I'm a songwriter with a few tools, a love for a good hook, and the desire to make music. I have been writing for years, but when I became a Christain, suddenly almost all of my work became to, for or about God. It's not something I conciously chose, it just happened.
We write what we're given I suppose.
Well, I was sitting in my house, in 1989, and my friend Dave came over and put on a cassette, of Pink Floyd, Mother. Then he played along with it. I was not only tranfixed, but instantly hooked on making music. Songwriting just naturally seemed to flow out of that.
I was in a band in Edmonton, called Third From The Truth. Most of our audience consisted of our spouses, and the walls of my garage. It was a great time of learning.
Fast forward a few years, I become a Christian, find Christian Songwriting Organisation, and Christian Songwriters.org, and my writing has gone to the next level as a result. I can't overstate the value in finding a group of like minded people with which to explore your craft.
Then I 'met' Lisa Venkatrathnam at CSO, and we have been collaborating ever since. We now have a joint website up, here: http://www.danceofthemadman.com/
If you count wailing away in a little bedroom with an electric guitar and a mic stuffed up against it, "live," then yes. Oh, and church once a month.
Peter Gabriel, Shawn Colvin, David Crowder, Sting, Pink Floyd, Tragically Hip, Bonnie Raitt, Indigo Girls, pearl Jam, Seal, Dire Straits, Soundgarden, Robin Mark, Paul Simon, Wailin Jennies, Taj Mahal, Buddy Guy, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Alannis Morrisette
It's a poor carpenter who blames his tools, so it shouldn't matter.