coleman and Kelsea Ballerini were interviewed after the conclusion of Songland’s 3rd episode results. 
    • Songland
      • Undiscovered songwriters pitch their original creations to superstar recording artists and a panel of chart-topping music producers in hopes of creating the artists’ next megahits. The songwriters tailor and evolve their songs to perfectly fit the artists, who will choose one winning song to record and release worldwide.
      • The panel of songwriters include Ryan Tedder; Grammy-winning musician who’s written for top artists like Adele & Beyonce; Grammy-nominatee Ester Dean, songwriter of hits for Rihanna and Katy Perry; and Grammy-winning country music icon with 38 No. 1 records, Shane McAnally.
      • Each episode of the show sees a group of aspiring songwriters competing for the chance to have their tune recorded and released by a featured artist. After panelists Ester Dean, Shane McAnally, and Ryan Tedder workshop the songwriters’ tracks, the featured artist of the week gets to decide who wins.
    • Kelsea Ballerini
      • Kelsea Ballerini rose to fame quite recently with her trend-setting alternative style with the country genre. In the 2017 Grammy awards, Ballerini received nominations for “Best New Artist” and in 2019’s Grammy awards for “Best Country Album.” 
      • Kelsea was the celebrity artist featured for episode 3 of Songland. Darius Coleman’s song Better Luck Next Time was picked by her and Kelsea greatly admired the vocal expertise of Darius. She went as far as having Darius in studio with her for the recording to be available to coach her up to his singing capabilities.
    • Ryan Tedder
      • Ryan Tedder, former Oral Roberts University student, made a name for himself when his song Apologize got produced and featured on one of Timbaland’s albums. Ever since then his band OneRepublic, tours the world performing chart-topping songs like Stop and Stare and Secrets. As a songwriter, Ryan has worked with dozens upon dozens of artists to create number one hits. The list includes A-list musicians like Beyonce, Ed Sheeran, the Jonas Brothers, Taylor Swift and U2 among many more musicians.
      • Ryan Tedder worked directly with Darius Coleman during the studio production and edits of his song Better Luck Next Time. It was obviously throughout each of Darius’s performances that Ryan genuinely loved hearing him sing and even gave the artist a hug after his first performance. Darius had placed Ryan Tedder’s name on his “vision board” of musicians and songwriters to work with in his lifetime.
    • Meek Mill
      • Meek Mill or also known as Robert Rihmeek Williams, began has music career as a battle rapper in the mid-2000s and would introduce his first music album to the world at #2 on the U.S. Billboard 200. 
      • As an American rapper and songwriter, Darius Coleman and his company, BiPolar Media, worked with Meek Mill among other artists.
    • Lil Wayne
      • The American rapper, singer, songwriter, entrepreneur & record executive Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. began his career in 1995 at the age of 12 years old. Lil Wayne earned a spot on Cash Money Records as the youngest member on the label. With his sixth album Tha Carter III in 2008, Lil Wayne gained supreme dominance in the music industry with one million copies in its first week of sales. Not only that, but the album won Grammy awards for “Best Rap Album” in 2008. 
      • Lil Wayne has collaborated with many artists in various genres over time, with Darius Coleman working as one of those collaborators.
    • Camila Cabello
      • With on the biggest songs in the last year, Karla Camila Cabello Estrabao dropped his debut album in 2018 with the hit song, “Havana.” The album rose to #1 on the Billboard 200 charts topped several other country charts around the world. Before becoming a solo artist, she worked with Fifth Harmony group who got popular from the X Factor USA television series. 
      • Darius Coleman also got to work with Camila on songwriting with his company, BiPolar Media.
    • Kanye West
      • In the span of this American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, fashion designer, songwriter & singer’s career, Kanye West has 4 #1 hits on the Billboard 200 list and a total of 211 awards to his name. He’s known to be an instigator with various endeavors. Whether it’s hip hop music, visual arts, architecture or social influences, it’s never surprising to find Kanye West shaking up the culture.
      • Darius Coleman worked with Kanye during his time in Los Angeles as a backup vocalist.
    • John Legend
      • John Legend (legally known as John Roger Stephens) has built up quite the catalogue of diverse works and songs. Before releasing hot singles and album himself, he collaborated with the likes of Kanye West, Jay-Z & Alicia Keys. He’s the first black man to receive the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar & Tony award and also the 2nd youngest to achieve this milestone.
      • Darius Coleman has worked with John Legend as a backup vocalist multiple times in his career.
  • The Philadelphia Inquirer
    • As the third-oldest daily newspaper in the United States, The Philadelphia Inquirer operates as the eighteenth largest US newspaper circulation and its writers have won twenty Pulitzer Prizes over its lifetime. 
    • Darius Coleman got an in-depth feature in The Inquirer during a Youtube and social media campaign called #sidewalkserenades. He walked around local parks and asked the girls if he could serenade them on camera. The article also highlighted a number of Darius’s accolades and accomplishments.
  • Recorded His Work in Sigma Sounds Studio in Philadelphia
    • A famous landmark in Philadelphia, Sigma Sounds Studio was founded in 1968 and it was a groundbreaking music studio in the United States, with capabilities to record 24-tracks at a time and be the first to employ successful console automation.
    • Darius Coleman spent much of his time working in this studio to improve his sound and capabilities recording music. At one time, he decided to do no performances live and focus for two years exclusively in the Sigma Sounds Studio to hone in on his craft.
  • The Miami Marlins
    • The Miami Marlins are the Major League Baseball’s team based out of Miami, Florida. Darius Coleman performed at the arena after one of their games in 2019.
  • The Philadelphia Phillies
    • The Major League Baseball team, Philadelphia Phillies, are in the National League East division and recently made headline news this past offseason acquiring multi-all star player, Bryce Harper. 
    • Darius Coleman sang the national anthem during a home game during his time in Philadelphia.

