Traveling inside the mind of Beth Nielsen Chapman.

By Rob Hochschild and Kevin Levesque
November 22, 2002

Photo by Kevin Levesque

Texas-born songwriter Beth Nielsen Chapman is not afraid to invite people into her inner world. She writes confessional folk-country music that draws directly from real-life experiences and publishes a website diary in which she discusses her husband's death and her battle with breast cancer, among other personal trials. She gave further evidence of her openness during a visit to Berklee on October 31, when, in front of a room full of strangers, she made a phone call that could have provided the ultimate success or a crushing disappointment.

Chapman wanted to find out if "Free," a song she wrote with Annie Roboff for Faith Hill's latest CD, would be selected to be a new single. While Chapman picked up her cell phone and called an executive at Warner Brothers, students and faculty observed as if witnessing a developing car wreck. But Chapman's quips kept the moment light and audience members laughing. No one answered the call, so Chapman left a message.

Regardless of whether or not "Free" becomes a hit, it was a moment that illuminated Chapman's carefree attitude about the music industry.

"Don't plant your seeds too close to the asphalt of the music business," Chapman said during her clinic, sponsored by the Songwriting Department and held at the David Friend Recital Hall. After spending years watching record companies try to get songwriters to accept lower earnings, she says she has learned how to protect herself from what she sees as unjust treatment of composers. At the same time, she acknowledged that songwriters looking for their first break might have no choice but to take what the industry dishes out. Chapman, author of several number-one hits for artists like Trisha Yearwood, Willie Nelson, and Lorrie Morgan, has the luxury of past successes to strengthen her bargaining positions.

Chart-topping songs have been an important part of Chapman's ascent, but she reminded student songwriters that they don't need to set lofty aims. "It only matters if you move one person. That lends itself to becoming universal."

With a guitar in her lap, Chapman demonstrated her songwriting process. She strummed the instrument until she found a chord progression she liked and then sang wordless vocals over the harmony. In such a case, the improvised vocal sounds eventually become a melody and later, Chapman writes lyrics to fit the melody. She always keeps a tape recorder running to capture the moments when good ideas start coming.

"The greatest writing is done on the edge of what you know and what you don't know," she said.

Chapman lives in Nashville, a haven for songwriters, and has given clinics for Berklee students during the college's annual Spring Break trip to Music City. It's a town ripe with the kind of songwriting partnerships Chapman believes every tunesmith needs. Songwriters working together challenge each other and push each other to put in the time required to write a good song, she said.

Chapman didn't say how long it took her and Roboff to write "Free," but it looks like it'll be a while before the song is splashed all over country radio. According to the Faith Hill website, "When the Lights Go Down" has been chosen as Hill's newest single. But to a woman who has already overcome some of the most difficult challenges that life can present, the news probably won't ruin her day.

Berklee graphic designer Kevin Levesque is a bassist working in the North Shore area of Massachusetts.

Links of Interest
•	Songwriting Department
•	Berklee's Nashville Trip