I’ve met them.  I’ve worked with them.  And I’ve seen them disappear.   I’m talking about the singers (they don’t yet deserve the title ‘artist’) who have some talent, and pretty much only want one thing; fame. 

They appear to have things going for them…management, a stylist, professional photos, an A-list hired band, great songs written by someone else, and sometimes a backer with deep pockets.  And it’s the cart before the proverbial horse.  These people want the spotlight, but they…

Performing for a competition is stressful to say the least.  Choosing the right song/songs and sticking to an allotted amount of time can drive you nuts! 

Many times artists will second guess themselves and sometimes even change their minds last minute on what songs to do right before they go on stage.   I witnessed a train wreck like this at a competition I was helping judge.

This was a band that played the year before, so our panel was familiar with their sound and style. …

I rarely go to songwriter rounds because many times, for every one great writer, you have to sit through 3 or 4 bad ones.  The other night at the famous Bluebird Café was an exception.

I mainly went to see my clients The Stellas, and they did not disappoint, with their fun and tender lyrics and amazing harmonies.  Every song was great. 

There was another writer there whom I’d never heard before. He’s written hits for Steve Wariner, Brooks & Dunn, Patty Loveless, Josh Turner…

I just finished two days of work with a band in Baltimore. They are great musicians and have always been told this. Typically musicians of this caliber would say, “We’re good enough, we don’t need any of that Tom Jackson stuff!”

To their credit, someone in the band knew their show was still lacking, and saw the value in getting some help, after hearing Tom speak. They ordered our videos, watched them together, then got on the phone and asked me to come up and do some one-on-one…

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This is why I get hired by so many artists and bands: to help them create moments in their show so they can connect emotionally with their audience.

If you could take a cord and hardwire it to yourself, then wire that cord into the whole audience so they feel the same thing you do about your songs, you’d sell out your entire stock of CDs the next time you played. You’d sell out because…