Gavin spent quality time playing his new holiday gift to himself (Hint: It has six strings, it’s made of spruce and koa wood, sounds absolutely beautiful and he calls her “Gibby”). Gavin reports that he has once again built up his wrist strength and calluses while learning various chords and their inversions. Playing only occasionally hurts when Gavin thinks of those soft ivory piano keys and the downward angle of playing piano. Still, Gavin looks forward to hearing REAL guitarists play his Gibby when he arrives in Nashville this February.

Gavin arrived in Nashville February 10^th.  Gavin reports experiencing a range of temperatures in the low 20’s with snow flurries to humid rain. Gavin has been spending time enjoying his walks around beautiful Radnor Lake or Centennial Park, swimming and Jacuzzi-ing at his new health club, trying to understand new words like “hep” (help), “might could” (well, might could), y’all (you all) and a-ight (alright), meeting pro songwriters, new co-writing partners and hooking up with industry pros he met last Fall, shopping for new keyboards, playing his Gibby, going out to writers-in-the-rounds, and trying not to pass out at the music clubs from the thick clouds of cigarette smoke.

The highlight of the month came on February 26 when Gavin was visiting the offices of Nashville Songwriters Association. A representative met with Gavin and informed him that his song, “Lesson in the Blues”, had won Honorable Mention in the prestigious CMT.com/NSAI 4^th Annual Song Contest. Music industry professionals judge thousands of songs from around the world, with only a miniscule percentage acknowledged as winners.  Congratulations to Gavin, as well as Co-producer Scott Urqhuart, singer Noelle Hampton, guitarist Erik Schramm, and violinist Heidi-Jane Schwabe who all helped create the magic that caught the judges’ ears.

March-April

Gavin participated in NSAI’s Song Camp and Symposium in Nashville.

May

Back in California, Gavin worked on writing many new Country songs. He has several new collaborators in Nashville, California and Canada.

June

A busy month for Gavin spent in both LA and Nashville. Early in the month, Gavin’s LA visits included his friends at Transition Music, Fox Sports Music, The Disney Channel, and the E Entertainment Network.

In Nashville, Gavin worked with David Scheibner (hit songwriter/guitarist) who produced 3 new master quality Country songs: “My Turn Now,” “That Girl In The Yearbook” (co-written by Gavin’s brother, Howard) and “Life At The Side Of The Road.” Nashville session players and singers were brought in for the recordings including Ralph Friedrichsen (bass player for Jo Dee Messina), Doug Frasure (drummer, formerly for Trisha Yearwood), Tammy Rogers (fiddle & mandolin for Reba McEntire), Gene LeSage (background singer for Collin Raye), and Tim Buppert (singer). All of these songs are now available for licensing with Country artists.

July

Gavin took the month off after a grueling year long stretch of writing and traveling.

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