Ep. 09: The Art of Loosening Up with Jay Knowles

In the same way that a great melody is as much about space as it is about notes, Grammy nominated hit songwriter, Jay Knowles, has mastered emphasizing 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 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.

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 can get alerted to 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 put his own quirky spin on how to make the best cup of black coffee… ever. And a nostalgic childhood favorite only the way his mom could make it: peanut butter and brown sugar sandwich. Keep reading to learn how to make these yummy recipes while you enjoy our conversation!

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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.

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

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Keep scrolling to get your recipes! They’re just below. ↓