Colbie Caillat + Shane Harper Talk Collaboration Payoffs [VIDEO]

The Collaboration Room has one main goal: Stick two artists together and see what they can teach other. ‘Tis the back-to-school season, and what better way to celebrate than with some good old learning?

In this episode, Colbie Caillat sat down with up-and-coming singer-songwriter Shane Harper to discuss what she’s learned through collaborating with other artists. As the more experienced artist, she has a few impressive industry partnerships under her belt, including songwriting sessions with Jason Mraz and the legendary writer and producer Babyface.

“Collaborating is honestly different every single time,” Colbie began. “When I wrote with Babyface for this record — we’ve written together five times, and the first time I was so intimidated and it was so nerve-wracking.”

She added with a laugh, “I think I cried after the session. I was like, ‘I can’t do that again!’ I couldn’t take it. My stomach was turning.”

Don’t panic just yet, aspiring musicians. According to Colbie, it does eventually get better!

“But then, the more I do it — it’s fun,” she continued. “The last song that we wrote together was ‘Try.’ The more and more we wrote together, the more comfortable I was. Then we had this friendship, and then the honesty came out in the lyrics. It’s like the payoff.”

That’s a relief to hear. If you can make it through your first collaboration sessions without panicking (or crying), then a friendship and a couple of hit songs are the reward. Who knows — maybe you’ll even end up with a song as great as ‘Try’!