Jelly Roll – With his own Superbowl commercial in 2024, it became clear to anyone who hasn’t heard of JELLY ROLL that he’s irrefutably and indisputably the biggest new break-out artist in Country Music. From recent hits with tens of MILLIONS of streams,Youtube rotations and airplay on Country Radio like “Son of a Sinner,” “Save Me” – CMA Single of the Year – and “Need a Favor” among a catalog of 20+ albums, Jelly takes readers back to the beginning, talking about his discovery of songwriting, struggles with the legal system and what its like to be one of the biggest names in Country Music today!
Hilary Lindsey – Arguably the most influential female songwriter of the Millennial Generation, Hillary has penned 15 # 1 hits, and won every award under the sun, from Grammys to Song of the Year at the Country Music Awards and even the Oscars, where she was nominated for Song of the Year. Becoming a household name overnight in 2005 when she co-wrote Carrie Underwood’s Gospel Music Association Song of the Year winner “Jesus Take the Wheel,” which won the Grammy in the same category, she has been a driving force in shaping the last 2 decades of female country music, co-writing chart-toppers including Martina McBride’s “Blessed,” multiple Carrie Underwood # 1s including “Wasted,” “So Small,” “Just a Dream,” “Last Name,” “Church Bells,” “Dirty Laundry,” and “Little Toy Guns,” “American Honey” by Lady Antebellum, “Shotgun Rider” by Tim McGraw, and “A Little Bit Stronger” by Sara Evans. In just the last 2 years alone, she has been to the top of the charts with Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush,” Keith Urban’s “Blue Ain’t Your Color,” and “Every Storm Runs Out of Rain” by Gary Allan, and here, she tells the story behind them all, as well as her own of how she became a # 1 songwriter.
Vince Gill – Country Music Supersar Vince Gill needs no introduction to Country Music fans around the world. Holding the record for the most-awarded Grammy artist in Country for decades, Gill is currently a member of the legendary rock band THE EAGLES after replacing founding member Glenn Frey following his passing. In this career-spanning exclusive interview, Gill for the first time delves in-depth into his famed collection of # 1 smashes including “Oklahoma Borderline,” “When I Call Your Name,” “Never Knew Lonely,” “Pocket Full of Gold,” “Liza Jane,” “Look at Us,” “Take the Memory With You,” “I Still Believe in You,” “Don’t Let Our Love Start Slippin’ Away,” “No Future in the Past,” “One More Last Chance,” “Tryin’ to Get Over You,” “Whenever You Come Around,” “What the Cowgirls Do,” “When Love Finds You,” “You Better Think Twice,” “Worlds Apart,” “Pretty Little Adriana,” “A Little More Love,” “You and You Alone,” “Feels Like Love” and “If You Had Forever in Mind.”
Lori McKenna – Two-time BEST COUNTRY SONG Grammy Award winner Lori McKenna is a one-of-a-kind songwriting success story in country music, from her Best Song Academy Award nomination for co-writing A Star is Born’s lead single “Always Remember Us This Way,” along with other hits written for country superstars like Tim McGraw’s # 1 smash “Humble and Kind,” Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush,” as well as winning a 3rd Grammy Award for for Best Country Song for “Crowded Table” by The Highwoman, and celebrated as a solo star via such albums as the Grammy Award winner for Best Americana Album for The Bird and the Rifle, winning Songwriter of the Year by the Academy of Country Music and other recent successes like The Tree, The Balladeer and 1988.
Liz Rose – Taylor Swift is without debate the biggest pop superstar in the world, and before she crossed over into the mainstream, she was Country Music’s BIGGEST star of the 2000s via signature hits like “Tim McGaw,” “Teardrops on My Guitar,” “Picture to Burn,” “Fearless,” “Whitehorse,” “You Belong to Me” and “All Too Well,” all co-written by Liz Rose, who is celebrated for other hits like the #1 hit “Crazy Girl” by the Eli Young Band, “God Made Girls” by RaeLynn, the Grammy Award-winning “Girl Crush” by Little Big Town, “Cry Pretty” by Carrie Underwood, and many more!
