Today's Country

Sandy Mason is certainly not a newcomer to the country music world. As a songwriter she has found much success with “When I Dream,” which was cut by Crystal Gayle and then covered by 90 different artists worldwide. More recently she was one of the writer’s on Garth Brook’s hit song "Two Pina Coladas." She has recently released her brand new album “Out There And In Here,” and we had a chance to chat with Sandy about the new album, her past successes, her songwriting and difficulties she faced with getting started, and much much more.

Sandy Mason Myspace
Sandy Mason - "Out There And In Here" Review 

 

1. Your new album “Out There And In Here” is out now. What can you tell people about this album that have never heard your music before?

For this album what I did was gathered a bunch of the spiritual songs that I had written over the past 10 or 12 years and put them all together. The album is out there to make people feel better. My other albums in the past have had my music on it, songs from the 30’s, but this one is a gift.

2. Was there a particular sound or feel that you were going for with this collection of songs?

From my heart. That’s really the best that I can tell you on that. All of my albums and writing come from my heart but with this one I knew we’d be going through some hard times so this one is different. I have people tell me that they listen to the album in their cars and it makes them happy and that is just a blessing for me to hear.

3. You are known for being a songwriter on hit songs like Crystal Gayle’s “When I Dream” and Garth Brooks “Two Pina Coladas.”  As a writer, what satisfaction do you get when an artist cuts your song rather than you just doing it yourself?

Well that is the ultimate thrill. When you go to a Garth Brooks show and 40,000 people are singing your song that’s what it’s all about. It’s not about making money.

4. I have heard that Garth’s version of the song doesn’t contain the original lyrics at some parts. What were the original lyrics on the song?

Well if you look up the video from the Bluebird on my myspace page or Youtube I perform the original version of the song. There is a line in there “bring me two pina coladas, one for each hand, A big old bag of ganja, you roll it cause I can’t” and Garth put in there instead “Let’s set sail with Captain Morgan and never leave dry land.” He is a really good writer and is just the best in my opinion. There is another line in the song that he wrote too. “I’m tellin’ you, that science has proven, that heartaches are healed by the sea” and the original line on that was “everyone comes from the sea.” But when I perform that song live I do the original version of it.

5. Who did you have in mind to cut “Two Pina Coladas” when you wrote it and were you surprised to have Garth including it on his album when you found out?

I was going to give it to Jimmy Buffet because I heard him doing it when I wrote it, but Alan Reynolds said let me show this one to Garth so I said well okay.

6. With “When I Dream.” That song has earned you worldwide recognition and has been covered by 90 different artists. Were you expecting this type of recognition on that particular song and why do you think it has hit the way it has?

No I wasn’t expecting that and I am thrilled and blessed that it has. As a writer I believe that it is all up there already in the universe and it’s all done up there already and it is our jobs to read books and learn about things and pull them down here. That song was written in two minutes, lyrics and music, and I really think it’s a gift. People tell me that it has a Mona Lisa feel to it and it does have that mystery I think.

7. When you started writing songs what difficulties did you find yourself facing in an industry that was mostly dominated by men at the time?

I never even gave that a thought. I just enjoyed writing music and enjoyed ever since I was a kid. I never really thought about that, but it was at the time all guys, which was fine by me, but I think that women should get more credit. I have no idea how many women are in the hall of fame but I can’t believe it’s a lot. But there are some great women out there writing that deserve credit like Benita Hill who I write with. She is great.

8. You have worked with many artists throughout the years. Who were you most honored to work with and why?

Roger Cook, I have written with him and he is a wonderful songwriter. John Hartford too, he is just a wonderful guy. Why honored to write with them though? I don’t know that’s just the thing that happened after we hung out. With Roger Cook for example, we had breakfast and were talking about how not just in Nashville but all over the country they were cutting down these beautiful oak trees to put up these mansions. “The Oak Tree,” we wrote that song out of that conversation about how these trees stood through the civil war, the hurricanes, the tornados, so that song unfolded that way.

9. Which current mainstream country artist would you love to have cut one of your songs and why them?

Well let’s see. I like Martina a lot; Trisha Yearwood is one of my favorites though. She is the best singer, not only in town but in general. There is also Josh Turner who I like, but I don’t write real country songs like he sings. But Trisha Yearwood cutting one of my songs would be great. She has done some demo work for my songs but never cut one for her own album.

10. What advice can you offer to someone that is looking to break into the music industry right now?

If you want to be a good songwriter then you must read books and let the music come out of you through that. Then you have to go and sing your songs at the open mic nights and things like that around town. But just read everything that you can; magazines, books, newspapers, other wise you will just be getting fluff out of your songs like so many that we hear out there now are.