“17”
Posted on November 14, 2017 by Ronnie W. Scott

A few weeks ago I traveled up to Nashville for a co-write with Amanda Williams. She is an amazing pro and I count her as a mentor and friend. I have also become a huge fan of her music. Amanda does so much for songwriters and small business owners like me in terms of rights, legislation and education. I felt honored and excited to even be in the same room with her.

We shared a big hug and caught up for a minute as we tuned our guitars and got out our notebooks. I had my “Marty Dodson Songmaps” (insider reference) all ready to go as we bounced a few ideas back and forth. Amanda threw out this notion of “17” being a pivotal age and period in our lives. Good enough for me. I put away my songmaps and we were off to the races. I didn’t know exactly where we were going. I felt sort of lost at times. I contributed my share of lines and helped find rhymes when we got stuck. Amanda was definitely driving the bus on this one. We both began to feel where this story was taking us in a few moments and we got excited about the possibilities. In fact, we both shed real tears (a first for me) as we filled the canvas with youthful hope, relationship realities and heartbreaking loss.

We opened up a laptop and recorded the work tape. In an hour we were done. I was elated. Exhausted. For her, this was just another co-write. For me, it was one of the most amazing things I’d ever done. One hour. I can’t write a grocery list in an hour! I learned something about being “in the moment” and “going with the flow” for sure. Thank you, Amanda!

Y’all are welcome to check out a rough demo and see what you think.

https://soundcloud.com/user-452250490/17-master