Jeff, As Ruth said to Naomi, ‘Wherever you go, we go!’ (Ruth 1:16) Seriously. You are amazing! I can’t tell you how much you mean to Lauren. You know her style and ability better than anybody. When we began lessons with you 4 years ago, we found a friend for life. We have been talking about trying to find someone who can really help start putting them together. That someone is you! The girls can not do this without you. You would never be competing for the girls’ attention. You are their primary source of instruction. I want their time with you to be focused on producing, recording—implementing their music. You two rock my socks and flip my flops! Brooke feels you are the only person who really ‘gets’ her and helps her to understand what she is trying to accomplish and then can turn around and teach her how to achieve it. We love you! I understand completely where you stand and agree with your philosophies! We are to be set apart. Maybe you have had others who could just walk out of your lives, but there are just people worth fighting for. Just suffice to know we love you, pray for you and care deeply for your family.Carrie DeLeary, Parent

These were and still are priceless patches of endearment, great sources of strength for us through uncertain times and lasting lessons in trust and loyalty—from May 1, 2006 on.

Writing, arranging and recording is a full-time gig. Space and focus is everything if you want your music to be the best it can be. My last studio album, between touring, took me exactly one year (August to August) to complete. I’m currently sitting on a new live album, a new studio album and a new praise & worship album. Why? Because I know I can’t devote the necessary time and resources to any of them with respect to my current schedule and other commitments. The last thing I want is for others involved to be more involved and available than I can be! When the time is right, Carol Anne and I will pave a way and sacrifice to make them all happen.

I had to choose between theatre and music at some point. Can you do both? Absolutely. I’m living proof. But not simultaneously. Not really. One suffers the other. Both annex too much time and commitment. It’s a question of quantity vs. quality. Some might say it’s a question of insanity vs. sanity!

From a spiritual and scriptural point of view, “Willing the One Thing” from “Shells” by Rob Bell, comes to mind.

Parenting is a full-time gig. Praise & worship is a full-time gig. Teaching is a full-time gig. Building and maintaining strong relationships with family and friends is the full-time gig. I need to work on “willing the one thing” in my life. God steers us in new and unexpected directions. Say “no” so that you can say “yes.”

Sometimes it’s more obvious to others what one should be doing with his or her time. I got that speech later than sooner. This idea of throwing as many career paths against the wall and wondering which one sticks, slows you down and gets in the way. In the immortal words of Nike, “Just do it!” Be focused. Be purposeful.

At the end of the day, limits are an artist’s worst enemy. Happiness is what matters most and if you’re happy, that’s a good thing.

Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.Oscar Wilde

Never write or perform based on what you think others, including your fans, friends, family, etc. want to hear/see. Be you and only you, otherwise it’s easy to lose yourself—and for the love of Mike, never carry a celebrity air about you unless you are and steer as far away from selfies, branding a crowd your “fans” (unless they are) and don’t pretend it’s a privilege to follow and support your career and artistry with “Backstage Pass” gimmicks, for example. It’s self-indulgent. It’s a reality show you’ve created for yourself, not a genuine reality that reflects your body of work. If you’re wearing your own merchandise, you’re dizzy, to put it lightly.

Producing aside, I adore writing sessions. I believe in students to tears. I don’t believe in just anybody with the passion that I believe in some. In other words, I’m hard to impress! I didn’t have someone willing to go to bat for me when I was young. I had to claw my way up through the circuit from scratch. Now I have my very own place and have so much in store for writers/artists to season their skills and apply it to any project they’re involved in.

We normally keep each skill study quarantined. We teach guitar, piano, etc. We also do half-hour and hour-producing/songwriting sessions for aspiring songwriters—a singer/songwriter program. Any guitar, piano, voice, etc. I teach can be in tandem with those writing sessions if applicable to help support the songwriting and performance aspects of the songwriter.

I’m more interested in producing, developing songwriting skills, the process and the autonomy of the artist as opposed to just co-writing and grabbing publishing credits. It’s always great to write with different songwriters and I encourage that. Be careful not to water down your publishing rights, though. There are a lot of songwriters that feed on artists and will encourage “tweaking” a “done-written” song that’s ready for producing/arranging, in order to attach themselves to a publishing split. This is why a lot of artists in my circles have left Nashville and L.A. for Austin, Boston, Atlanta and other areas, in an effort to avoid these songwriting unions and conglomerates. They’re called “Songwriting Syndicates.” There’s a big difference between paying a flat fee for producing/arranging as opposed to co-writing/publishing splits. A great example of this is to look at the number of co-writers on any given song in any circle you may be operating within. Again, I’m more interested in standing artists on their own two feet so they can “get on with it,” so to speak.

You can feel woven into someone’s fabric. There’s nothing more embarrassing than overestimating your worth in someone else’s eyes. Surrender your desire for relevance in a business that’s all about relevance and you’ll discover the sincerity necessary to sustain an artistic career.

Some studios openly discourage humility, particularly in the Christian sense and some go as far as to cite certain students as to how those students are going to “put them on the map.” We’re meant to help you put yourself on the map! We take further issue when youth-based studios allocate fundraising towards projects/productions highly inappropriate for kids. It’s irresponsible. These are deep, competing philosophies.

We openly discourage teaching private voice, for example, to any student taking private voice from another instructor. It’s not fair to either instructor or the student. There’s competing interests. Competing methods. Producing is often part of the package. When I strictly focus on producing, in the strictest sense of the word, problems often surface when other private instructors steer the artist(s), particularly their voices, in different directions. We’ve been down that road and it becomes a bigger problem than you might think. There is a clear understanding with me that developing artists can take as many dance or other group classes under the sun, but privates are either or.

I approach private sessions with love, accountability and great care. I want nothing but the best for those I develop. I work hard on “willing the one thing.” God steers us in new and unexpected directions. The last thing either of us should want is for neither of us to give each other the time and attention we both deserve. I’m still and always will be here for prior students as a friend or mentor. Some developing artists are beyond private lesson 101’s and ready to be “produced” when the grip on other commitments loosen.

Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them become what they are capable of becoming.Goethe

Recording

How much time are you wasting in the studio? Hours? Days? Months? Years?! Here’s some perspective… Days The Beatles Spent in Studio by Album… Please Please Me: 3; With The Beatles: 7; A Hard Days Night: 8; Beatles For Sale: 8; Help: 12; Rubber Soul: 17; Revolver: 33; Sgt. Pepper…: 55; Magical Mystery Tour: 33; The White Album: 73; Yellow Submarine: 18; Abby Road: 47; Let It Be: 13; Total Days Together: 2735 (7.5 years); Total Days in Studio: 327

Publishing

BMI and ASCAP mostly deal with performance and pay-per-play/broadcast and rarely stay on top of monitoring anything. Concern yourself with mechanical and digital distribution license royalties and your percentage. Unless anyone else you write with is registered with Harry Fox, they have to keep track/audit the percentages and cut checks themselves. I have to do that with my own publishing.

BMI does apportion 200%. Typically, 100% of the 200% is set for the publisher. The other 100% is then divided between songwriters. Arrangements and recording performances aren’t considered a writing credit, but rather a flat production fee paid to musicians and producers. Sometimes producers work out writing credit as payment, otherwise it’s typically a flat fee. BMI does now allow for live performance royalties. Publishing/writing can be a nasty biz, especially in “Cashville,” which is why I learned the do’s and don’t’s early on from my mentors, producers and instructors. I’m working on publishing a film soundtrack under my label and dealing with folks like Avalon. Film and cue sheets are even messier publishing stuff.

An askhole is someone who constantly asks you for your advice, yet always does the opposite of what you tell them!R. Lawrence