Kenny Chesney believes that songwriting and fishing have a whole lot in common.
The country music star recently sat down with the legendary producer Rick Rubin on his show, Tetragrammaton, and the two got to talking about songwriting. It’s always interesting to hear people well-versed in music creation discussing the art of the song and how it comes to life… and I think the “When The Sun Goes Down” singer really nailed it with this metaphor he delivered.
Rick Rubin certainly thought so, and if there’s anyone in tune with the spiritualness of songwriting and creation of music, it’s him.
Some songwriters and artists consider the songwriting experience supernatural, and say that the best ones come from the sky, or are only there for a second… and you have to be ready to capture it. They’ll just be sitting still, and then all of the sudden, a hit song drops in their lap from out of nowhere. It’s a phenomenon that’s hard to explain… though some believe that it’s a special delivery from a higher power.
Kenny Chesney certainly believes in something like that, and above all else, just loves the creative aspect of songwriting, as he explained:
“For me, it’s just – I get inspiration from – it’s just other people. But creativity for me is one of the best gifts. The thing I love about creativity and where songs come from, wherever they come from… you take something and you give the world something today that didn’t exist yesterday. It’s the best feeling ever. It’s almost like you have the answer to life’s question that nobody else knows.”
Creating something from nothing is one of life’s great joys (if you’ve never done it yourself, you should try it).
Rubin and Chesney really connected with the creativity conversation, and the country star took the whole idea a bit further when he compared songwriting to fishing. Something tells me that all of the songwriters out there would agree that this is a great way to explain how some days, it just feels like you are set up at a honey hole:
“I’ve always said writing songs was a lot like fishing. You can go out there one day and not get anything, but there’s that one day where it’s just magic. We’re at the mercy of whatever it is. That’s where songs come from for me, whatever that source is. And people go on writing camps and I get that. Or, we’re going to make an appointment to write a song. I get that. But the best songs come when they’re lived.”
Like many other artists, Kenny Chesney believes that spontaneity plays a critical role in crafting a good song. It’s hard to explain it in any other way. Some days, the songs are hard to hook. Other days, you are reeling in hits left and right… or at the very least, you land one really impressive one.
It truly is the perfect comparison, and you can hear Kenny Chesney and Rick Rubin talk more about the magic of songwriting in the interview below:
