Atypical & Awesome “Doing My Thing While Quarantined”
I’ve been writing as I have felt well enough to while quarantined. I’ve had online cowrites going on the past week with Jessica Lavallee, Alice Nelson, Darrell Qualls, and a new cowriter, Michael Chapman. I’m not able to sing or play guitar right now so I’ve been doing a lot of lyric writing. I’m blessed to work with great cowriters who can help me out during this time. I’ve also been working on paperwork- song registrations, etc. Today, I comprised a list of 25 cuts I’ve had through the years including a few coming up. Will try to post the list for those interested. It helps my spirits to look at achievements and to see growth. The songwriting wheels can turn slow sometimes. Any encouragement helps even when we have to encourage ourselves. Hope to be returning to semi-normal soon. Thank you for your prayers and support.
The Cuts 2011-2021: ( I wrote under the name Carmen Melton Taylor until 2018 and then, Carmen Melton Bennett afterwards)
“Battle Scars” Shelly Starks- (Starks, Roland, Taylor) Right Recordings/Universal recorded and performed live on the BBC during radio tours in Europe
“Second Hand Heart” (Wilson, Taylor) recorded by Randy Jones (mandolin player for LRB)on “When Old Lonesome Comes Around” and performed live by Lonesome River Band for 2 years
“Concrete Jungle” Griffin (Stewart, Taylor) title track
“Wildflowers” (Stewart, Taylor) Firefly Creek String Band on “Creekside Collection” and “Forget Me Not”
“Minding My Business” (Stewart, Taylor) Firefly Creek String Band on “Creekside Collection” and “Forget Me Not”
“Gumbo Stew” (Stewart, Taylor)Gator Moon on “Aint Gonna Hurt Nobody”
“Grandmother’s Eyes” (Stewart, Taylor) Jeffrey Scott Stewart on “The Family Album”
“Don’t Talk in Your Sleep” (Stewart, Taylor) Jeffrey Scott Stewart on “The Poison and the Cure”
“Me and Uncle Jimmy” Jeffrey Scott Stewart (Stewart, Taylor) on “The Family Album”
“Warriors of Love” Camela Widad (Widad, Taylor) title track of album
“To the Sun” Neamen Lyles (Dolin, Soto, Taylor) on “Moment of Truth” album
“Bad Jamie” Neamen Lyles (Dolin, Soto, Taylor) on “Moment of Truth” album
“Take Me Back” Otha Allen (Allen, Bennett) title track of album
“Muddy Water” Chad Roland (Roland, Taylor) on “Tired, Hungry, Homeless, Poor”
“On the Verge” Jay Soto (Soto, Bennett) title track
“Unwound” Jay Soto (Soto, Bennett)
“My Time” Jay Soto (Soto, Bennett)
“The Road” Jay Soto (Soto, Bennett)
“Evermore” Jay Soto (Soto, Bennett)
“All Along” Jay Soto (Soto, Bennett)
“Here’s to Us” Jay Soto (Soto, Bennett)
“Fire and Ice” Jay Soto (Soto, Bennett)
Released by Innervision Records on “On the Verge” in 2018 then remastered and rereleased by SotoPop Music, LLC 2021
Upcoming releases:
“Girlfriend” Alice Nelson (Nelson, Bennett) SINGLE Fall 2021 MC1 Nashville/ Sony-Orchard
“Progress” Drew Taylor ( Taylor, Bennett)
“Small Town Girl” Jessica Lavallee (Lavallee, Lavallee, Bennett)
A pic from our recent trip- not camera ready this week while recovering from Covid