Recently I was joking with a friend that creating happy songs makes my palms sweaty, especially if they are up-tempo. That’s because, like many artist/songwriters, my natural mode is to write a lyrically deep and mid-tempo-ballad. I’ll even take what could be a happy title and ‘ballad it up’ if left to my own devices! This realization got me thinking about getting the proper balance in my records, so fans aren’t left too depressed or only listening when they feel like crying. Yes, I want them to get a bit of hard truth and think, but I also want them to enjoy it and tap their feet. After all, there is a lot to be happy about in this world! So, in an effort to hold myself accountable as an artist to the well-balanced album approach, I created the menu below, which I am following for my new album Ghosts in the Field. For Ghost in the Field, I have selected: 2 songs with heart: Blossom in the Dust and God Counts Every Tear 2 deep and dark tunes: Be My Rain and Who Comes First 2 happy and positive songs: Just a Little and As Long as You’re Mine 1 personally defining song: Ghosts in the Field I should also mention that I wrote five of the seven songs on the project, and found a happy song and a song with heart from some fantastic writers in Nashville. If you’re not great at writing different tempos or types, you can always look for songs written by others to balance your own records. And, if you don’t know enough songwriters, please tweet me at @shansmusic and I’ll help you find some songs, promise. In short, my hope is that fans and friends will walk...

Nashville country recording artist Cole Washburn’s debut EP titled Traveler’s Moon has been nominated for multiple awards. Not only is Cole Washburn a talented singer-songwriter and musician, he’s a good sport. He smiled and laughed and gave a fabulous interview after waking up to a broken heater in 5 degree weather earlier in the day. Still wearing a hat and coat inside, Cole told me, “I woke up like a popsicle.” Prior to the release of his debut EP, Cole Washburn released a single from the Traveler’s Moon EP each month from April 2014 until the EP’s debut. During that time period, he released six songs. He recorded two additional songs that are also on the EP: Who I Was and Timberline. When I asked about the campaign, Cole explained: “That was a lot of fun. I’ve been writing the songs on this record for a couple of years. I built a studio with my producer back in January of last year called Gravity Nashville. The process is a great one-day-at-a-time thing. Over time, you get songs that you really like and you start to get an idea of the album concept. I had some great artists write and perform on the record. I was really fortunate.” Some of the great artists who contributed to Traveler’s Moon include: Anna Register on vocals; Kyle Everson on pedal steel, acoustics, banjo and mandolin; Kenzie Wetz on violin; Phil Madeira on accordion; and Steve Bryant on bass. According to Cole: “I had a good response, so I’m hitting the studio again this year, and we’re going to keep on doing as many songs as we can. I’m going to stick to releasing a song a month, because I can put a lot of time and effort into...