There are many different kinds of songs. And part of our job, as songwriters, is deciding which songs should be exposed to the world. Not only which ones are "good enough" for others to hear (though that's certainly part of it!), but also, which ones will have meaning outside of our own lives; which ones will be able to stand up and face the cold, hard, realities of the music industry and the critical audience.

Sometimes you learn by trial and error. There's a song you think is fantastic, you play it for a few folks and only get yawns. Okay, back to the drawing board.

Sometimes the opposite happens. You have a song you think is just silly, or just for you. You wrote it quickly one day while you were supposed to be working (a process not unlike blogging, actually). And maybe you play it out one time on a whim. And the crowd, as they say, goes wild. People ask for it again and again. They wonder if it's on a record yet. And you realize that you've got something there, even if you hadn't known it before.

And then, on those rare occasions, everything comes together. You love the song. Everyone else loves the song (and not just your mom and your best friend). The song has merit in many different aspects. And you thank your lucky stars or holy deities for the inspiration. This is what we hope for. This is what we live for.

I'd like to think that every single song on our new record, Ironwood, is this kind of song. Certainly we hope that this is the case -- and we believe it is, or we wouldn't have spent all our time and hard-earned money making this record. I know that all of the songs have worked well live. But a recorded song is different from a live performance. You don't get to tell your little story: "I wrote this one for my brother, who came to my rescue when I was stranded on the side of the highway in the middle of Nowhere, Mississippi one full-moon night." You don't get to make your quirky facial expressions to help convey your point. A song on a record is just that. And therein lies the true test.

Our test is coming up. First multiple-choice question already posed, in the form of single, "Enjoy the View."

We anxiously await the results!

Mare Wakefield

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Check out "Enjoy The View" on Mare's artist page.

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