Made It In Music: Interviews With Artists, Songwriters, And Music Industry Pros · Full Circle Music: A Nashville Recording Studio & Online Music Education Academy

Top Tips for CCM Songwriting with Paul Duncan

April 30, 2025·44 min·2 clips

Paul Duncan says CCM songs work by balancing “the dilemma” and “the deliverance.”

1. Made It In Music: Interviews With Artists, Songwriters, And Music Industry Pros centers this episode on Paul Duncan and top tips for CCM songwriting. 2. Paul Duncan is the guest, a Grammy-winning songwriter and producer, and the hosts frame him as a writer with credits for Lauren Daigle, Elle King, and Dan and Shay. 3. The episode asks how a songwriter builds a career, character, and craft in CCM without relying on one city or one formula. 4. Duncan says his first connection to Lauren Daigle came through Paul Mabry, who invited him into a remote write before the pandemic made remote writing normal. 5. That first collaboration produced “Once and for All,” which Duncan says became the last song on Lauren Daigle’s How Can It Be record. 6. He uses that early relationship to argue that writing with people at a similar stage can build trust and create later opportunities. 7. Duncan says he was advised to move to Nashville, but he chose not to, and he describes that choice as partly contrarian. 8. He says living in Los Angeles gave him a life outside the music business, including time with his wife and kids, which he считает important for creativity. 9. He also says the separation from Nashville made business harder, even though he believes it gave him a different perspective in writing rooms. 10. Duncan traces his first notable break to a 2003 country song with Sheree Austin, then describes an eight-year gap before another cut. 11. During that gap, he says he self-funded trips to Nashville, wrote independently, started his own band, and kept working as a worship leader. 12. He calls the period a “rude awakening” and says he was focused on what was not happening instead of how his writing was improving. 13. Duncan says the no’s taught him the most, especially in country music, where he learned about lyrical consistency, narrative thread, and believability. 14. He says his first Christian cut was “Start with Me” with Meredith Andrews, and he remembers spotting the song in a Myspace video of drum tracking. 15. He says “Beloved” with Jordan Feliz was the first time he felt a song was making an extended impact on Christian radio. 16. Duncan describes a near-quit moment after a George Strait hold fell through at the last minute, and he says he almost stopped writing then. 17. He says he and his wife set 40 as the age when he would reassess, and he signed his first publishing deal at 40. 18. Duncan repeatedly says success should be defined internally, and he points to songs that clear multiple industry hurdles even when they do not chart. 19. The tone is conversational and workshop-like, with Seth prompting specific questions and Duncan answering in long, practical explanations. 20. Writers, Christian artists, and songwriters who care about lyric craft will get the most from this episode, while listeners wanting light small talk may skip it.

As heard by us

A patient, practical look at songwriting when the break does not arrive on schedule.

Paul Duncan's CCM songwriting conversation centers on the long haul: near misses, waiting, and the point where the work starts to carry its own weight.

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Why you'd press play

Hear how a Grammy-winning CCM songwriter keeps going when the near-misses stack up.

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