We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Bobby Dougherty. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Bobby below.

Hi Bobby, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

With songwriting, I don’t think you can speed up your learning process. You can’t force it. Keep working hard, take criticism, and honestly evaluate your material. Don’t be afraid to start over, and over, again.

I think there are two essential skills with songwriting. The first is understanding the craft of songwriting and the second is finding your creative process. The craft of songwriting comes from learning songs, which you should never stop doing. When you feel blocked writing, learn a song. Learning music theory helps, but it can also hurt. It can make you trust your mind instead of ears. The more songs you learn, the better your ears get.

The creative process is different for every one. It’s a lot of stumbling around and seeing what works for you. Pay attention to the moods and settings that precede those moments of flow when melody or lyric writing is spontaneous. For me, those moods are when I’m feeling reflective or melancholy. The setting recently has been my living room couch or my front porch. I also need to know that I have some time—and energy—on my hands.

Always ask other songwriters about their process. They may have some wisdom or some tricks that can get you unstuck, or inspire you to try something different. A question that I’ve been asked a lot, and one that I ask a lot, is whether lyrics or melodies come first. For me, 99% of the time, I write melodies first. Well actually, I start with the guitar. I play around with chord shapes, finger-picking patterns and the tuning pegs. Once I have something on the guitar I like, I hum over it and pay attention to what feels good. There’s a finite number of melodies that can fit with a guitar part, and if I can’t find a melody that does something for me, I start over on the guitar. I usually find these guitar-melody pairings only after I’ve come to the guitar with the intention to write several days in a row. In addition to this, I typically write many songs that I scrap before I write one I like.

I almost always start lyric writing with a blank slate. Once I have that elusive melody, I start experimenting with some words or syllables that sound nicely singable. If whole phrases are coming out spontaneously, I take that as the starting point and explore that. I trust that my subconscious always has something it needs to express, so I try not to think too deeply about what I want to write about. I’ve learned that the more I stay interested in the world around me, and keep my mind fresh reading interesting things, the faster and better the lyrics come out. No matter what the topic ends up being, if I don’t make it somehow personal, I end up not liking it later.

When it comes to obstacles that stood in the way of not learning more, I suppose it was becoming too attached to finished songs. You have to be willing to let go of some songs if they don’t do anything for anyone. I know that I used to become very attached to songs just because they were challenging for me to write, or because I used something clever that I was eager to show off. Be weary of your ego. It can be very convincing.

Bobby, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Like most people I am a wage laborer. I live in Philadelphia with my wife. Our household is run by our five pound Yorkie.

I got into songwriting because it’s something I wanted to do. I wish everything were as simple as that. I remember feeling like I would do whatever it takes to make meaningful art. Now I also worry about how I’m going to get people to hear my songs, but the desire to make meaningful art remains my main motivation.

I think what sets me apart from others is how I use the guitar. Like I mentioned before, playing with the tuning pegs on my guitar is just as much of my writing process as making chord shapes with my left hand. I try to get my guitar to create the atmosphere of a whole band. I try to get open strings to drone throughout a song. I try to write leads on the high strings. I try to tune the low strings down into bass frequencies.

What I’m most proud is having what I think is a songwriting and performing style that is unique. I obviously have influences that I am indebted to when it comes to guitar playing, vocal styling, melody writing, etc. Nothing happens in a vacuum and you have to take inspiration from somewhere. But I feel like I am myself first and foremost when I’m making music. This was something that was always important to me, and it took years to fully realize.

What I want people to know is that I make soft, delicate, introspective music. It’s written with the intention of being calming when listened to passively but also rewarding to listeners who care to actively engage with the lyrics.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

To me the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is that miraculous feeling of expressing an emotion through music that was previously obscured or incomprehensible. There is a side to it that is craft, theory, and practice, of course, but I’m not holding onto a song if it doesn’t make me feel something every time I hear it. The motivation for performing and recording is the added reward of connecting with somebody else. I’m grateful for all the artists who made music that makes me feel understood or at ease. It would be the ultimate reward if my music could be capable of that for somebody else.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I’ve been part of the music scene in Philadelphia for about ten years, and for the first time I’m getting certain opportunities, like this interview, for example. It’s been a slow, steady journey but it’s trending in the right direction. There are things you have to do to get your music heard that I don’t necessarily enjoy, and I’m willing to give up the hustle if I’m not getting results. But I’ll never stop writing music. I get this suffocating feeling if I haven’t written anything in a while. The same can be said if I haven’t performed in a while.

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