Citizen Cope is trying to keep a clear view on his career as he enters his second decade as a recording artists.

Last year marked the 10th anniversary of the singer-songwriter also known as Clarence Greenwood's first album. He celebrated with a new release, "One Lovely Day," but also with an eye towards learning from the past, too.

"I think that I look back sometimes, like, 'How did I do this and this and this?' " says Greenwood, 45. "I think it's been one small step at a time, and I think you learn and you make mistakes and you have failures and people say no and people say yes.

"It's all such a journey and an adventure, and it can go by in the blink of an eye. But when you really look back at it, it's been 10 years. It's pretty amazing."

In addition to his five albums, Citizen Cope's music has also been used heavily in other media, primarily TV and film where songs such as "Sideways," "Bullet and a Target," "Pablo Picasso" and "Son's Gonna Rise" have been used multiple times. Most recently "One Lovely Day's" title track appeared in the 2012 action film "Battleship."

"I don't watch a lot of television shows, but it would appear that I would because (the songs) get played and played on different shows and in different countries," Greenwood notes. "MOst of the time I know that it's going to happen, i just don't know when. I really liked the placement of '107 Degrees' in 'The Lincoln Lawyer' and 'Hurricane Waters' in the 'Trouble the Water' documentary about New Orleans.

"I think I've gotten a lot of placements because the music kind of lends itself to visuals. And what you hope is people hear it and say, 'What was that?' and look it up. Lots of times they'll buy the whole (album) and become fans of the whole catalog, just because they hear one song, which is one way to build an audience."

Citizen Cope performs a solo acoustic concert Friday, Oct. 11, at the Royal Oak Music Theatre, 318 W. Fourth St. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 day of show and $45 for reserved mezzanine seats. Call 248-399-2980 or visit www.royaloakmusictheatre.com.