Measure for Measure
About This Blog
With music now available with a single, offhand click, it's easy to forget that songs are not born whole, polished and ready to play. They are created by artists who draw on some combination of craft, skill and inspiration. In the coming weeks, the contributors to this blog -- all accomplished songwriters -- will pull back the curtain on the creative process as they write about their work on a songs in the making.
About the Authors
Andrew Bird
Andrew Bird is a Chicago-based singer, songwriter, violinist, guitarist and whistler. He has released 10 albums, including "Weather Systems" (2003), "The Mysterious Production of Eggs" (2005) and most recently, "Armchair Apocrypha" (2007). In March, he won the Plug Independent Music Award for Male Artist of the Year and is currently at work on his next album. His Web site is andrewbird.net.
Darrell Brown
Darrell Brown is a songwriter, arranger and producer who has written hit songs for dozens of recording artists, as well as music for film and television. Recently, he has co-written songs for country music stars LeAnn Rimes and Keith Urban (including the Grammy-award-winning song, "You'll Think of Me") and recently collaborated with Neil Young on his records "Living With War" and "Chrome Dreams II." He lives in Los Angeles and Nashville.
Rosanne Cash
Rosanne Cash is a Grammy award-winning artist who has released 14 albums, most recently "Black Cadillac" (2006), and 11 No. 1 singles. She is also the author of a short-story collection, "Bodies of Water" and a children's book, "Penelope Jane: A Fairy's Tale." Her essays and fiction have appeared in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and other publications. She is currently working on a new recording and a book of non-fiction to be published by Viking this year. Ms. Cash's collaborator here is Joe Henry, whose 10th album, "Civilians," was released last year. Her Web site is rosannecash.com.
Suzanne Vega
Suzanne Vega, a singer and songwriter whose success in the 1980s helped establish the acoustic folk-pop movement, has released eight albums, including the platinum-selling "Solitude Standing" (1987) with the hit single, "Luka," and the 2007 recording, "Beauty and Crime" on Blue Note Records. She is also the author of a book of poetry and was a host of the public radio series "American Mavericks." Her Web site is suzannevega.com.
