{"id":16948,"date":"2017-02-24T12:48:10","date_gmt":"2017-02-24T19:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/?p=16948"},"modified":"2017-03-31T12:45:40","modified_gmt":"2017-03-31T19:45:40","slug":"mindy-smith-video-premiere-cliff-goldmacher-web-exclusive-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/2017\/02\/mindy-smith-video-premiere-cliff-goldmacher-web-exclusive-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"MINDY SMITH VIDEO PREMIERE"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1><strong>VIDEO FEATURE &amp; WEB-EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Artist: MINDY SMITH<\/strong><br \/>\nSong:\u00a0\u201c<strong>Starting Over Again<\/strong>\u201d<br \/>\n<strong>Songwriters: Mindy Smith &amp; Cliff Goldmacher<\/strong><\/h1>\n<h3><strong>Producer: Cliff Goldmacher<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Animation: Paul and Sandra Fierlinger<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/205253288\" width=\"660\" height=\"371\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Mmusicmag.com has the exclusive online world premiere of the new video, \u201cStarting Over Again.\u201d This is the third song Mindy Smith has contributed to the <em>Shelter Me<\/em> project. AllMusic.com describes Smith as a singer-songwriter who \u201cblends big-city intelligence and sophistication with the clear and honest passion of classic country and folk performers.\u201d She has also contributed the show\u2019s theme song \u201cShelter Me\u201d and the curation of the compilation cd <em>Songs for Shelter Me<\/em> in connection with TVX Records and Tone Tree Music.<\/p>\n<p><em>Shelter Me<\/em>, created and produced by Steven Latham, is an inspiring series that celebrates the human-animal bond with uplifting stories about shelter pets and the people who help them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStarting Over Again\u201d is featured in Episode 6 of <em>Shelter Me<\/em>\u00a0and tells the story about a dog that finds a new life after being given up at a shelter. This episode, \u201cShelter Me: Hearts &amp; Paws,\u201d is hosted by Kristen Bell and it features award-winning artist Patrick McDonnell, creator of the popular <em>Mutts<\/em> comic strip. The entire series can be watched for free at ShelterMe.tv.<\/p>\n<p>The new episode is airing on PBS. \u201cShelter Me:\u00a0Community\u00a0Matters\u201d is hosted by\u00a0Jane\u00a0Goodall and features a story about American shelter dogs that protect elephants and rhinos in Africa, a segment about kids that comfort shelter pets by reading to them, and a high school cross-country team that runs with shelter dogs. More information can be found at Facebook.com\/ShelterMeTV<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-16955\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Cliff-Goldmacher-Mindy-Smith-Photo-Credit-Fairlight-Hubbard.jpg\" alt=\"Cliff Goldmacher Mindy Smith - Photo Credit Fairlight Hubbard\" width=\"660\" height=\"440\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Cliff-Goldmacher-Mindy-Smith-Photo-Credit-Fairlight-Hubbard.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Cliff-Goldmacher-Mindy-Smith-Photo-Credit-Fairlight-Hubbard-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cStarting Over Again\u201d was written by Mindy Smith and Cliff Goldmacher\u2014who has been in the music business for over twenty-five years. He is a songwriter, music producer and educator. In his years of songwriting, Goldmacher has built an extensive catalog of songs. He\u2019s worked as a staff songwriter for a Nashville publisher\u00a0and his\u00a0songs have been cut by major label artists across genres\u2014from country, pop and jazz to classical crossover. His songwriting collaborators include Grammy-winning artist Keb\u2019 Mo\u2019, multi-platinum selling artists Ke$ha, Lisa Loeb, Chris Barron (Spin Doctors)\u00a0and\u00a0Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart.<\/p>\n<p>Goldmacher\u2019s music has been used on NPR\u2019s <em>This American Life<\/em> and in national advertising campaigns. His\u00a0co-write with artist Spencer Day, \u201cTill You Come To Me,\u201d went to #1 on the jazz charts.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-16954\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Cliff-Goldmacher-1.jpeg\" alt=\"Cliff Goldmacher-1\" width=\"660\" height=\"440\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Cliff-Goldmacher-1.jpeg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Cliff-Goldmacher-1-300x200.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>We talked with Cliff Goldmacher about his approach to songwriting, his musical influences and his unique creative process.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>CLIFF GOLDMACHER Web-Exclusive Interview<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>with\u00a0<em>M Music &amp; Musicians<\/em>\u00a0magazine publisher, Merlin David<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>How did the idea of \u201cStarting Over Again\u201d come to you?<\/strong><br \/>\nWhen I write with Mindy [Smith], I\u2019ll usually write a simple piano part ahead of time that Mindy can sing\/improvise to melodically. Her sense of melody is just so unique and beautiful that all it takes is a musical bed to get her going. Then based on what she\u2019s singing, we\u2019ll start to put lyrics to the melody together.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is your creative process for writing songs?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt differs from collaboration to collaboration. When I write with Americana, Folk or Country artists, I\u2019m involved in all aspects\u2014instrumental, production and lyrics. But, for example, with Jazz, since I\u2019m not a trained jazz musician, I\u2019m primarily a lyricist.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What songwriting tip would you like to offer?<\/strong><br \/>\nTrust your instincts. There\u2019s a tendency to squeeze too hard or overthink your songwriting. If you\u2019ve put in your time, why not give yourself the benefit of the doubt and go with your gut.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-16953\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Cliff-Goldmacher-2.jpg\" alt=\"Cliff Goldmacher-2\" width=\"660\" height=\"495\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Cliff-Goldmacher-2.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Cliff-Goldmacher-2-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>How has co-writing changed your music?