We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Stephen Blackburn. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Stephen below.
Stephen, thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?
I have found over the years that keeping my creativity alive has been more about 1) reinvention of process and 2) joy than anything else – the sheer act of creating music has always been its own reward for me. But it took time for me to fully understand how to find that joy/fulfillment and land on my current process of music creation.
When I was just learning to play guitar in my teens, I didn’t write any music. I think I felt that if I learned how to play the guitar a little better, then I could probably write songs. So I spent all my time just practicing – I had no formal guitar training (although I did take piano lessons), but I enjoyed practicing – still do.
It wasn’t until I began playing in a band in college in Athens, GA where I actually starting writing any music. We started out as a pop band playing cover songs, but our singer had written a few original songs. So we started performing some of his songs during our cover sets. I remember he had a verse and chorus for one song, and I wrote a bridge for it that he liked – it was an absolute “eureka” moment for me. Wow, that was fun! So I began to write songs for the band too. Now looking back now, I could see the passion I had for writing, but also recognized that my style needed more maturing.
While the band had some successes (we appeared on Ed McMahon’s Star Search TV show, playing one of our original songs), we decided to stop playing after several years of touring. But I was hooked on writing songs – I found that I enjoyed it as much as performing live, if not more. From that point on, I always had some kind of music recording equipment in my house to capture ideas.
But like everyone else, life starts to pull at your time and energy – job, marriage, kids, other commitments! But I did set aside time for song creation over the years. While there were moments where I felt like tapped into some new areas of creativity, I often felt like I was writing the same songs over and over again.
My breakthrough inspirational moment occurred about 10 years ago when my childhood best friend and drummer in our college band approached me with the idea of keeping a promise we made to each other as 15 year olds – “Let’s plan to continue to make music when we get older!”
But he insisted on these new “House Rules!”
1. Creation begins with the story first (which he would write).
2. No music could be written until the words/stories were finished.
3. I could not write any music on my electric guitar – either acoustic guitar or piano or other instrument.
These rules were set up to completely reinvent my musical writing – and it was very difficult at first! I had always written music first, then imported words (I think most guitar players do it that way). But I learned the invaluable lesson with this process – I allow the story, images, words to create and inspire the musical output. Today, my creativity is fueled with his stories – reflections of simple moments – childhood and vivid memories – some sad, some whimsical, others funny! Unless I have some words or a story in front of me, my musical mind goes numb and dark. I could have never anticipated that consequence 10 years ago.
So the way I have been able to keep my creativity alive is to start with a story, then allow music ideas to arrive from that inspiration. For me, it keeps the invention very fresh, new, and vibrant.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I am the guitar player, singer and songwriter for the group Puzzletruck. We have release several singles and an album “Cake for the Ghost” on all the standard musical platforms. Our latest album “Sound Paint” will be released on September 1, 2023. We perform in that Atlanta area as a three piece band, and the bass player and I also perform as an acoustic duo. Most of our songs are about growing up in small town Georgia,
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
1. Persistence – Enjoy the process of your evolution 2. Be ok with failure – the first time our band Puzzletruck went into the studio, we recorded eight songs – only two songs from that session were ever released. The others simply didn’t work, didn’t have the emotion we expected.
3. Be ok with experimenting – This concept helped me to break through to new ideas and kept me from feeling stagnant
Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?
My parents were always encouraging for the things I was interesting in doing, including music. I asked for an electric guitar and amp at seventeen years old, and my parents told me that I could work and save up the money to buy them. So I worked all summer before my senior year in high school and saved enough to by the exact guitar and amp I wanted. Having done that made me appreciate them more than if my parents had just bought them for me. I still have that first guitar 30+ years later.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/puzzletruck_music/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkEjBTcis2N2m64Xrdy6_yw
Image Credits
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