For the record, I never wanted to be a rock star. But as a college freshman I decided I was going to make an album. I hadn’t quite grown out of my belief that I could do absolutely anything I set my mind to. It was a good sentiment from my growing up years, but in this particular case it didn’t prove very helpful. I knew how to play the guitar and a buddy played the piano, so we decided if we wrote one or two songs each semester, we’d have an album by the time we graduated. In fact, I was so sure I would graduate with a diploma in one hand and a record in the other that I even volunteered to write the first song.

Back in my dorm room, I sat down to with my guitar, a pen, a notebook, and my thinking cap. Nothing happened. Somewhere during the next five long, lonely minutes, I decided songwriting just wasn’t in the cards for me. So I told my buddy, “I got nothin’” and got back to my business management homework.