Natalie Hemby – Winner of the Academy of Country Music and Nashville Songwriter’s Association International award for Song of the Year, the Grammy Awards’ Best Country Song for “Crowded Table” byThe Highwoman, and a 20+ year catalog featuring “White Liar,” “Automatic,” “Baggage Claim,” “Bluebird” and “Settling Down” by Miranda Lambert, “Pontoon” and “Tornado” by Little Big Town, “Downtown” by Lady A, “Heartache Medication” by Jon Pardi among many more.
Buddy Cannon – Willie Nelson and Buddy Cannon have been songwriting and producing partners for the better part of 25 years, as he has with Kenny Chesney, but a look back throughout Buddy’s songwriting career runs much deeper here, delving into his songwriting career and process throughout hits including “Give It Away” and “I’ve Come to Expect It From You” by George Strait, “Anywhere But Here” by Sammy Kershaw, “Naked in the Rain” by Loretta Lynn, “Dream of Me” by the Oak Ridge Boys, “She’s Not Crying Anymore” by Billy Ray Cyrus, “I’m Still Crazy” and “Set Em Up” by Vern Gosdin, “She Meant Forever When She Said Goodbye” by Mel Tillis, for whom Cannon additionally wrote the # 1 smash “I Believe in You” and Willie Nelson cuts including “The Wall,” “Its All Going to Pot” and “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die.”
Merle Haggard & Freddy Powers – Freddy Powers is perhaps best-known as Merle Haggard’s co-writing sidekick throughout many of his biggest 1980s hits over 30+ songs written together, including the # 1s ‘A Friend in California,’ ‘Let’s Chase Each Other Around the Room Tonight,’ ‘Natural High’ (marking Haggard’s 33rd # 1 country hit), ‘A Place to Fall Apart,’ as well as ‘I Always Get Lucky with You’ by Haggard and George Jones, and ‘Shotgun and the Pistol’ by Haggard and Willie Nelson, ‘Little Hotel Room’ by Ray Charles, and many others.
Ashley Gorley
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Grammy-Nominated Hit writer Ashley Gorley in the past 10+ years has penned smash hits for country music’s biggest modern day superstars, including # 1s for Carrie Underwood including ‘Don’t Forget to Remember Me’, ‘All American Girl’ and ‘Good Girl,’ Darius Rucker’s ‘It Won’t Be Like This For Long,’ ‘Start a Band’ by Brad Paisley and Keith Urban, as well as co-writing another famed Paisley # 1 with ‘American Saturday Night,’ ‘Then’ for Brad Paisley (which spent 3 weeks at No. 1), and ‘You’re Gonna Miss Me’ by Trace Adkins. Gorley is also the writer behind Top 5 hits including ‘Laughed Until We Cried’ by Jason Aldean, ‘Better Than I Used to Be’ by Tim McGraw, and popular cuts by hit country artists including Brad Paisley’s ‘Catch All the Fish,’ ‘Working On A Tan,’ ‘Love Her Like She’s Leaving,’ and ‘Be the Lake,’ Jason Aldean’s ‘My Memory Aint What It Used to Be,’ the Rascall Flatt’s ‘Hot in Here’ and ‘A Little Home,’ Blake Shelton’s ‘This is Gonna Take All Night’ and ‘I’m Sorry,’ Rodney Atkins’ ‘Talkin’ Dirty,’ and Lauren Alaina’s ‘Eighteen Inches.’ More recent hits have included “Love Somebody,” “You Proof,” “Last Night” “Everything I Love,” “Tennessee Fan,” “One Thing At a Time” and “Thinkin’ Bout Me” by Morgan Wallen, “Slow Down Summer,” “What’s Your Country Song” and “Country Again” by Thomas Rhett, “Take My Name” by Parmalee, “You Should Probably Leave” by Chris Stapleton, “Ridin’ Roads” by Dustin Lynch and many more!
