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Nashville, TN: There are few people in this world that "get it". Karen Taylor-Good is one of these people. She get's it big time! You won't find her waiting by her front door for the world to come to her. She hit the ground running and has never stopped. This multi-talented songwriter is so much more; she's an author, a motivational speaker, a studio session-singer, she's married, has a family and oh, by the way, she's a songwriter! Karen has just finished one of her motivational seminars and has agreed to meet with me for a few minutes today. She walks into the room in a sharp looking pants suit, black dress shoes, all complimented by her beautiful face. After some small talk we sit down and begin our interview:
Kelly Dunn: I hear a lot of good things about your new song, "God's Refrigerator"!
[Karen Taylor-Good]: Thank you! The song is getting played all over the world and it's getting a great reception. I just did a live interview over in Belgium yesterday and they loved it!
Kelly Dunn: How is the song doing here in the States...
[Karen Taylor-Good]: Well, it's not getting a lot of airplay here and I think that's a shame. Although, I'm always looking for new ways of getting my songs heard, it's been twenty two years since I've tried the radio thing and it's a challenge!
Kelly Dunn: What happened twenty years ago...
[Karen Taylor-Good]: Well, I was nominated as one of the Best Female Vocalist in 1984 by the Country Music Association. I was trying to be a "Country Star" singing other people's songs. I was very young and was letting everyone tell me what to do. I was trying to please everyone but myself. It was not a healthy way to live! I had nine charted songs and I just figured I had to win that award to get signed to a major deal. I went to a psychic and she told me that I was going to win. Actually, that year Nicolette Larson won the award. After I lost I spent the next few months under the covers. I slowly started writing my feelings down and I thought these words were looking suspiciously like song lyrics. I didn't know I could write songs. Songwriters were people from another planet! (laughter) I found myself slowly walking over to the piano and I began to write songs. If there was every a case that God shutting one door, no, slamming it!, and opening a better one, this was it!
Kelly Dunn: What studio work were you doing at the time...
[Karen Taylor-Good]: I sang on Dolly Parton's "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" soundtrack, sang on albums by Willie Nelson, Waylon, George Jones, etc. Then I went on and had a lot of fun writing for other artists.
Kelly Dunn: This is quite a road you've been on...
[Karen Taylor-Good]: Let me tell how my song, "How I Can Help You Say Goodbye" was written. I knew I didn't want to give this song away. I thought this is my chance, again. A lot of people heard it and we all knew it was a hit song. Several big artists called me and asked to record it and I said no. I eventually was signed to Warner/Chapel Publishing by the CEO. The first thing he told me was that I had to give it away, that's what songwriter's do. I said, "No! No!", but I finally trusted him and I let Patty Loveless cut the song. It was the smartest thing I ever did. I was nominated for a Grammy for that song.
Kelly Dunn: Don't stop now! (laughter)
[Karen Taylor-Good]: There were a lot of little miracles that surrounded that song. For instance, Patty Loveless tried to get through the song three times and couldn't get through it. She kept breaking down in tears before the song was finished. It was looking like it wasn't going to happen. My co-writer, Burton Collins, bless his heart, wrote Patty a letter explained to her how the song came about. She kept that letter and she eventually got through the song. Then, the studio said that the song is over five minutes long and it's about death! They said this song would never be a single. Then, three weeks later they all got fired!
Kelly Dunn: So, all these people were telling you that your song would never make got fired?
[Karen Taylor-Good]: Yup! Then in came Paul Worley and that new crew of young execs, and they said this has to be a single! They put the song out, it bumped Patty's career up and oh, it changed my life!
Kelly Dunn: That's a very inspiring story to say the least! Your story will serve as an inspiration to other songwriter's out there who may be struggling...
[Karen Taylor-Good]: Listen, I have a dear co-writer in Michigan, and he sends me these amazing lyrics, he hasn't been in this business very long. The first song we had put on hold he thought his ship had come in! He got so excited. I forgot to tell not to get excited that nine times out of ten that holds become "un-held". Every songwriter has stories of songs that were held for years and never made the album, or album cuts that everyone PROMISED would become the next single, and then it never happened.
Kelly Dunn: Is it in your control that these things happened to you?
[Karen Taylor-Good]: Nothing is in your control. And that's what I finally got my friend to understand. You write them, do your best to get them heard, and then move on.
Kelly Dunn: I get the feeling that people think songwriting is somehow glamorous...
[Karen Taylor-Good]: Glamorous, it is not! However, it is magical. I have been blessed to use my voice and my talents to constantly re-invent myself for the past thirty five years. This is a very interesting time for me with this new record. I've made ten different cd's in the last twenty years. I won the Kerryville Folk Festival and I didn't know I was Folk.
Kelly Dunn: From looking at you I never got the impression that you had so many up's and down's in your career. Well, maybe you bumped your toe or something but that was it! (laughter)
[Karen Taylor-Good]: Oh my! There were many bumps especially when I left Warner/Chapel.
Kelly Dunn: What happened with Warner/Chapel...
[Karen Taylor-Good]: When you're a staff writer you can take a small amount of money and not owe the company of bunch of money or you can draw a whole bunch of money! My husband and I were so excited that we could get out of debt we took out a huge draw of money. I was signed by the CEO so they pretty much let me do what I wanted to do. And, oh my, it's only now that I have almost paid it back after all of these years! (laughter) My advice is, don't take a huge draw, but actually they don't let you take those huge draws like they used to. They changed that whole system...
Kelly Dunn: So, does this new system have your name on it? The Karen Taylor-Good Small Draw Fund? (laughter) So, let's keep going...
[Karen Taylor-Good]:Well.... I looked at writer's nights and saw all of these writers lined up everywhere in Nashville dying to play for free. So, I've taken my "act" on the road, and have been doing musical keynotes at corporate events, and making a lot of money! (laughter)
Kelly Dunn: There's nowhere to play in Nashville...
[Karen Taylor-Good]: Yes, that has always surprised me that there isn't larger venues in Nashville but that's for another day!
Kelly Dunn: Well, Karen I really want to thank you for your time today. It's been a huge pleasure to meet you and have you share your stories with us. It's been alot of fun and very insightfull!
[Karen Taylor-Good]: Kelly, thank you for giving me this opportunity today to meet with you! I've heard all about you and it's been a pleasure. Tell everyone at SongwriterPro that I send my best wishes!
Karen Taylor-Good can be reached at: KarenTaylorGood.com
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