A headshot portrait of vocalist Nina Simone.
I am a huge, enormous, gigantic, massive music freak. I mean, gigabytes of digital, CDs, and even a few bits of vinyl.
Today, producer Roy Hurst and I put together a feature on a book called I Got Thunder: Black Women Songwriters and Their Craft.
LaShonda Katrice Barnett interviewed more than 40 black female musicians in her quest to know about the craft of songwriting. She shares what she learned in her book, and both as a journalist and a music fan, I was fascinated.
When you listen to our piece you'll get a taste of a few great songs by women including Nina Simone and Joan Armatrading, and how they viewed themselves as artists. Being an artist of any sort is not an easy path, and in the book, many of these women share their scars.
One of the points Barnett made was that many of these women are known as singers, but not as songwriters. As an example, she referenced Billie Holiday's self-written and beautifully sung "Don't Explain," one of my absolute favorite songs. In fact, I previously discussed the song with Farah Jasmine Griffin, author of If You Can't Be Free Be a Mystery: In Search of Billie Holiday.
So, for all of you who write songs out there — and I know some of you do — how do you do it? And for those of you who appreciate the craft, what gets you? The lyrics? The melodies? The blend?
And, by the way, enjoy your holiday.
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