industry you have to have the heart that wants now, she was certainly speaking wisdom. She [WM] I was reading Psalm 71 recently and
to know and love people. It’s not about trophies also inspired something inside of me to go, came across verse 18 (CEB), which says,
on your lapel. It’s really about connections you “You can still be a person of faith and still be “So, even in my old age with gray hair, don’t
get to serve, and hopefully they serve you in incredibly open and creative to saying let’s abandon me, God! Not until I tell generations
some way. go do this”. Even if your desire is being on about your mighty arm, tell all who are yet to
top of the Grammy’s winning the top awards come about your strength”. The Songwriting
[WM] It seems as though many of us were there is a way to go do it. She inspired me by University website has several great positioning
chasing a cause, and not necessarily farsighted saying you can’t do it, but that was kind of statements including, “Discover the Music in
enough to consider it all a career. What’s your like throwing gasoline on a fire. By the time I You”, and that you exist to “Discover and Mentor
perspective on this? came out of college I thought, “How do we the Next Generation of Songwriters. Mentoring
change the world?” I wanted to be a person is a wonderful exercise for us older folks, and
[Michael] I’ll back up and tell you when I was who was authentic in their faith, but creatively that’s a great promise that your involvement
in high school, I told my Mom, who just turned off the charts, and participate in creating many with Songwriting University in Nashville affords
ninety, that I wanted to move to Los Angeles different things. to young and aspiring songwriters. Tell us about
and be in the entertainment industry. Music,
this new venture.
film, I actually really wanted to be an actor,
or something goofy like Pat Sajak running a [Michael] I loved it for two reasons. First, I felt
game show. I wanted to be an entertainer. My like it was honoring the songwriters of Nashville.
Mom looked at me directly as she could and Not just of Nashville, but songwriting. It was
said, “There is no way you can do that”. I said, an opportunity to circle around something
“Well why?” She said, “Christians can’t do so iconic to Nashville. What I loved was the
that. It will eat you alive”. I remember walking heartbeat of that. The mentoring is a piece of
away, so disheartened. Knowing what I know
Songwriting University
that. With this digital platform you can have
Alex MacDougall + Michael Blanton
March 2020
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