Mike Ragogna’s 2.0 – 20111226 – Naughty By Nature

Mike Ragogna’s 2.0 – 20111226 – Trombone Shorty

Mike Ragogna’s 2.0 – 20111222 – Chicago’s Lee Loughnane

Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil – HuffPost 12.30.11

At The Songwriters Hall Of Fame 2011 Mike Ragogna: What advice would you give to new songwriters? Cynthia Weil: To new songwriters, I would say that once you’ve become a songwriter, a producer, and a singer, then you’ve got it wrapped up because you need all of those tools to succeed. MR: And to new […]

NARAS President Neil Portnow – HuffPost 12.30.11

Mike Ragogna: What would be your advice for a new artist? Neil Portnow: Well, new artists have to be focused on honing the craft. But the most important thing to an artist is to have a vision and a sense of themselves–who you are, what you want to say, what your approach is to things. […]

Paul Williams – HuffPost 12.30.11

Mike Ragogna: What advice do you have for new artists? Paul Williams: Be authentic. Don’t try to be like anyone else. I tried to be like David Bowie and nothing was happening for me. I wrote a very sentimental song called, “We’ve Only Just Begun,” that was so far from what the music industry was […]

Hal David – HuffPost 12.30.11

Mike Ragogna: What advice do you have for new writers? Hal David: Just keep writing. People will turn you down, but people turned me down years ago as well. Just keep working and, if you’re good, something will happen along the way.

John Bettis – HuffPost 12.30.11

Mike Ragogna: What advice would you give to a new artist? John Bettis: These days? Really stay true to yourself. That has always been true of this industry, but we’re a part of an age that will find the more original and unique voices becoming very successful. I think copying that which you hear is […]