Welcome to BSC UPdates. This is an online newsletter featuring Bob Shank Country (BSC).  Each month I will post a new Update. Topics will include What’s New, Songwriter’s Spotlight, Songwriter’s Journal, Behind the Scenes, Releases, and more. If you want to stay informed of these Updates, fill out the signup page here.

I continue to come up with new and exciting ideas and hooks for new songs. I am working with the Shane McAnally Nashville Songwriter's App, which I am enjoying very much. Each day I submit five new ideas/hooks in a brainstorming session. The app then picks one or two that stand out and explains why. Then I usually write a song around that idea/hook. I've been doing this for over 40 days in a row now. I find it stimulating and helpful. Throughout the day I collect ideas and hooks from various places and enter them into my Songwriting Ideas folder in Apple Notes. My iPhone is always with me, so whenever an idea shows itself or pops into my head, I can capture. So far, I have 1,732 ideas/hooks in this Notes folder and it keeps growing every day!

Here are some of my latest song titles—fresh from the Bob Shank Country notebook:

• I’m Your Candle (That Won’t Burn Out)
• The Country Boy and The City Girl
• He Walked Right into Her Sunset
• He Took One Wrong Step
• He’s Out Drinking and She’s Home Brewing
• Wilbur the Pig Was a Ham
• On the 5th of Whiskey
• Saturdays at Home

"The Country Girl and The Country Boy," is a song I wrote recently. The inspiration came from digging into the lyrics of John Denver's song, "The Cowboy and The Lady." I really like that song and one night I thought I would try to write a song featuring two quite opposite persons. Here's what I came up with:

The City Girl and The Country Boy

Verse 1

I sat there on the park bench

City park was full of activity

She strolled up and sat beside me

Air was filled with electricity

Verse 2

She was dressed to the nines

There I sat wearing blue jeans

I felt like I didn’t belong

It was a far cry from the country

Verse 3

I looked at her and said “Howdy”

She managed a sweet “Hello”

We struck up a conversation 

Wondered how far it might go

Chorus

The city girl and the country boy

Sittin’ there side by side

One was rich and famous

The other a bit countryfied

Verse 4

She said, where are you from

Do you live in the city

I looked at her with big eyes

And said, no I’m from the country

Verse 5

Do you work in the city 

She politely asked me

No, just traveling through

Came here to have a look-see

Chorus

The city girl and the country boy

Sittin’ there side by side

One was rich and famous

The other a bit countryfied

Verse 6

I couldn’t help but ask

You must be from the city

A smile appeared on her face

Yes, I am an attorney

Verse 7

Then I noticed her hair

Tucked up into a bun

And realized my cowboy hat

Was keeping out the sun

Chorus

The city girl and the country boy

Sittin’ there side by side

One was rich and famous

The other a bit countryfied

Outro

As we got up to walk away

She heard me say, hey

If you’re ever back this way

I’d like to see you some day

The space where I compose melodies and record my songs is just a spare bedroom. I call it my studio but it is nothing fancy--just a place where I can shut the door and retreat to another world and my own thoughts.

I have my guitars (3 of them), mixing board, monitors, songwriting books, magazines, turntable, dual cassette player, and my Yamaha keyboard placed tightly and all within reach. It is my own space and I love being there. It is my songwriter's space that I made uniquely my own.

Do you have your own space where you can escape to in this busy world? I much prefer spending time my studio than trolling through news or Facebook on my phone. I need this quiet space and it is in there that some creative and amazing things happen. Often times it surprises me! 

I am thankful to have my studio where I can enter into my songwriter's world and work on the new songs ideas that come to me. I like the mountains and I like my studio!