Empty Cup’s Special Thanks (part 1)

“Empty Cup” made the cuts to be entered in the Detroit Music Awards’ “People’s Choice” category! While my chances of winning are slim since the voting is going to be very competitive, the opportunity to share my song with more people is really exciting. You can vote for my song (or any of your Michigan favorites) at www.detroitmusicawards.com by scrolling down to the music player and clicking “download” for your favorite song! A vote is cast for each download.

Ironically, “Empty Cup” was a song I never expected to leave the filing cabinet when  I wrote it years ago. I wanted to reflect on just how many people offer help during the completion of a song like “Empty Cup,” and share some “Thank You’s” to people who deserve recognition. Writing a song is more than just me sitting in my little home studio and messing around with chords on the guitar. It’s a spectrum of moments, and many people offer help along the way. Some don’t even know how important their advice is.

The first group that I wanted to thank is the Holly High School students who attended a career fair workshop I led in 2008 addressing the music business.  The counseling staff asked me to host a session about being a working musician, and I was a little nervous to try to “be the professional on the subject.” However,  this was one of my top memories from teaching. I loved talking to young writers and musicians about my musical journey, and it was fun to discuss how musicians could make a living during the changing paradigm of the recording and downloading industries. My workshops were packed with interested sophomores, juniors and seniors (as well as a few teachers and technology staff who were curious!)

I ended up closing the session by playing a song, and on a whim, I shared a song I had never performed live, a song that I never really felt it was very good  because it was so different from my other works. I played the high school students “Empty Cup.”

The session ended before I finished playing my song, but I don’t think any one got up to leave when the bell rang. And the younger audience’s reaction to this song was so overwhelmingly positive, it gave me the courage to continue redrafting the tune.

I later was asked to do some songwriting workshops with Mrs. Farkus’s creative writing courses in 2008-2009, and I think I ended up playing “Only the Rain Knows Why” and “Empty Cup” for those attentive writers too. What really gave me encouragement was students came up to me in the hallway a year later asking, “Where can I get a copy of that Empty Cup song, Mr. Vial?” I had never thought it was a song worth recording!

Sharing an early draft of a song with an audience can be terrifying. It’s hard to believe that a song I first drafted in August of 2007 didn’t become a finalized recording until September of 2011. And without those Holly High School students offering encouragement, it wouldn’t be competing for the Detroit Music Awards’ “People Choice” category. The song would still be sitting unfinished in my filing cabinet.

Next post in a few days will be about the musicians who played on the track, and how a draft of a song from 2007 becomes a full-band arrangement by 2011.

Thanks to you all, and God bless,

Mike