1. Don't Leave Me Waiting Like This  

2. Air Bound 

3.  Without You I Can't Be Satisfied

People always ask me how long i have been writing songs.  Well the first song that i can remember writing,  i wrote for a my history class.   i was in fourth grade at the time and i had this huge assignment due on the westward movement.  

Now i was supposed to be working on this project for at least a month...  but i hadn't done a thing.  
So there i sat, huddled up beside the wood stove in the middle of the night, feeling sick.
i'd been looking at blank pieces of papers for days and so far i had only drawn a picture of  horses, a covered wagon and a rainbow.  Still not feeling inspired i picked up my guitar and noodled around with it.   The next thing i knew, i had written a short song that i called Going West.  The next day i turned in the picture, along with  a quick page i had scribbled on the westward movement and sang the class the song.  It was a big success and a big lesson for me... 
A song is an easy A.   I used that approach on through high school.

Since that time i'd like to think my songwriting has improved.  To make sure that it does, i make it a practice to write everyday.  In my lifetime i have written well over a thousand songs!  I have an office supply box stuffed full of the original drafts.  As of the last count i have 168 songs recorded and available on CDs.   

I also love to learn, so i've  attended many great songwriting venues such as: 

•    Taxi Road Rally   This event is the most songwriting information under one roof!  i highly recommend it!  i have dragged many a new song writer to this annual event.   It is three full days of classes, mentoring, and one on one meetings with some of the biggest names in the industry.   I should also tell you that there over 3,000 song writers in attendance and to Taxi members,  it is FREE!   (So worth the price of membership.  i'd pay a lot more then that to go... but don't tell Taxi).  
• NSAI Song Camp, (Incredible Nashville writers teaching small intimate classes and available to talk to all day long.  I learned Nashville song structure, and the Nashville number system.  My brain hurt for a week but then i started cranking out some really great songs.    
•    Texas Songwriting Cruise, This is floating fun for everyone.  I was hanging out with great song writers and teachers like Jason Blume ,  John and Jo Ann Braheny, and Ted Lowe, (who soon became a co-conspiriter of wickedness) along with my friend Valenta.  We spent late nights finding women for the handsom Ted, while us unavailable ladies hung on him to make the girls interested.                        
  
•    Durrning the trip i found myself picking these peoples brains while we were walking around a cruise liner watching for flying fish, or snarfing down a pizza.    On this cruise i got all kinds of  feed back, made excellent contacts, and became friends with some of the writers i have worshiped!  I also ate more food than i have ever eaten and lost weight doing it.  Jason Blume told me...  "Never take the elevator and you'll loose weight."  He was right...  It worked!
  
       All of these events were extremely informative, helpful, and a whole lot of fun.  But by far and away the coolest workshop i've ever attended was:

          Skip not only taught secrets to writing great songs but also secrets to life.   Here again I became close 
          friends with great writers whose work I had admired.  Not acquaintances, but actually friends.  So 
          much so that i have been invite to bar-b-ques at their homes.   One of them even offered to go to a         meeting with me when i was approached for a staff writing position in Nashville.   

          This event is so chock full of good people, good food, and good fun, that i will definitely be back!     

Your listening to a sample of some of the songs i wrote last year.  I hope you're enjoying them.   

Amy Jo

P.S.   If you are enjoying the songs you can download the mp3s on my Songs For Sale page