New song. Finished writing. Thinking about production ideas. Wrote it in about an hour start to finish.

Here's another quick installment on progress on the project of arranging, producing and recording the standard from the 30s Me And My Shadow for the play Thrive by Ellen Crouse. Finished the cello choir arrangement and got all the parts written out. See pic.  Next step is to record the guitar, bass, piano, perc, and … Continue reading Production Update on Me And My Shadow →

Making good progress on producing the song Me And My Shadow for Ellen Crouse's play Thrive.  The play will be produced by the Hip Pocket Theatre later this year and will be directed by Johnny Simons. The song will feature cello choir played by Clay Ruede and vocals by Alice Spencer.  Here are the first … Continue reading Me And My Shadow Update 2 →

Producing Me And My Shadow For Thrive, A Play Written By Ellen Crouse - part 1 This is the first installment for a series of blog posts that will chronicle my journey of producing the song Me And My Shadow written by Al Jolson / Billy Rose / Dave Dreyer.  I am producing it for Ellen … Continue reading Producing Me And My Shadow For Thrive, A Play Written By Ellen Crouse – part 1 →

Full Toolbox vs 7 Steps To Writing a #1 Hit Something new for Art Davis Studios Blog - Each new blog post will now have a special bonus at the end of the article. In the spirit that there are only two things that really matter : Music and Food - and I am hopelessly … Continue reading Full Toolbox vs 7 Steps To Writing a #1 Hit →

  Creative Freedom Using Self-Imposed Limitation I would like to explore the topic of the power of setting a set of limitations at the beginning of creating a work of art.  I'll be relating this to songwriting and composing music but it is relevant to just about any creative endeavor. This idea has been around … Continue reading Creative Freedom Using Self-Imposed Limitation →

Internalizing Songwriting Tools and Techniques The slug line for my Songwriting Theory blog posts is "No Rules Only Tools".  This is somewhat tongue in cheek but actually is something I feel very strongly about.  Theory or technique taught as a set of rules to follow is firstly annoying to anyone who is creative.  And secondly … Continue reading Internalizing Songwriting Tools and Techniques →

8 Tips For Writing A Great Melody Melody oddly enough is probably the most overlooked element in songwriting.  We all tend (and I'm as guilty as anybody) to stress out over chord progressions, lyrics, groove, arrangement, and which reverb to use.  When in actuality melody is a SUPER important  element when it comes to a … Continue reading 8 Tips For Writing A Great Melody →

  This is a pic from the early 70's.  This was the first analog synth studio I ever worked in. It is where I learned analog synthesis.  Its the undergrad electronic music studio at North Texas State University. The graduate studio was even bigger. I got to work there a small amount but spent hours … Continue reading First Analog Moog Studio →