S1 Ep 8: Building Relationships in the Music Business with Leah Hudson

The Verse Chorus

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Building Relationships in the Music Business - with guest Leah Hudson

Songwriting is a big project in our life that is meaningful. Sometimes we have to not only do the heavy lifting by ourselves but also know when we need advice, information and seek help from others. That's not a weakness. It just makes us stronger. Today’s special guest is Leah Hudson from Nashville Songwriters Association International, who's given me some great advice.

Leah's background

Leah was originally from Alabama, but she's now in Nashville. She always had a profound interest in studying human behaviors,not in a psychological way but the cultural aspects of why people do the things that they do. And from a young age, she was fascinated by Native American culture. By the time she got to college and found out about cultural anthropology, she decided to study that major.

Leah Hudson's journey to music

At Troy University, she had an incredible couple of independent study courses with an amazing professor, Dr. Geneve Brooks, who led her to be involved with the blues community. She was introduced to some great local musicians and then got interested in protest music, like the history of American protest music. At that time, she finally found her strength through that new journey,that she could bring to music an organized mindset.

Leah Hudson's first lesson in the journey

In the beginning, she needed a little something to lean on, whether it's resources or connecting with co-writers. She got the incredible opportunity to do that every day. That's how she ended up figuring out some profound questions to coach newbies that follow the path of songwriting. One of the questions is "Who were your musical influences?" and that helps her get a good starting point of how she can help her students.

From her point of view, every songwriter must spend a good deal of time researching something like who's current, who made this songwriting thing and a possible career path to see the landscape of the songwriting journey.

The growth of a songwriter depends a lot on what he or she put into it, and not just into their membership but their songwriting, hobby and career.

Especially, Leah puts two important things together that lead to growth are a great co-writer and a great songwriting community. You can find a group of people to go through within the journey.

Jason also stated that it is a sort of balance of confidence in humility and being comfortable with being imperfect. This perspective support you to build healthy relationships in the music business. As a result, you can gain from the wisdom of others, which has been good.

When anthropology and music fit together

There is a universal idea of how everything fits together including writing a song. The journey of Leah is the embodiment of what she has experienced from her original study of cultural anthropology and in life. That's the reason why she gravitated towards music in general. She shares that the best part of her job is just hearing great songs.

Dealing with criticism

When being asked about the worst thing that happened to her job, Leah genuinely said that she used to have some people bluntly told her that they were disappointed after they met her. But from her experience, you have to be open to that criticism. Although it can be hard the first time, it's a little less hard the second time and if you're willing to let yourself go through that you can get better.

Good relationships take time

Real trust between people always takes time to be established. Some of the questions that we need to consider first are "How do I meet co-writers? Why should I co-write? How to find those co-writers and What to do when you find them?"

So you have no reason not to get plugged into a community that's local to you. And that can help you find those opportunities and little wins.

But it's also good to take time to ease into that. Tom Douglas does talk about the importance of writing on your own. According to Jason, there are different ways of thinking about using chords or the meter, the lyrics due to co-writing. So you can do it on your own. But some experiences can only be learned from co-writing. That's a big thing.

Leah's last advice for you - a songwriter

Not letting things discourage you, not letting comparison getting in your way. That's why NSAI exists to help you bridge the gap between you and your current writing. Finding a circle and meeting incredible people to help raise you and support you are just priceless. So, let's make friends, just be true and be genuine.

Leah also shared one of her hobbies is that listening to parenting podcasts. She said the podcasters on those shows are not parenting experts. They're just parents. The same for you as a songwriter. You don't need a degree, a book on songwriter education, or have a Grammy to be able to talk about the experience of it. So even if only five people hear your songs, it's worth it. And it's fun.

“It's thinking about just taking joy from the creation, and not worrying too much about how it's gonna look in the end.”

Thank you to Leah for being on the show today, speaking about her experience and the right mindset of a songwriter. To our listeners, please remember to rate, subscribe, and share our podcast with your friends!

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