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parent who comforts you. You cannot have comfort
if you want to have that extra edge.
Judy: Are you going to college? This is what I would
recommend. There's a normal development and
evolution of yourself. You graduate from high
school and you have another four years of college. If
you don't go to college-and you have this time
now-you are never going to get this time back. I
wish I was at that time so I could just take a lot of
classes and workshops and fill myself with everything I need to know. And I think that's something
you should do. You should make your own college
program and say, "You know what? If I'm gonna be
an artist, then I need to take care of my voice, I need
to take care of my body, I need to be in writing
workshops, I need to be learning Pro Tools, I need to
be at the Musician's Institute, I need to take classes
online. How do I build a program for myself so I am
developing myself and my craft, along with playing
out and co-writing and doing all that stuff?" But this
is the time, because when you're 30, no one is going
to let you off to go do workshops and classes. That's
the thing. If you're young, do them now.

he could afford to put a little money behind her.
She is so uninteresting, she has nothing to write
about. So I told her she could either do Country, or
she could do contemporary Christian, or she could
do a TV show. Of course, she tried to be an actress,
so she got a TV show. It was great, but the reality is
that now labels aren't really looking for kids with
TV shows. So I say you just need to live the life. You
need to go out and screw up a little bit.
Suzan: Go and live, get your heart broken, start
feeling and experiencing things. Otherwise, you're
gonna have nothing to put in your songs, and
you're gonna be just a pretty voice. So you're 20
now. It's a great age, go misbehave. Sorry, Dad.

make us more interesting anyway. You've got to
have a story of some sort. And I don't mean, What's
your story? Like what do you have to offer? Honestly,
the more personal you are lyrically, and from an
emotional standpoint, the more personal you are,
the more universal it is. Because we all feel the
same, it's just figuring out a cool way to say it. And
that's what Lorde's record does. That's nothing that
we all haven't felt, you know what I mean? It's just a
matter of how she says it.
Well, guys, I can't thank you all enough. I literally
could spend a day with you. Judy Stakee, Suzan
Koch, Shelly Peiken, and Jamie Houston. Thank you
so much for sharing what you know with our members. [Applause].

Jamie: It's true. It's the scars that we all have that

Jamie: What are you doing, minus your dad?
Nothing personal.
The Daughter: Right now this has all just been a learning experience. We first joined TAXI, I think, six months
ago, and I just have a really strong love for songwriting. It's one of those like what you want and what you
need-things. I know I would really love to be a songwriter, but if I could make it as an artist, that's a want.
I'm just trying to learn as much as I can about songwriting right now.
Jamie: Do you play an instrument?
The Daughter: I play piano.
Jamie: Are you co-writing at all?
The Daughter: Well, me and my dad write every once
in a while. But I really just write by myself.
Jamie: Do you go see bands?
The Daughter: Not often.
Jamie: If it were me, I would get out, go see bands,
and try to find like-minded kids your age, and
immerse yourself in it. Figure out if it's really something you want to do. There are a couple of kids I
worked with lately who are frickin' amazing-
really, really talented-but they are being coddled,
and the parents come off as if... There's a girl that's
got a TV show right now that I worked with. She's
this nice white girl who had no story whatsoever.
She came from Texas, her dad had a restaurant, so
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Recording - August 2014

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