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt\u2019s the single most important decision I could have made as a songwriter. My entire songwriting existence these days is based on sitting down with artists and helping them write songs for their projects. If I hadn\u2019t learned to be an effective co-writer in Nashville by writing many hundreds of songs with other aspiring songwriters, I wouldn\u2019t have learned my craft in a way that allows me to do what I\u2019m doing today.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How do you keep song ideas fresh?<\/strong><br \/>\nI think the key is that I\u2019m constantly writing with new people who bring a different approach to songs and songwriting. It\u2019s their perspectives that keep my writing\/ideas fresh.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Top 5 Musicians or Songwriters\u00a0who inspired you to become a musician?<\/strong><br \/>\nBilly Joel, Elton John, James Taylor, Shawn Colvin, Cole Porter<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Instrument<\/strong><strong>s\/equipment you can\u2019t live without\u2014that helps you write, record or perform?<\/strong><br \/>\nMy laptop. Even though I still get up and use a fountain pen to write in a leather bound journal, I do all of my actual songwriting on my laptop\u2014where I also have Pro Tools and a few other pieces of software open during every writing session. The computer just makes everything so much quicker and easier\u2014which means things stay musical and don\u2019t get bogged down.<\/p>\n<p>Universal Audio Apollo system. I have multiple units for my studios and my travel rig. I love the way they\u2019ve designed everything to use \u201cold school\u201d emulations of great studio gear, and the way you can actually track through them and avoid latency. It has changed everything in my engineering and production world.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why are these so essential to you?<\/strong><br \/>\nSo much of the work I do is based on a very limited amount of time to write and record with a given artist. The easier it is to get going and sustain the creativity, the better. The best example I can give you is the song from this video \u201cStarting Over Again\u201d\u2014it was fully written and recorded in around three hours.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-16951\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Cliff-Goldmacher-6.jpg\" alt=\"Cliff Goldmacher-6\" width=\"660\" height=\"495\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Cliff-Goldmacher-6.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Cliff-Goldmacher-6-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Tell us about your latest project, and the inspiration behind it.<\/strong><br \/>\nMindy Smith and I are currently inching our way towards a project together. We were introduced by a mutual friend\/music publisher, and we just hit it off. We\u2019ve written six or seven songs so far, and I\u2019ve really been enjoying the journey. Mindy\u2019s the real deal.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For someone discovering your music, which album will give valued perspective about your music<\/strong><strong>?<\/strong><br \/>\nOne of the projects I\u2019d suggest is the Heather Rigdon 2007 album, <em>Young &amp; Na\u00efve<\/em>. I wrote a good number of the songs with Heather, and the rest with some close friends\/collaborators. It was the first jazz project I co-wrote and produced, and I\u2019m still proud of the work we did.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How has living in California\/Nashville\/New York influenced your music?<\/strong><br \/>\nThe nicest part of having spent time in all three of the big music cities is that I\u2019ve been exposed to different approaches to songwriting and music. It\u2019s helped me write comfortably across multiple genres. I\u2019ve even written an article on the differences in songwriting between Nashville and NYC.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-16950\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Cliff-Goldmacher-7.jpg\" alt=\"Cliff Goldmacher-7\" width=\"660\" height=\"528\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Cliff-Goldmacher-7.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Cliff-Goldmacher-7-300x240.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>What are your Top 5 favorite albums of all time?<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Jazz Samba<\/em> (1962) \u2013 Stan Getz<br \/>\n<em>Living With the Law<\/em> (1991) \u2013 Chris Whitley<br \/>\n<em>Steady On<\/em> (1989) \u2013 Shawn Colvin<br \/>\n<em>Joshua Judges Ruth<\/em> (1992) \u2013 Lyle Lovett<br \/>\n<em>Time Out<\/em> (1959) \u2013 Dave Brubeck<br \/>\n<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>What\u2019s next for you as a songwriter and\/or producer?<\/strong><br \/>\nThese days I\u2019m writing with a few different artists for their projects. I\u2019m also in the process of putting together a new website and teaching courses on songwriting and the music business for Lynda.com<\/p>\n<p><strong>For more info, check out:<\/strong><br \/>\nCliffGoldmacher.com<br \/>\nMindySmithMusic.com<br \/>\nFacebook.com\/MindySmithMusic<br \/>\nFacebook.com\/ShelterMeTV<br \/>\nShelterMe.tv<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-16949\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Cliff-Goldmacher-8-Heather-Rigdon.jpg\" alt=\"Cliff Goldmacher-8 Heather Rigdon\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Cliff-Goldmacher-8-Heather-Rigdon.jpg 500w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Cliff-Goldmacher-8-Heather-Rigdon-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Cliff-Goldmacher-8-Heather-Rigdon-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>VIDEO FEATURE &amp; WEB-EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW Artist: MINDY SMITH Song:\u00a0\u201cStarting Over Again\u201d Songwriters: Mindy Smith &amp; Cliff Goldmacher Producer: Cliff Goldmacher Animation: Paul and Sandra Fierlinger Mmusicmag.com has the exclusive online world premiere of the new video, \u201cStarting Over Again.\u201d This is the third song Mindy Smith has contributed to the Shelter Me project. AllMusic.com describes [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16957,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7725],"tags":[8797,5056,5407,8798,2349,8799,8800,7794,8801,1063,8802,8803,8804,794,8805,1624,8806,6651,4974,8807,6020,3121,8808,7566,3010,8809,4367,7978,8810,8811,8812,8813,8163,806,8814,4092,8815,8816,8817,8818,6604,8819,8820,8821,8822,8823,8824,1777],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16948"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16948"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16948\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17189,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16948\/revisions\/17189"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}