We recently connected with Eric Gnezda and have shared our conversation below.

Eric, appreciate you joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

My project has been a lifetime process of learning multiple crafts, everything from songwriting and performing to TV production, from public speaking to promotion, from public relations to business. I have two stories, one about songwriting, and one about TV production.

1) Whether performing or listening at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, every visit presents an opportunity to learn. Once, as an audience member, I was listening to a set by Don Schlitz, writer of “The Gambler” and over 20 other Number One hits. He played a song that he had just written with fellow Hall of Fame songwriter, Gary Burr. The song would never be a commercial hit, but one line in it stuck in my mind. Ten years later, when I finally met Don and Gary, and had them as guests on my TV show, I brought up the song as an example of how the crafting of a great song gives the listener something they can take with them forever. In this case, it was the hook….which I had never forgotten. That was the gift of a well-written song.

2) Years and years earlier when I was a student intern at WBNS TV, I worked in every department, including traffic. Although a “boring” job in most peoples’ minds, I learned a lifetime lesson in that department. That is, for everyone on camera, there are hundreds of people in the background doing everything possible to make the on-air talent look good. Every job is important, and everyone deserves credit. That has stuck with me and become an important lesson in building and maintaining a production team for ten years.

Eric, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My process has been one of blending my passions. My background in songwriting and journalism have merged into a PBS series, “Songs at the Center,” now in its second decade. We are a series that interviews songwriters — from music royalty to unknowns our audience will want to know better — about the process of writing. And, in each show, the artists sing a few songs.

We view our series as a service to our viewers and the artists. While most people know the recording artists of a hit song, few know where the song came from. So “Songs at the Center” reveals The Songs. The Singers. And the Stories…. from the writers themselves.

Of course, we want “Songs at the Center” to reach every music lover. But if there’s a 15-year old in our audience who’s feeling lost, for instance, and she hears a songwriter tell about how he dealt with his alienation as a teenager by writing songs — and now does it for a living — and that inspires her to pick up a guitar…then we’ve done our job. Or if there’s a disabled person who’s not able to leave the house and we can entertain them with “live” music, then we’ve also served our purpose in an important way.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My goal and mission is:

1) to reach people through my writing, no matter whether it’s an audience of one, or of multitudes.

2) to share the process of artistic growth by showcasing other artists and their work to the public at large.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Up until September 11, 2001, I had a successful business as a speaker and songwriter. When the unspeakable tragedy happened, resulting in, among other things, an economic downturn, my clients no longer felt their budgets could afford presenters who merely inspired and motivated. They felt they needed to spend their money on presenters who had “hard content.” Since my programs lacked a five-step process teaching my audience how to make money,  or some such thing, I began to focus more on songwriting alone, which led me back to Nashville, and I also began teaching public speaking at a college. Combined, these pursuits led to the ensuing series, “Songs at the Center.”

Contact Info:

• Website: https://gnezda.com https://songsatthecenter.tv
• Instagram: ericgnezda songsatthecenter.tv
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EricGnezda/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-gnezda-9072131/
• Twitter: @EricGnezda @SongsAtCenter
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@EricGnezda https://www.youtube.com/@SongsattheCenterTV

Image Credits
All photos: Dan Mitchell of Mitchell Multimedia. “Daddy’s Wheels” graphics by Lee Oldfield of Inform Studio.