What Musicians Inspire Darius Coleman’s Style?

  • He pulls from artists all over the pop, jazz & gospel genres. Some of the favorite artists he’s mentioned are Kim Burrell, Jazmine Sullivan, Michael Buble, John Legend, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Donnie Hathaway, Nat King Cole, Beyoncé and Celine Dion.
  • He’s commented before saying about his songwriting and style, “I’m a sponge and I absorb from many different talents, but these in specific have been especially instrumental in shaping who I am artistically.”
  • His style is often described as warm and soothing to the ears. Various blogs and music websites label his style as “urban gospel” and compare him to artists like Donnie Hathaway due to his silky smooth voice. He even self-proclaims his own voice and music in the same way. 

How Did His Time in Philadelphia Influence Him?

From the day he was born, he grew up in a very musical household. His father, Gilbert Coleman, sang for various bands and music groups, building relationships with musicians like Berry Gordy and Marvin Gaye. At one time in the 1970’s, he even came very close to becoming a member of the Temptations. His father in the 1980’s turned to his true calling in ministry and since became a bishop for Freedom Christian Bible Fellowship in Philadelphia. 

Darius proclaims his love for music and the arts as “accidental” since he was surrounded by it all his life. Until he attended the Creative and Performing Arts High School (CAPA), he always saw music as a fun hobby. The priority was to become a professional dancer. He daydreamed of one day dancing with the likes of Michael Jackson. 

During a choir session at the high school though, he connected with Jazmine Sullivan, who would become an 11-time Grammy award-winning artist. As Jazmine was playing the keys, Darius was singing and it completely impressed Jazmine. So much so, that she stopped him in the middle singing and genuinely asked, “Do you know you can sing?” This stopped Darius in his tracks to get this straightforward recognition from someone who would become such a huge hit in the music world. It was at that moment where he decided to pursue his real passion, getting big in music and songwriting.

He explains further that it was the first time at CAPA that he was surrounded by people just as passionate about their craft. In fact, It “exposed his lack of passion for dance.” He realized that while he loved to dance, his fellow students were on a different level of fascination for the art. Once he got the validation from Jazmine Sullivan, he dove even deeper into songwriting and music. He’s never looked back since.

What’s Darius’s Best Advice For People Wanting to “Make It” in Music?

“The advice that I would offer to aspiring artists, writers, producers or creatives is that you must remain consistent in your efforts in order to see any real progress. Yes, there are some anomalies that blast off straight out the gate but for most people who succeed in this industry, it takes time. Allow yourself to stand firmly on God’s timing and trust that His plan is better than yours. Keep writing, keep singing, keep making beats and then seek out what’s available to you and start building there. Don’t worry about what you don’t have. Start with what you do have and be faithful over that. God will provide the increase!”

What’s the Origins Behind Better Luck Next Time?

