The latest guest on our “Give Vance a Chance: Song Clinic” podcast series is American-born, Canadian bred singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and actor, Marc Jordan.
Throughout his illustrious career, Marc has worked with a number of legendary artists spanning a wide spectrum of genres, including Rod Stewart (most notably, ““Rhythm of my Heart” and “Tears of Hercules”) Diana Ross, Cher, Bette Midler, Chicago, Josh Groban, and many others.
Marc jumped on a call with Ronny to discuss a wide range of topics including how a Phoebe Snow record incidentally changed the trajectory of his career, why timing is everything, the reason his early music didn’t quite translate in America, and his advice for emerging songwriters. Here are our favourite soundbites from the episode:
On the importance of timing:
You have to somehow tap into that great beyond in a way. You have to catch the Zeitgeist. And [while] many songs do, many songs don't.
On his creative process with long-time collaborator, Rod Stewart:
I haven't had much luck writing with him. But what happens is, he sends me stuff to fix, and I do my best. I send it back and he goes ‘well, you know, good, but …” Then I know what he's looking for and I go into my catalog or write him something and [that’s the way] it's worked.
On what became of his earliest material:
It wasn't fully formed. My stuff was very folky. That's what Canada does. They don't have the African influence, they have the British influence. So we are caught between America and England, in a way. And so my stuff was kind of folky and didn't really translate in America.
On receiving validation from others:
The people that say yes to you in your life are the important people because they validate what you do. And when you say yes to a writer at the right time, if he’s smart, he goes ‘okay, this is connecting.’ When somebody says yes, it allows you to narrow the scope a bit.
On his advice for emerging songwriters:
The more you write lyrics, the better you become at your craft. Yes, it's great to have people that know what they're talking about validate you, but eventually you have to feel it yourself. If a song moves me, I don't give a sh*t what style it's in or anything. If it moves me, I know it's going to move somebody else. I know somebody else is going to get it. An important thing for writers is not to think about the marketplace. You know, just think about your soul and how it affects your soul. And if it does, you're doing the right thing.
For Marc’s full chat with Ronny, and more episodes in our podcast series, click HERE.