In the same way that a great melody is as much about space as it is about notes, GRAMMY nominated hit songwriter, Jay Knowles, puts as much emphasis on the things about songwriting that have nothing to do with the actual writing part.

He makes sense in nonsensical ways. He says more by saying less. He achieves by not trying to achieve.

I consider Jay Knowles a mentor of mine. He has taught me so much about creativity and lyric writing just by being in the room with him. No doubt, he is one of my favorite songwriters on the planet. Alan Jackson, George Strait, Harry Connick, Jr., Jack Ingram, Lainey Wilson and others agree because they’ve all cut songs written by Jay and made them hits that you probably sing along to in your car.

In Episode 9 of Happiest Hour, Jay and I dig in about his what it’s like to have hits by giant artists like George Strait, and I ask him some detailed questions about his writing process. If you are a songwriter, aspiring to be, or want to tap deeper into your creativity, this is absolutely a conversation you don’t want to miss.

In this episode, we also cover:

• His favorite song he’s written that others might not like
• Why his Jack Ingram hit, “Love You,” almost never got recorded
• What he feels like is his best asset as a songwriter and how he approaches new ideas
• His hilarious and poignant Substack newsletter, Song Friends
• How being at the GRAMMY Awards is an ego booster and an ego buster at the same time
• Advice to aspiring songwriters

… and much more. In fact, our conversation got so deep that we will be rolling out a bonus episode with Jay about the particulars of songwriting. Click here to make sure you are receiving emails from me so that you don't miss when that episode rolls out!

As always, we pair this episode with 2 delicious recipes — because it’s not the Happiest Hour without great food to go with our great conversation, right?!

In true Jay Knowles fashion, he puts his own quirky spin on the very specific way he makes the best cup of black coffee. He also shares a nostalgic childhood favorite only the way his mom could make it: peanut butter and brown sugar sandwich. Get these recipes here:

Gimme the recipes!

--------------

Connect with Jay here.

Join Jay’s Song Friends community on Substack (seriously, if you are a creative — and everybody is whether you realize it or not — you don’t want to miss this!).

Listen to Jay’s discography of hits.

--------------

The Happiest Hour theme song was written and performed by... me! If you'd like to hear more of my music, click here!