Ben Drysdale has been writing and performing songs for 20 years in various duo and band projects. For much of that time he was a solo songwriter but more recently has got into collaborative songwriting which has significantly increased his output. Curiously collaborative songwriting has also significantly helped him launch a solo career.

We discussed Ben's forthcoming single "Listen Now" which was inspired by a difficult conversation he had late one night with a distressed friend. Writing the song was a powerful experience for Ben and was greatly appreciated by his friend.

Ben played Listen Now live in the studio and (if you stick around until the closing credits) you can hear the fully produced band version on Ben's new single. I enjoyed hearing the differences between the single and the pared back acoustic version Ben.

Ben had some great advice for new songwriters about it never being too late to revisit the basics. After nearly 20 years writing songs Ben did a songwriting course and found it transformative. In his words "Learn the rules and then learn how to break them!"

For more about Ben's music, including the details of his new single launch: https://www.bendrysdalemusic.com

NOTE: This episode contains discussion of an instance of suicidal ideation which could be distressing for some listeners.