Better Luck Next Time originated out of a woman’s story of love and heartbreak. It was while Damian was in a recording session with a friend and this girl. She was so into this guy who shared relatively no interest in her at all. As she described the story and emotions of the situation with Damian, his buddy was playing something on the guitar. Damian stopped him and exclaimed, “Record that man. I’ve got some lyrics to put down.” The lyrics reflect what he wishes she would’ve said to this dude. In 20 or 25 minutes, all the lyrics quickly came to him, as he puts it, in a miraculous manifestation from God. He attributes these moments of inspiration for lyrics and cuts as periods God uses him as a “vessel” to articulate the words and ideas.

What Was Songland Like for Darius Coleman?

In Los Angeles, there are tons of opportunities to make money for artists. For instance, that’s where Damian received his opportunities to sing backup vocals for artists like Kayne West, Camila Cabello & John Legend. In fact, when he got the call for Songland, he just confirmed a gig for John Legend a second time after doing a prior gig in the iHeart Awards.

He got the tip about the show from a colleague of his in the music business. They called him one day and said, “Hey man, I’m going to put your name in as a person to appear on Songland.” For Damian, he didn’t take it extremely seriously at the start because he previously saw opportunities come and go for other competition shows like American Idol or The Voice. There were a lot of unknowns with the whole experience too. Damian didn’t know who the A-list musician would be beforehand or who he would work with one-on-one in the studio. He simply chose Better Luck Next Time for his song because he was simply confident that this was a great, well-written song. 

As he approaches the songwriter panel, he came in with a calm feeling of confidence. He’d done a great job rehearsing the song prior to showing up and expressed in an interview what he was telling himself mentally, “Don’t feel like you need to overly impress them. Just be you and if they like or not, that doesn’t matter. Just be you.” He felt a sensation of being in the exact place at the right time. 

As he finished singing the song, he received great confirmation in his decision to pitch this song. The songwriters expressed that they shouldn’t change much about the song, but to mold it here and there specifically for Kelsea’s voice. The songwriters loved the melody and lyrics so much that they continued to sing the song during Damian’s post-performance interview off-stage.

His time with Ryan Tedder was a dream come true experience. He knew on some level that he’d interact with Ryan Tedder, but they got the opportunity to work one-on-one with his song. The few edits they made in the studio on-film and off-film involved dropping the key to a more comfortable range for Kelsea, editing the main chorus melody line to end in a scale-up vocally, changing from an acoustic guitar leading the track to an electric guitar & including some lower-register drum patterns with the song. 

Since there are so few major edits with the song, Damian and Ryan invested time into connecting and for Ryan to validate Damian’s journey up in the music industry. “We got to really talk and get to know each other quite well since there were such few edits. We talked about our journeys and the similar points of pivot we made in our creative careers.” They were both encouraged by someone important in their lives to go for a music career at the right times. For Ryan Tedder, it was a music teacher and for Damian Coleman, it was a fellow student at CAPA, Jazmine Sullivan.

In the final round, Damian sang the final version of Better Luck Next Time and as the other two competitors stood there for Kelsea’s answer, Damian thought he saw signs that he wouldn’t be picked. Kelsea talked about how she was looking for a song for her to explore and branch off with. Since Damian originally recorded it with an acoustic guitar, he anticipated one of his competitors to get chosen. As Kelsea begins to say the song, Damian reads her lips and quickly realizes that it’s his song. 

The huge WOW moment for Damian during the whole process obviously involved winning, but he goes deeper with the moment. “For a black kid from Philadelphia to be on a national television show where his song was picked for one of the biggest female country artists…there’s nothing that can keep you from achieving something.” As a result of the work on Songland, his direct message requests have blown up and his company, North 13th, now has much more opportunity to shine and work for artists around the world.

Questions for Darius Coleman:

