One trick: LEARN a bunch of songs in whatever genre interests you. Learn to do effective renditions of maybe some John Prine, Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, Gillian Welch, Reckless Kelly, and so on. Or whichever singer/songwriters turn you on.
By the time you're a year into covering the material you admire, the style WILL be coming naturally.
Do you guys try to write songs like your favorite artists
Artists are magpies. Nothing's original. We all make our nests out of whatever we pick up around us. Whatever's in our heads came from somewhere. It's foolish to try to fight that.
But it's just as foolish to try to be someone you're not.
So I don't intentionally imitate anyone. Few things are sadder than Elvis impersonators. W all get our ideas from somewhere, but our voices can only be our own.
. . . or do you think maybe there is a certain style that you are better at creating?
I don't worry about whether I'm good at a style or not.
. . . For me, I want to write more singer/songwriter kind of stuff, but riff rock just comes more natural to me. I prefer listening to singer/songwriter stuff, so I get frustrated and I am having a hard time writing right now.
Anyone else have this issue?
I do what comes naturally. And there's nothing wrong with riff rock! When you're ready to write "singer/songwriter kind of stuff," it WILL come naturally.
Do you just end up creating music that maybe isn't your favorite genre?
No. I love lots of genres and don't have a favorite. I don't set out to write a blues, country, rock, jazz, R&B, or folk song. I just let songs take whatever forms they take.
Some songs want a mandolin, some want humbuckers. Some want synchopation, some want a steady flow. Some want shouts, some want murmurs. I just let 'em go where they want. I'm not creating the song. I'm FINDING it.
But if it seems like it wants to be, say, a cowboy song, I put on a cowboy hat and throw myself into a cowboy frame of mind.