I don’t know about you, but as a songwriter, it bugs me when I go for long periods without writing songs; or more precisely to the point, when the inspiration to write doesn’t come to me. I’m not a calculating songwriter, and completely rely on that inner voice that inexplicably sends music to my head. For the past couple of months, I haven’t had the inspiration. Oh, I’ve written short clips of stuff, and I’ve had the beginnings of song ideas; in fact, I just counted last night, and in the last couple of months have recorded 25 song ideas. With some of these, I even recorded several instrument tracks. But none of these developed into full songs.
But over the weekend, I got a new guitar from Adam Hernandez of Saint Guitars (read the review here). This functional piece of artwork stirred something in my soul and I got the inspiration to write a song – it’s about time! The song is based upon Psalm 146; yeah, it’s religious, but hey, a song is a song in my book. Besides, I haven’t written a religious song in awhile, and it’s actually where I started, so nothing like going back to my roots. But more importantly, just getting that one song out has made my creative juices start flowing again, and that’s a good thing. Give it a listen:
Being naturally introspective, I took a look at how I got the inspiration. Sure, the trigger was probably that gorgeous guitar, but more importantly, it had the effect of changing my current perspective. And I think that’s the key to inspiration. When you’re feeling in a rut, do something else or try out some other gear. The idea is to derail the status quo.
Guitar Gear 