Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Steve Dean. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Steve, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

My Dad was a writer. Not a songwriter, but a storyteller. An author. He would have loved to have written articles for publications like Look and Life Magazines, about interesting people and/or current events happening in and around the 1950’s. After graduating from college with a degree in accounting, however, he decided that getting a real job was the way to a more secure way of life. My Mom was an acomplished pianist and singer. Not professionally, but nontheless, she was very talented, and probably could have been had she decided go for it. But, instead, she was the favorite soloist at her Church, she played the Family piano frequently, and she taught and directed a kindergarten for 25 years before retiring. She and my Dad were married 64 years.
When I came along, growing up in a household of music lovers, I was exposed to my Dad’s incredible collection of music from the Big Band era and my Mom’s incredible musicianship and vocal range, as well as her favorite singers and songs. She loved “pure singers”, as she called it, like Andy Williams.
In 1964, I witnessed The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show, and decided at that moment I wanted to play music. I was consumed with it. One day my Dad asked me if I knew what made the Beatles so good. He said it’s because they write their own songs. My dream career was born at that moment. Early on in school I was interested in and made good grades on poetry and other writing projects. So I learned to play guitar and started writing my own songs.
My parents encouraged me to pursue what made me happy. Writing songs and playing guitar was, to me, key to happiness. Both Mom and Dad wanted me to get a degree from college. All I could think about at that time was how could make a living from the music business. Dad suggested I get an advertising degree, then I could use my music skills to write jingles. Yes! What a great idea. But when the agency put me on the road selling advertising, I had to jump ship. That wasn’t what I wanted to do at all. So once again, Dad made a great suggestion. Why not move to Nashville and get some established artists to record your songs. That was it!! I made the move, and my dream career got started.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

in 1978, after graduating college with an advertising degree, I got a job as an account executive at Watkins & Associates, a very respected ad agency in my hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas. The owner of the agency just happened to also own 51% of a “jingle house” in Nashville. I had just been out of school for about week. The next thing I knew, he and I traveled to Nashville to a jingle recording session at the “Shook Shack”, where I was introduced to the other two share holders of Faded Blue Music, and to Jerry Shook, a famed Nashville session player and owner of the Shook Shack. The minute the car we were riding in started down 16th Avenue South, I knew I was going to move to Nashville. I knew it in my heart and soul. When we got to the studio, the musicians were already laying down tracks. I was right where I wanted to be. Jerry Shook being a LIttle Rock native himself, took me under his wing and was a mentor to me in my early days in Nashville. I started knocking on publishing company doors in the fall of ’81, and the third door I knocked on, Tom Collins Music Publishing, they let me in. I stayed with Tom for 16 years. I was now treating songwriting like a job instead of a hobby. Major Label artists were recording my songs. I was writing with some of the biggest songwriters in Nashville. I went in to the publishing company office every day to write. I made connections and relationships. Now, long after that first pub deal, I am still, to this day, writing songs, making relationships and connections, looking to write that next big hit. I offer a mentoring session for songwriters looking to improve their music and lyric writing skills. Staying focused, staying true to my career and always encouraging others along the way, is something very important to me. I work hard at my work ethic.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I would say, being able to express myself through the art of songwriting and saying something heartfelt through a melody, is the most rewarding, especially when the listener is touched by it. I know when I am performing a song that means something special to me, then others will and do relate to it, too. It also goes way into the songwriting process, whether it is a solo write or a co-write, cause it is truly therapeutic getting those thoughts and feelings out of your heart and soul, and into a song. It is truly amazing. Songwriting is a spiritual and an emotional experience. Music is a gift of the Universe.

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

Many times in my career, a major label producer or artist manager has called my publisher to put one of my songs “On Hold”, meaning, that that particular recording artist he/she/they represent, has heard my song and is considering it for an upcoming album project, and he/she/they asked us not to “pitch” the song around town to anyone else in the industry. That is a great feeling, until they take the song off hold and your song isn’t going on that artists new album project. I have had to learn the hard way to take this scenario with a grain of salt. Why? Well, this is my livelihood. This is how I make my living. This is my song that I have poured my heart and soul into. And then, just like that, the rug is pulled out from under you. But you know, there will be other artist that will record your songs. You get knocked down a lot in the music business. You just gotta keep getting back up. That’s what I do.

Contact Info:

• Website: stevedeanmusic.com
• Instagram: stevedeanmusic
• Facebook: Steve Dean/facebook