SongTown on Songwriting | Mastering the Art of Great Songs

These Songwriting Myths Are Holding You Back, Clay Mills and Marty Dodson bust 5 big beliefs that secretly stall your progress—You’ll hear real-world stories from the writing room, learn how pros actually think about creativity, and pick up practical ways to level up your craft starting today.

In this episode, Clay and Marty share the kind of tough-love truths that helped them go from unknowns to hit songwriters—stuff all writers need to hear but nobody says out loud. We’ll talk originality, “your life is not interesting,” writer’s block, rejection, AI shortcuts, and why excuses are quietly killing your songwriting dreams. If you’re serious about your songwriting craft and want real-world guidance from pro writers (not theory), you’re in the right place. Dive in, then check out the SongTown.com community and our SongTown Edge mentoring to get your songs and career to the next level.

Multi-Hit/Grammy nominated songwriters Clay Mills & Marty Dodson share 3 books that completely changed the way they write songs. We dig into work ethic, handling rejection, show-don’t-tell lyric writing, rewriting songs, and why clarity beats being “clever” every time. If you’re looking for real-world songwriting tips from pro writers, this episode will help you write better songs and level up your lyric writing. Drop your favorite songwriting book in the comments and let us know what’s helped YOU grow as a writer. Write on! 🎶✍️

Multi-hit songwriters Clay Mills & Marty Dodson break down 8 pro bridge tips to bring fresh momentum, new sounds, and real emotion to your songs. Learn when you actually need a bridge, how to create contrast with melody/chords, and ways to set up that last-chorus lift. Perfect for leveling up your songwriting and sharpening your bridge writing toolkit. Subscribe for more pro songwriting tips from the SongTown crew!

Multi #1 songwriters Marty Dodson & Clay Mills share 10 ways to make your song unpredictable—the kind of lyric-to-melody fit and arrangement moves artists, publishers, and fans can’t ignore. If you want real-world pro songwriting advice from the SongTown crew—fresh songwriting tips for melody writing and lyric writing—hit play, take notes, and write on!