Producer and songwriter David Spencer parks it on the Soup couch this week, bringing a massive amount of cross-genre perspective, jumping from Christian radio hits like Katie Nichole’s "In Jesus Name" to producing a viral TikTok pop smash for Neoni, and even helming Jo Dee Messina’s highly anticipated upcoming return album. But before the chaotic six-week period in 2022 where his career exploded all at once, David lived a grueling double life. He pulls back the curtain on the reality of the Nashville hustle: spending his mornings chasing cuts and his evenings running a private music lesson business, missing family dinners for almost a decade just to keep his dream afloat.

The crew digs into the psychology of songwriting with a day job and the gut wrenching moment you decide to give up a steady income to lean into the dream. It’s a beautiful conversation about surviving the terrifying dips of the music business, why you have to wear multiple hats to survive, and the crucial difference between stubbornly "never giving up" and staying curious enough to just "keep going."

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This week the trio sits down with the tallest man to ever enter the Songwriter Soup lair: producer and songwriter Paul DiGiovanni (“How Not To” Dan + Shay, "The Ones That Didn’t Make It Back Home” Justin Moore, “Lose You” Jordan Davis).

Paul’s journey is a masterclass in the winding road of the music industry, traversing from the height of 2000s emo with Boys Like Girls ("The Great Escape”) to the final frontier of guitars in Nashville. He pulls back the curtain on the raw reality of starting over from scratch - trading TRL interviews and Taylor Swift collabs for a two-bedroom house shared by four dudes in East Nashville. Paul shares his moving-the-dirt philosophy, reminding every new writer that you have to show up for the bad days if you ever want to strike gold.

The crew digs into the nitty gritty of the producer-writer life, exploring why production feels a lot like getting a painful tattoo: a mix of initial excitement, mid-project agony, and a high that only hits once the ink (or the track) is dry.

Between his swoopy-haired band roots and his country success, Paul has plenty of perspective (and tea!) on the music business. It’s a candid look at why you need "that dog" in you to survive the industry’s toxicity and why winning the day in the room is the only drug that keeps the real ones coming back.

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This week we host songwriting couple (each a BMI Songwriters Of The Year of years past), Nicolle Galyon & Rodney Clawson.

We cover the importance of acknowledging your “money scripts” - those things you knew to be true about money when you were a kid that you dragged into your adulthood. We also touch on that moment when success as a songwriter becomes a temptation to delve into different sides of the music industry.

We cover how dynamics at home are affected when spouses bring identical work issues, triumphs and disappointments to the dinner table, and some theories on how to prevent your children from turning into assholes.

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Producer and songwriter Gabe Simon (“Stick Season” Noah Kahan, “Blue Banisters” Lana Del Ray, “The Man That Came Back” Jessie Murph) shares his journey from driving Uber while on a publishing deal to producing career-defining records for Noah Kahan, Dermot Kennedy, and Lana Del Rey. This conversation explores the financial realities of the music business, the importance of community over competition, and how to build sustainable creative careers. Gabe and the crew delve into some new topics for Songwriter Soup, hope you enjoy.

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Trio de Songwriter Soup delve into art/business relationships and more on today’s episode. When it comes to a songwriter’s relationship with an artist, what is loyalty exactly? Is it a good thing? Is it a bad thing?

Man, it sure can get tricky as people come and go (and come and go again). Holding too tightly and/or getting one’s feelings hurt can do damage, internally and externally. Let’s talk about it! But wait, are we even talking about songwriting? Totally.

Are we talking about EVERYTHING? Perhaps? Either way, hope it helps!

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Dave Cohen (“Pray Hard”BigXThaPlug & Luke Combs, “Home” BigXThaPlug & Shaboozey, “Good Day For Living” Joe Nichols) is a previously full time touring musician, 5-time Academy of Country Music and 6-time Music Row Award-winning producer and multi-instrumentalist who pivoted to songwriting in recent years.

There is so much to learn from Dave regarding expanding your toolbox, being a good collaborator and hang, and understanding those subtle hints that are pulling you towards a career path tweak.

This episode covers the ever elusive music row imposter syndrome along with other music maker challenges, and how to treat the next generation better than the previous generation treated you. Enjoy this episode!

Watch Dave's episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/k4qSLGVzApM

Listen to songs Dave's played on: https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/dave-cohen-the-session-musicians/pl.fc1ef8b91a354a8aa76bb694b6242703

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This week the crew is joined by ABSOLUTE LEGEND, artist and GRAMMY-winning songwriter Natalie Hemby (Kacey Musgraves "Rainbow", Miranda Lambert "White Liar", Little Big Town "Pontoon").

The crew dives into that [very real] post-number-one depression, choosing family over touring, and getting pigeonholed as a songwriter. Natalie also shares the story of passing up writing "Shallow" with Lady Gaga and how she may be the only artist who doesn't want her own music to be "too successful".

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Alysa Vanderheym (Rolling Up The Welcome Mat & Patterns Kelsea Ballerini, “Lose Somebody” Kygo & OneRepublic, “Hold On Me” Jelly Roll) gets into some big fat topics on the pod this week.

The discussion covers craftsmanship, critical acclaim and the risks and advantages of artists who veer away from the radio and towards a finer art.

The juiciest part of this episode BY FAR is when the crew talks about points, fees, the risk of sending around your production stems, and how easily songwriters get blacklisted for asking for things like participation in income streams aside from copyright royalties.

This episode is chock full of sensitive and delicate topics, ones you’ll want to know more about before you’re in the middle of these dramas yourself.

Knowing is truly half the battle, so let’s educate ourselves, kids!

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