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THE ART AND BUSINESS OF SDNS
fln Interview in the Round
RUING
Over the span of three decades, songwriters Mike Dekle
(Athens) and Byron Hill (Nashville) have written enough chart
topping tunes to soundtrack a trip from here to Nashville and
back again. And the key to their longevity is their willingness
to be malleable and adapt to the ever-changing music busi
ness. They both speak eloquently and with disarming modesty
about their careers, rattling off dates and chart placements
with the precision of statisticians. They are gifted storytellers
and shrewd businessmen with an unwavering passion for their
work.
This Friday the pair will be joined by Nashville songwriters
John Ford Coley and Wil Nance in an intimate "in the round
performance," at the Rialto Room during which each artist will
get a turn in the spotlight and a chance to share the stories
behind their songs. In the spirt of that format, we present to
you a sort of "Interview in the Round," giving Hill and Dekle
an opportunity to share their insights.
On their history together as friends and collaborators...
Byron Hill: I've known Mike since about 1981 or '82. I was
producing records in Nashville for a company called ATV, and
Roger Bowling was a friend of mine and one of our staff writ
ers. He said he met this guy in Athens, GA named Mike Dekle
who had a song that he really liked, and Mike wanted to cut a
record. So, the original plan was to cut one of Roger Bowling's
songs as the A-side and Mike's song as the B-side... So, we
went to cut the record, both songs, and I called Roger Bowling
and I said, "Well, you won't believe this, but I think Mike's
song is the A-side and your song is going to be the B-side!'"
We all agreed that Mike's recording of "Scarlet Fever" was really
a magical moment, and it remains a magical recording. So,
Mike put it out, and I believe it charted in Billboard. It didn't
really have a lot of national coverage, but it got a lot of cover
age in Athens, GA through radio, and it got to Kenny Rogers.
So, Kenny recorded it, and it became a hit for Kenny. So, Mike
and I became friends through that whole experience, and we
started writing together. And through the years I produced all
of his CDs and have worked with Mike constantly ever since—
he's just one of my closest friends in the business and we have
had a number of recordings together that have done well...
numerous Kenny Rogers cuts together as well as songs for Joe
Nichols, Rhonda Vincent and quite a few things.
BH: Back when I started, the songwriter was a little
bit of a different animal. For the most part, songwriters
wrote and artists sang... The staff songwriting business
then was big... but now publishers have had to sign
artist-writers. Artist-writers (artists writing their own
material) make up about 80 percent of the business as
far as I can tell... in Nashville, anyway... So, if you're
an artist-writer you've got so much more to bring to the
table because all of a sudden you can record masters;
the record company can work with the publisher—it's
more marketable.
It's kind of been a perfect storm leading to that situ
ation through the years. There's just been a huge influx
of talent coming through Nashville because some of the
other markets have closed up... They really don't have
anywhere to go in L.A. because L.A. is mostly urban
music and some pop rock. And New York is all rock
and pop, and it's just becoming a licensing center. It's
not the same. So, Nashville really is, in the world, the
last hold-out for great songs and great development
of singer-songwriters. The other aspect of this perfect
storm is the drop in physical product sales. It's really
made the recording companies start restructuring their
deals. The record companies have moved to various
forms of the "360 deals," as they call it, where they get
a piece of the action on the songwriter's royalties.
On evolving to fit the new music business model...
Byron Hill
Mike Dekle: Let me talk about the similarities between
Byron Hill and me in terms of being writers. He was pretty
much raised in the same type home environment that I was.
His educational background is very similar to mine. He got into
music very early on, and I got into music when I was 16. Sc,
we're very much alike. He's a guy who always spoke well of his
parents. He was never poor in his lifetime, nor was I, so most
of our songs that we've written over the years have a really
positive background to them because there is not a lot of
negative in our lives.
On the changing business of songwriting...
BH: So, what do people like me do to adjust? Well, I
have to write with artists almost all the time. I have to
spend about 80 percent of my time writing with artists,
and it's a good thing in some ways if you're able to do
it. Some of us are surviving with that change, and others
aren't. You have to be creatively willing to change what
you do.
MD: Byron is exactly on track. It sort of derailed our co
writing arrangements, but it was difficult to get something
done with the best songs that we could write. So, that's why
wc both diverted our careers and tried to associate ourselves
with young, up-and-coming artists and try to write songs with
them, with the hopes of getting songs on their albums. I’ve
been working with young artists here in Georgia: Brantley
Gilbert, for one, who has one’of our songs
currently on the radio at number 25 in
Billboard that seems to be climbing, and
looks like it will be a big hit for Brantley
and for me... I've also been working for
three years with a young artist named
Rachel Farley from Lawrenceville, GA. She
just turned 16 Pack in March, and she's
got her a record contract with Average Joe
Entertainment.
I have learned from these young artists
as much as they have learned from me.
When you walk into a room to write songs
with a 15-year-old young woman or a
50-year-old man, you sort of have to check
your ego at the door and face the fact that
you need to accept their ideas to be valid
even though they may not have had a hit.
BH: I had a number-one with Alabama,
a song called "Born Country," and the
original demo on that I thought was great.
I thought it really illustrated what the
song could do, and I thought it was a good template for a hit
record, as it was. I thought anyone should be able to cut the
song just the way it is and make it happen. But the song felt
into the hands of the band through me pitching it. I actually
gave it to Teddy Gentry on the street one day here. And his
producers took it to another level, and it just blew my mind
when I heard it.
MD: There was a Kenny Rogers song that Byron and I wrote
together called "Someone Must Feel Like a Fool Tonight" that
has been recorded probably at least 40 times by other art
ists... and someone had recorded it as a bluegrass song and
it was being used as a square dance call... and it was written
Mike Dekle
as a waltz! So, that would have to be the biggest shocker I've
seen... but I was extremely proud. I think that speaks well of
the song and speaks well of people's ability to see how the
song can be used.
On deciding who should or shouldn't record their songs...
BH: It used to be that you had to be very, very careful who
got your songs because you could blow a potential smash by
getting it recorded by a smaller artist. But these days it's really
strange out there, and a huge number-one hit can come out of
nowhere. And I worry a lot less about who cuts my songs these
days, because if the recording is good and they've got a good
team behind them, it can happen just out of the blue...
MD: There has never been a time that I didn't want some
one to record my song, whether it be a star or someone totally
unknown, because that unknown person can become a known,
and they wilt remembe r that you gave them a good song to try
to start their career.
On what makes a great song...
BH: There are certain elements that need to be in a good
song. Some of them are realty obvious: the song has to hook,
there has to be a certain amount of repetition in the song
so people wilt remember it, and, of course, there has to be
some sort of melody that really sticks in people's minds. All
of those elements have tended to be watered down a bit with
the influx of writer-artists... they are not as experienced at
^he craft, so a lot of songs end up going out there that are
sort of re-hashed ideas, lines that you hear a zillion times in
songs, melodies that are kind of hard to latch on to. And, you
know, it seems to be working, but it's not the same as it was...
I don't think a lot of songs these days are making history. I
think songs are going to the top of the charts and making a
short-term career for the artist, but we're not making histoiy
as often as the market did before.
Michelle Gilzenrat
WHO: Mike Dekle, Byron Hill, John Ford Coley, Wil Nance
WHERE: The Rialto Room
WHEN: Friday, July 15,8 p.m.
HOW MUCH: $15
V
On the most surprising interpretations of
their songs...
JULY 13,2011 • FLAGPOLE.COM 15
