The year was 2007. A young man in his late twenties had made a decision to leave his hometown and go south. He packed up his gear and, like so many others with high aspirations, took to the road in hopes of making it as a singer and songwriter in none other than Music City, properly known as Nashville, TN.
At a time when it had never been harder for writers to get a cut in Nashville, he went anyway. And seven years later, it hasn’t changed much. With so many free downloads available now, along with so much copying going on, CD sales have taken a dive for even well known artists. These artists, many with number 1 hits who previously wrote very few of their own songs, are finding that they have to become writers in order to make a living at this art they have dedicated their lives to. So for a complete unknown to move from a little Amish town named Middlefield to Music City with dreams of making a living is far more likely to end up where the cow dung does!
From Hopeful to Successful
And yet in spite of these facts, has Jayce Hein made it! Hundreds, maybe even thousands of hopefuls leave Nashville every year because they couldn’t make a living at what they moved there for. “There’s only 250 – 260 songwriters in Nashville making a living and I’m one of them!” says Jayce, who repeatedly used the word persistence throughout our hour long conversation. “I don’t have a ‘real’ job,” he laughs, “I write songs and perform for a living.” But he’s quick to add, “You’ve got to have tough skin. We hear more ‘No’s’ in a year than most people will hear in their entire life.”
Seven years of persistence has paid off for Jayce. He recently returned to his hometown and played at the Iron Horse Saloon in Burton on October 17 to celebrate his first CD release of eight original songs that he wrote along with several friends. You can download the single Small Town Summertime from iTunes to get a taste of what is on the recording. “Persistence is always the key. You have to believe you’re great, be your biggest champion. If you can’t sell yourself, you aren’t going to make it.” It takes work, a lot of work. Just because you wrote a song with a famous person is NOT a ticket in,” says Jayce, who has written many songs for and with popular artists. “It will not up your chances. You still have to do the work yourself.”
What’s it like to live the dream?
“We write every day,” says Jayce. By “we” he’s referring to the many co-writers he works with. One may start and the other jumps in with an idea. When one is dry, another can interject something seemingly out of nowhere that fits perfectly. “With five years of professional writing and 500+ songs out there, we’ve had maybe nine major cuts.”
This is where the persistence is needed. “We have to stay fresh, always knowing what’s going on. I’m always trying to find new songs, what’s inspiring, to spark a new idea.” That includes watching movies and reading publications and taking notes as you do. “Even some old writers are still selling songs because they have stayed on top of what’s out there.”
For those of you who would like a copy of Jayce’s new CD, message him through his Facebook page.
Goodbye Grenade is another of the songs on his CD which we are covering here at Geauga News in this series. He shares the background.
“I wrote this with two of my good buddies, Jeremy Bussey and Brian Desveaux. It’s structurally the most jacked up I’ve ever written, but I think that’s what’s so cool about it. Jeremy had this idea when we came in to write that day. We of course jumped on it, and spent about five hours getting it right. Jeremy is a great lyricist and got some great visuals in there. Brian is a killer guitarist and writer and he came up with some really cool stuff on it. It’s a feel good, goodbye song!”
Goodbye Grenade
Written by Jeremy Bussey/ Brian Desveaux/ Jayce Hein
CHORUS:
Not one tear on her beautiful face, it all happened so fast, no chance to escape.
Pulled out the drive and she blew me away;
Yeah, she just pulled the pin on a goodbye grenade.
VERSE
She coulda found a way to let me down easy, just for a show;
Slipped off quiet, in the dead of night, nice and slow.
She could of acted like it hurt, could of used any other word.
CHORUS:
Not one tear on her beautiful face, it all happened so fast, no chance to escape.
Pulled out the drive and she blew me away;
Yeah, she just pulled the pin on a goodbye grenade.
BRIDGE:
I’m running for cover, trying to save myself.
I know what’s coming and it’s gonna hurt like hell.
She coulda found a way to let me down easy.
CHORUS:
Not one tear on her beautiful face, it all happened so fast, no chance to escape.
Pulled out the drive and she blew me away;
Yeah, she just pulled the pin on a goodbye grenade.