  1. The Hot 107.9 FM article wrote that your musical talents “come from a family rich in musical heritage.” Talk to me about your family’s influence on your music.
    1. He grew up in a musical household and father was a pastor of a church. So he “accidentally” got into singing through that influence.
    2. His father sang internationally in various bands such as The Houserockers during the 1970s and developed relationships with Motown’s Berry Gordy and Marvin Gaye. The elder Coleman even came close to becoming a member of the Temptations.
    3. “They supported me financially, showed up to my performances, shared my music with their friends and encouraged me to keep going when times got rough. They’ve been by my side every step of the way; especially my parents!”
  2. You’ve worked for several years to get noticeable over in Philadelphia. How has the past year of living in LA gone for you? Was it a shocker or a smooth transition?
    1. “It’s reignited a new dimension of storytelling being out in LA.” – Damian Coleman
  3. Talk to me about the decade of work in Philadelphia. With articles online from the Hot 107.9 and other reviewers in 2013, to booking big venues and becoming a lead songwriter for the FOX network show, Empire, what were some lows you faced during the decade-long grind to where you are now?
    1. For instance, you mentioned that during your time on Songland, you were actually still couch surfing in Los Angeles right?
    2. You even wrote and recorded your most recent EP in an AIR BnB!
  4. What was it like competing against these other artists? Looks like you actually produced your most recent single (High of U) with Daniel Feels, one of the competitors.
    1. https://twitter.com/dariuscoleman_/status/1141874807585120256 
    2. “We get to establish a ton of relationships to foster great songs forever.” – Damian Coleman
  5. You’ve gotten to play at a lot of venues and cool places in your young career. Tribute shows for artists like Jazmine Sullivan, headlining for Anita Baker, performing at a Miami Marlins baseball game, “God Bless America” at the Philadelphia Phillies game, in front of ladies in the park during your #sidewalkserenades series…which has been your most memorable performance (aside from obviously the Songland show)?
  6. How did you get connected to the show Songland? According to a Talent Recap interview, someone submitted your name for you to be a featured songwriter.
  7. What was the whole process like? We see a bunch of competition shows on television, but most are pretty unaware about the whole process. That’s especially true since the first time we see you is for your one episode.
    1. What does casting work for instance?
    2. “For the selection process, they do a TON of research on their candidates and pre-interviewing prior to featuring you on the show.”
  8. Were you optimistic that you would get placed in the show? Apparently you faced a lot of close calls with possible appearances on The Voice, American Idol, and other competition shows?
    1. “I would be signed if I was willing to be someone I’m not,” said Coleman. “Darius still has to live with Darius.”
  9. Now you’ve talked about being a Christian guy in the secular music world. What kinds of opportunities did you have to say no to because of your worldview?
  10. What’s it like having these Grammy-winning producers and songwriters work on and critique the song right in front of you?
  11. Now Kelsea Ballerini picked your song and when it was released, it topped the charts and landed #2 overall on iTunes charts. It was also the highest charting song to date from Songland. On Spotify it’s also got over 5.5 million streams. What’s been some of the aftermath for you as a songwriter or recording artist? Surprising phone calls for big name artists haha?
    1. https://www.thewrap.com/nbc-songland-jonas-brothers-greenlight-kelsea-ballerini-better-luck-next-time/
    2. “The DMs have been FUUUULLLLLLL.” – Damian Coleman w/Talent Recap
  12. Do you believe you’ve already made it as a music professional? Or is there a vision ahead of you where you’ll be able to say, “Oh yeah, I made it?”
    1. “Speaking it into existence now.. my music will allow me to win multiple Grammy awards and touch the heart and souls of BILLIONS of amazing people. This weekend is just the beginning” – Tweet on January 26th, 2018
  13. You talk about how the best advice you received about songwriting came from Babyface.
    1. “never forget that only you can tell your story the way you can tell your story.” – Please dive into what this means to you and why it’s so significant.
  14. Speaking of advice, you also commented on the best advice you’d have for young up-and-coming musicians or songwriters.
    1. “The advice that I would offer to aspiring artists, writers, producers or creatives is that you must remain consistent in your efforts in order to see any real progress.”
    2. Talk to us about the power of the grind and committing to a decade in the business.
    3. How often do you see musician friends fall to the wayside with their dreams and ambitions?
  15. How impactful was it to work with a guy like Ryan Tedder, a man who was on your vision board?
    1. He has such phenomenal instincts. What amazes me is that they didn’t dramatically change the record that much. The songwriters even stated on the show that Damian came in with a well-polished song. They just need to make it closer to Kelsea’s range and style.
    2. We got to really talk and get to know each other quite well since there were such few edits. We talked about our journeys and the similar points of pivot. They were both encouraged by someone important to go after music at the right times.
  16. You talked on an interview with Talent Recap, “I don’t do average. It’s either great or it’s not. It’s nothing.” Talk to us about what this actually looks like for your songwriting process.
  17. Talk about North 13th and starting up this company with your family. What has been the result of starting a company with other family members?

Other Links and References:

 

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