I just flew back home after a life-changing writing trip to Nashville, TN. It wasn’t my first work trip there, but it was definitely the one where I felt like every song came out exactly as it needed to— which is a bit unusual. The craft of songwriting is a forever work-in-progress that varies in luck from day-to-day. That’s why I love it so much; it humbles and empowers even seasoned songwriters equally.
That’s why a year ago, after a long, seemingly never-ending writing dry spell, I felt “humbled” beyond recognition. It had been a while since I really felt connected and joyful while making something. So when Madi Diaz, Jake Finch, Collin Pastore, and I got together on one fateful day last March to make a country song called “Fixer Upper,” I knew I needed it more than ever. It reignited the spark that made me fall in love with songs in the first place.
When I got to return this year and make many more songs with Jake and Madi, along with some other talented collaborators and friends, it replicated that experience many times over. Something about the songwriting culture of Nashville really clicked with me— and has inspired (and possibly completed!?) my next project.
One of the events during my trip was my first writer’s round at the historic Bluebird Cafe, featuring Madi Diaz and Audrey McGraw. In it, it only felt right to include a performance of the never-before-heard song that has become my north star in this next phase.
Here’s a little bit of the backstory as well as a snippet of the chorus. I’m so grateful someone caught all of this on camera! The moment of cheering after the first chorus with Madi singing harmony underneath is something I replay in my brain constantly.
Enjoy! And let me know if y’all would like some more detailed thoughts about what the writer’s round was like, I would like write a piece on the experience. Nothing like it.
Stay Tuned,
August Ponthier
