Dave Martin's Driftwood

Dave Martin and Layton Lillas discuss the art of musical collaboration in this episode. Together, they reflect on their experiences co-writing songs—both with each other and with other artists—while Layton shares the story behind co-writing an album with Susan Rose.

Their conversation delves into the songwriting process, the creative spark that comes from collaboration, the challenge of finding a shared artistic vision, and the rewards of bringing music to life together. From the earliest song ideas to the finished recordings, Layton offers behind-the-scenes insights into the stories, inspirations, and creative choices that shaped the project, providing a candid look at how a collaborative album comes together.

Layton Lillas shares his song Miracle with Dave on the Driftwood Podcast. Sometimes blessings come along later in life like a child in your forties when you've tried so hard and been disappointed so many times. Miracle is Layton's reflection of that moment of happiness as he met his baby girl.

Friendship isn't celebrated enough in songs, so we wrote two. This Episode of Dave Martin’s Driftwood Podcast features Layton Lillas sharing his song about post-tour blues called “Best Friends”. We explore the songwriting process behind the collaborative children’s song "Great Friends" & there’s a special guest performance.

Layton Lillas walks Dave Martin through the Songwriting Process of his Bon Jovi-esque Ballad About Mental Health that sprung from a simple phrase "The darkest hour is before the dawn". In this Episode of Dave Martin's Driftwood Podcast we discuss the process of crafting a small seedling of an idea into a full song complete with verse, pre-Chorus, big powerful chorus and even room for an old-fashioned guitar solo.

Dave's back with Season 2 of the Driftwood Podcast. This time it's a Video Pod Filmed in the Studio with Guest Layton Lillas. Gerry Marsden was the English Singer-Songwriter of Gerry and the Pacemakers & Layton's Friend. Gerry was a popular act in Australia & New Zealand where Layton booked Gerry's Live Shows. This Episode Layton reminisces about Gerry & plays a Song he wrote called "The King of Liverpool”.

This Lost Episode was unreleased for 4 years. I discuss the issue of copyright claims on YouTube and in Songwriting. A lot of popular songs tend to stick to the same 4 chords everyone is familiar with. This Final Episode of Season 1 of Dave Martin's Driftwood Podcast discusses some alternative chord choices such as the minor 3rd and where it's appeared in some hits.

Writing Songs is a way of journaling and dealing with complicated emotions. Here I talk about processing the death of the drummer in my high school band through writing a tribute song called "Field Party". Choosing the right key for a song is an art in itself. I look at a Jayhawks / Dixie Chicks song, AC/DC, Carly Simon and many others to illustrate both the big and subtle differences a song's key makes.

Continuing with the theme from last week's Podcast still discussing how Songs move through People, generations & time. I recognize Malcolm Gladwell's fascinating Episode of the Revisionist History Podcast where he explores this topic in great detail.

Discussing the Traditional Folk Song "The Days of '49" and comparing it to another oldie called "The L&N Don't Stop Here Anymore". Talking about how songs change over time as they are interpreted by different people.

Exploring the topic of what compelled Elvis to make all those bad movies. Seems like he spent so much of his life doing things he didn't want to do in the hopes that one day he might get to do what he really loves again, play music.