Karl’s answer to Q2: “fifty great questions to ask songwriters”

2. How important is it to research what or who has influenced a songwriter that you admire? Can you share an example?

Whether you have one or many songwriters in particular that you look up to, going back to the source and researching what it was that fueled them in the first place, will undoubtedly provide a deep and endless well of inspiration.

An example of that for me would be Bob Dylan. He often speaks of his earliest influences and repeatedly names Lightning Hopkins and Blind Willie McTell etc. by researching Dylan’s influences I discovered the early blues maestros and even the poetry of Dylan Thomas. Not to mention the folk songs of Bob Dylan’s early years which most definitely played a part in his fondness for writing songs that include many verses and that tell a story as the songs unfold.