Rick Jamison, a bluegrass songwriter based in northern California, has recently launched a blog about his craft, titled appropriately enough, On Songwriting.

The new site went live on July 14, and Rick has already posted 5 songwriter profiles among 11 posts. He says that traffic has been picking up, and he is very pleased to see that an interest exists among songwriters – and interested observers – for a site of this kind.

Rick explained a bit about what led him to create his new blog, and what he hopes it can accomplish.

“I have been thinking for some time about creating a website where I and other songwriters could share ideas, experiences and insights about this personal — and often lonely — endeavor. In July, I followed through on that goal by securing a domain (www.onsongwriting.com) and launching the blog.

In the process of thinking through what a useful site might look like, I landed on the combination of featuring artist profiles (helps introduce ourselves to each other and others who may be interested), links to MP3s and URLs (hear what others are doing and fast-track to other songwriting sites/online resources) and songwriting hints and tips (can be helpful when you’re staring at a blank sheet of paper and forget how to start).”

New material will be posted twice each week.

“On Mondays, the site features my own musings on the topic of songwriting — everything from the art of creativity to recording considerations to sources of inspiration. Each Thursday, I plan to feature a ‘Songwriter Profile’ where I interview active songwriters from a variety of genres. Songwriters who are interested in being featured in a future profile are welcome to contact me by email.“

Rick is also developing another site as an adjunct to On Songwriting, which will be social networking space for songwriters. It is expected to launch at some point in September.

“In my day job, I have recently become the Online Community Manager for a software company in Silicon Valley. As I try to fulfill all that goes with that professional role, I wanted to simultaneously create an online community site around a pursuit that I’m personally engaged in and passionate about.”

Follow the discussion online at OnSongwriting.com.

UPDATE 2:45 p.m.  Rick said that he got busy over this past weekend, and the songwriters social networking site is now active at onsongwriting.ning.com.