Over the last few years, I've been spending a lot of time working on writing, recording, and mixing new music, all while learning all about the entire assembly line of activities that are a part of working towards lucrative sync licensing. Along the way it can get frustrating, exhausting, and discouraging. But I never stop chipping away, moving ahead and keeping the dream alive. 

That effort and that attitude recently helped bring about a milestone event as I work to achieve more recognition and success as a songwriter, musician, and home studio engineer. I've had the great fortune of having “rock royalty” Harry Waters - a brilliant piano and keyboard player (who happens to be the son of Roger Waters of Pink Floyd and solo career fame) appear as a guest artist on my new single “It's Your Time to Shine”! His contribution brings this powerful song, which was already a fun, memorable, upbeat rocker, to another level! I am so grateful! (The release date for “It's Your Time to Shine” will be in May - I hope to announce it this week.) 

I am also excited to announce that this song has also already been licensed by Transcend Entertainment and Music (a.k.a. TeamMusicLicensing.com) as the new theme song for their weekly live MasterMind session! How cool is that? I am sure this is just the first of many placements for this song, since it ideal for any streaming media wishing to convey a positive, uplifting message about personal empowerment and doing your best. 

Keeping the Dream Alive

A little background on how “It's Your Time to Shine” came about. Back in the summer of 2020, with the pandemic firmly entrenched in our lives and so much about how we interact and connect having changed, I started participating in a weekly live MasterMind session for musicians on Saturday afternoons via Zoom (you can learn more about these and sign up to participate here). This quickly became such a welcome part of my weekend! I loved connecting with fellow musicians, getting exposed to so much know-how, and we even had the opportunity to provide songs for briefs (to have our songs considered for licensing opportunities). 

One of the very first briefs we received was from ESPN - they were looking for a powerhouse “dirty rock” song to use to add excitement to sports event broadcasting. I jumped on it, writing a fun rocker with a go-get-'em attitude. “Knock it, knock it, knock it out of the park, it's your time to shine, ignite that spark!”   

Sadly, as the pandemic wore on, it became apparent that live sports were going to be curtailed somewhat and ESPN decided not to move forward with the project they wanted the brief for. Disappointed, I laid “It's Your Time to Shine” aside and actually ended up forgetting about it for years as I focused on the many other works I had in progress. Time and the world moved on…

But then earlier this year, nearly four years after I wrote this song and ended up setting it aside, I rediscovered it while combing through my older work (which everyone should do from time to time!). I got excited, picked it up, dusted it off, and bought it to my producer, Gary Gray! He loved it and jumped all over it. And now…it's done and ready to publish, promote, and submit for licensing opportunities! 

So remember that what you do today can reap rewards many years down the road. We all get discouraged from time to time, but hang in there - it won't happen if you don't keep the dream alive, so keep the faith. And soon enough, it'll be your time to shine!