2 Years and Running pt. 5 -Country Mudd

Starting in late '06 I went through a country phase, writing close to an album's worth of country tunes in a few months. I think it was probably instigated by the fact that I was going to a lot song sessions with people from Nashville, but I was raised on country so it's in me anyway. 'Rollin' Away' was the first one of that phase and 'One Good Woman' was also written during that period.

If you're one who's spent a lot of time checking out tunes on mikemudd.net, you'll probably have heard 'Black Eye and a Broken Heart.' To me, it's the quintessential country-rock song, but I was told by a 'Nashville publisher' that I should do a complete re-write because these days the protagonist is never the drinker.

I'm not sure she knew what she was talking about because last month I did a country music focus group (always looking for a way to make an extra buck in my free time), and I heard numerous popular and up and coming songs where the singer talks about drinking in the 1st person. It was one of the running themes, and as everyone knows a mainstay of country. Hell, when I was in Texas last year the first song that came on the radio when we turned it on was 'Crack the Jack and Crank the Hank'...

I'm also not one to do more than minor editing to a song anyway. It's not that I think that my words are so profound, but that I'd rather spend the time writing a new song. That's the main reason why I don't go to too many songwriting workshops anymore. I'm more interested in what people like about a song than I am about what I should do to improve the current song.
Black Eye and a Broken Heart