Everything you didn't ask .. is right here. The AI tea...

Momma and her babies

  I actually wrote a song about Momma called "Nashville Artist" (Link at bottom of page) it is a true story, just like everything I write. In this picture you see, this is the time frame that Momma got super serious about her song writing. She worked her tail off during the day as a private care nurse and at night she worked as a bartender at the Blue Whale in Phoenix. And as if that wasn't enough at night time after she closed the bar she would come home in the dead of night and work on her songs playing melodies on her baby grand piano. 

Momma never woke us up, I suppose we were just use to hearing that piano playing. Momma was self taught pianist.

And a damn good one If I do say so myself. 

She would sing little kid diddy's to us kids about merry go rounds. I spent a lot of time on the piano bench next to Momma while she played. 

Actually, come to think of it, I think she thought I liked the piano, so she signed me up for lessons. When in reality I just wanted to hang out with her. (Side note I failed miserably at the piano lessons) 

Now keep in mind that what I'm telling you is from my perspective as a wee thing and a child perspective. 

However, nonetheless it's still all facts and happened just the same. 

I couldn't be sure even today how long Momma had worked on this one particular song.. But I can tell you one thing, and that's we heard it so much we all knew it by heart. Even today my sister and I  can sing the chorus. (Not well, but we know the words).

So, like I said Momma worked as a bartender at night, she had an old gallon glass pickle jar on her dresser she would put her tips in. And that was a gold mine for grabbing some change to get candy at the corner store. 

I may or may not have asked Momma permission. (Yes, I know.. That was stealing) I've already confessed my sins to Momma and have been forgiven so.. Stop judging me.. I have a story to tell here. 

ANYHOW, 

Needless to say as a adult I felt awful for stealing change here and there, and to add to the guilt as adults me and my siblings were talking and they were taking from Momma's tip jar too. 

I'm reasonably sure we all set her back at least a year. 

None of us knew what she was saving that money for at the time. Until one day that jar was empty and Momma was absolutely elated. 

She was in the studio with a artist (who was pretty well known in Phoenix at the time.  (I s'pose, cause I was clueless, if it wasn't Peter Frampton, Wallace and Ladmo or Elvis..) 

Anyhow, this guy, I will call him "TURD FACE" because that's how I feel and I'd get sued if I used his real name. Even though I'm sure he's long gone. Matters not "Turd Face" fits. 

Well ole Turd Face did in fact record Momma's song she'd worked so long on. And saved so long for studio time. His fees etc etc. 

And promptly stole her song Lyrics, melody the entire thing. 

Honestly, I don't know what money he made from it. Don't care about the money, 

He single handedly stole my Momma's hard work and even worse her dreams. 

After that she folded up her music sheets, lyrics and put them in the piano bench, only to get moved into an old box later on. 

I'd asked Momma a few times about if she was gonna sing more. She always said oh yeah when you kids get grown, or when she had more time, anything to pacify a kids question. 

And Momma did still play her baby grand piano at night, But the songs she played were "Greensleeves" or something out of one of her music books. I can't say as I remember hearing her songs again. 

Fast forward to three years back.

Our Momma passed away, dementia took its toll on her. She fought a good fight but at 87 our Momma went on to her next adventure. 

This destroyed me, being a Momma's girl I'm lost without her. 

After she passed my siblings and I pulled out the old boxes and were going through pictures for her service. 

We came across some of Momma's songwriting paperwork. 

She never got a second chance to follow her dreams of writing country music. 

Turd Face stole that from her. 

I don't know who is reading this, but if you have lost a loved one I think you will understand when I say this part, 

something inside you just wants to honor them, their life, their love. 

I sat on those thoughts about Momma's songs, her dreams and what she sacrificed for us. And I wanted to find a way to honor her sacrifices. I wanted to be able to pick up where she left off, finish what she started. 

I have inherited a lot of Momma's DNA.. her eyes, chin and so on. But I sure did not inherit her ability to read and play music. But, I did inherit her skills of storytelling. And writing songs. 

(Granted her grammar was way better than mine....But who's judging.?)

My momma always loved what I wrote, she always told me how talented I was. Of course she would say that she's my Momma, and that's what Momma's do. right? 

But, the only way I know to celebrate and honor my Momma is to believe in me the way she did. 

I had all these poems I had already written, plus the knowledge that I definity can write. I just needed to figure out how to put them into songs. 

But, there ain't no way I have the money or the trust (THANK YOU Turd Face for the generational trust issues now)

Even if I had the money to hire a studio, band singers etc.  

My kids told me about AI (artificial intelligence) and the technology that was being used in studios to create beats etc. 

With some research I found AI generated music and vocals I could set with my lyrics. BUT!! The trick is getting the music and the vocals to sound like what I hear in my head when I write a song. Which is still a astronomical challenge even today. Each song I write might take me over 1500 (yeah, that's right fifteen hundred or more) tries of describing the instrumentals and vocals that I hear in my head. 

I know what I want my song to sound like, right down to the beats, dead spaces and so on. 

AI is a tool to help lyricist like myself who either don't have the skills nor the money to hire professional artist to do Demos for their lyrics. 

Absolutely, one day I will be able to afford the studio time and all that goes along with that. 

But, that is not today. 

I do take a lot of flack from naysayers, and folks that want to judge me for using AI to generate the vocals and instrumentals for my artist samples / demos. 

It does kind of get under my skin at times. Until I remember This is not about them, This is about me and my promise to Momma. 

I will lean into my use of AI to facilitate getting my lyrics into the world. 

What I write deserves a voice and that voice for now is wildly AI. 

Any professional artist will take what I write and make it theirs, with their own unique style and flare. 

My job is to be able to demonstrate the potential of my songs. 

Caveat that I will add to this, If folks use AI in their creation process, I feel like they should be 100% transparent and disclose the use of AI. 

For me personally, I'm still a huge fan of the human elements. And will only ever use AI for the sole purpose of getting my lyrics out to a human to bring to life. 

(Totally my opinion)  

And to those of you who judge me for using technology to chase my dreams, 

You're a Turd Face too. 

I love you Momma thank you for inspiring me to write and share my stories and yours. ​​​​​​​​