Eric Church isn't a fan of modern-day songwriters. The singer recently put the next generation of scribes on blast for refusing to hone their craft.
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He also took fans down memory lane reflecting on how he learned to get better at songwriting. Speaking on How Leaders Lead with David Novak podcast, Church said it all started at a bar for him.
He said, "I walked in this bar. They were like, 'Hey, that guy's been doing it for 30 years, he's wrote for Waylon, he wrote this song for George Jones.' I just walked up, new kid, introduced myself. And he took a liking to me, and he started introducing me to all the old dogs in town. The guys that were really committed to their craft."
He said that he worked to hone his craft and conversed with those who knew what they were doing.
He said, "It wasn't just about writing a song and releasing a song. It was about crafting a song. And even if it never made any commercial success at all, knowing your craft and being the best at your craft and working at that craft allows you a chance to have so much more success."
He continued, "And he introduced me to all these old writers that had been doing it forever. That was my workshop. That was my woodshed. Every day I would go write with these guys, and I got better, and I got better, and I got better. And I learned that it's not just about sitting down and writing an idea. It's about crafting that. It's about understanding the craft of songwriting, and understanding the business that I was in, with the best in the world."
Eric Church Blasts Social Media As Cause
However, Church said that a lot of modern-day songwriters skip this process. They just go straight to TikTok, drop their songs, and don't spend time really reflecting on what they just wrote.
He said, "A lot of new guys now, they skip that process. They go on TikTok, they write a song, it's out. They never go through the craft part. Is this the best that I could write this idea? Is this the best song that it could be? And in those rooms they challenged every idea, they challenged every turn of the phrase, and it taught me how to look at things a different way than I would have if I had taken a different path."
According to Church, it's more of an attention-span problem. They don't let their songs marinate and stew. Instead, they'll drop the song on social media immediately after writing it.
He said, "Technology is not a bad thing. It allows more people access to music, which is a good thing. It removes some of the gatekeepers. But the downside is, I see a lot of young artists today. And I've voiced this, and I believe this. They'll write a song on a Tuesday, and they'll put it on TikTok on a Wednesday. And they'll write a song on a Friday, and they'll put it on TikTok on a Saturday. The song could be great. But I don't know you anymore than I did before unless I know how to get to know you, which is to put in an album and go that way."
