Los Angeles, CA -- If you think finding a date is hard, try finding a good songwriting partner.

That's the word from singer-songwriter Melissa Manchester, who collaborated with artists like Keb Mo, Beth Nielsen Chapman and Rupert "Pina Colada Song" Holmes on her new CD, "When I Look Down The Road."

In many cases, Manchester's songwriting sessions with the other writers were first-time affairs, which led to her getting a feeling similar to first date jitters.

She says she knows if a collaboration is going to work "within five seconds -- like a date" and believes it has something to do with "how a person's mind works and deals with the craft."

That's a lesson she learned from songwriter Paul Simon, who Manchester credits with giving her the best advice ever: "All of the stories have been told. It's how you tell them that matters."

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