Songbooks

I would sit for hours going over my Songbooks, i got the Hal Leonard edition of the Complete Beatles in 2 volumes and went through them in the mid 90's. Getting really anal about all the different Keys they wrote the songs in and just devouring all the songs that in my Minds ear, that i knew by heart. Doing my versions of all the songs i loved was a time i cherished, Sitting alone on my breaks and lunch times at work, learning new chords and singing the songs by myself, free from any judgement. It was then that the Songwriting bug bit me and i started to get really serious about writing my own songs. I had written songs for years before that but this time, i got really serious about it. Going over the Dylan books and starting to understand the form and being from a family of Writers i felt that i had found my calling. I had gone to Writers workshops before that and had serious thoughts about making Writing a Vocation, along side of my paying job at the Bus company that i paid for my house and raised my children with. But being a Songwriter seemed natural to me and burning through all of the Songbooks, just added to my inner fire. Now i look back at my years of woodshedding and i realize that i am still woodshedding. I have written and recorded a 145 songs and i am working on a new batch of songs now . It's as if the excitement of creativity is still bubbling through my veins . I feel that i am always going back to the beginning and that the sparks that got me fired up just start all over again. I still love all my songbooks. I just pick up where i left off.