Sonny Curtis – Sonny Curtis’s first round of legendary songwriting came with his role stepping into the spotlight formerly held by late Crickets frontman Buddy Holly following the rock and roll pioneer’s death in 1960, where Curtis penned the first of many hits to come with ‘I Fought the Law,’ which went on to become one of rock’s most celebrated covers, with renditions coming from The Clash, Bobby Fuller, Bruce Springsteen, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, Hank Williams Jr., The Ramones, and Social Distortion among others. Over the past 50+ years, Curtis’ other smash hits have included The Everly Brothers # 1 hit ‘Walk Right Back,’ The Mary Tyler Moore Show theme ‘Love is All Around,’ ‘I’m No Stranger to the Rain’ by Keith Whitley, ‘The Straight Life’ by Glen Campbell, and ‘More than I Can Say’ by Bobby Vee among classics. In 2012, Sonny Curtis was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Cole Swindell – One of today’s hottest rising country stars, Cole Swindell was already a # 1 songwriter before he ever hit the top slot as an artist as one of the musical minds behind the MONSTER 2014 break-out hit that put Florida/Georgia Line on the map with “This is How We Roll,” co-writing other hits including Luke Bryan’s “Roller Coaster” (# 5), and Thomas Rhett’s “Gimmie Some of That” (# 1), before breaking out on his own with a run of # 1s including “Chillin” It,” “Hope You Get Lonely Tonight,” “Ain’t Worth the Whiskey” and current smashes “You Should Be Here” and “Middle of a Memory.”
Dallas Davidson – Davidson is a winner of the esteemed BMI Songwriter of the Year award, an accolade well-earned after years penning many of Country Music’s most memorable hits of the past few years, including # 1’s by ‘Just A Kiss’ and ‘We Owned the Night’ by Lady Antebellum, ‘Country Girl (Shake It For Me),’ ‘Rain is a Good Thing’ and ‘I Don’t Want This Night To End’ by Luke Bryan, ‘All About Tonight’ by Blake Shelton- who also cut Davidson’s ‘Kiss My Country Ass’ and ‘Home Sweet Home,’ ‘Start a Band’ by Brad Paisley and Keith Urban, ‘Put a Girl in It’ by Brooks & Dunn, ‘All Over Me’ by Josh Turner, ‘If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away’ by Justin Moore, ‘That’s How Country Boys Roll’ by Billy Currington, ‘Gimmie That Gir’ by Joe Nichols, and Top 10 hits including ‘The One That Got Away’ by Jake Owen, ‘Where I Come From’ by Montgomery Gentry, ‘Barefoot and Crazy’ by Jack Ingram, ‘Honky Tonk Badonkadonk’ and ‘Always Gonna Be That Way’ by Trace Adkins, ‘Stay Here Forever’ by Jewel, ‘Touchdown Jesus’ and ‘Louisiana’ by Tim McGraw, ‘Overworked and Underpaid’ by Colt Ford, ‘Hot in Here’ by Rascal Flatts, and ‘Blue Collar Done Turned Red’ by Gretchen Wilson.
Shane McAnally – Grammy Award-winner for Best Country Song and Best Country Album, Shane McAnally has taken home every honor Music Row has to give out, from the Country Music Association’s Song of the Year, the Music Row Awards’ Song of the Year, the Billboard Music Awards’ Top Country Song and Song of the Year, the Academy of Country Music Awards’ Songwriter of the Year nod, all in acknowledgement of a career-catalog of # 1s including “Somewhere With You” and “Come Over” by Kenny Chesney, “Alone With You” by Jake Owen, “Better Dig Two” by Band Perry, “Downtown” by Lady Antebellum, “Take Your Time,” “Leave the Night On,” and the phenomenon “Body Like a Back Road” by Sam Hunt, “7 Summers” by Morgan Wallen among many more!
Craig Wiseman – Arguably among Nashville’s most successful modern day hitmakers, Wiseman has written the soundtrack of a generation with hits including ‘Live Like You Were Dying,’ ‘Everywhere,’ ‘Where the Green Grass Grows,’ and ‘The Cowboy in Me’ by Tim McGraw, ‘The Good Stuff,’ ‘Summertime’ and ‘She’s Got it All’ by Kenny Chesney, ‘Hillbilly Deluxe,’ ‘Believe’ and ‘That’s What Its All About’ by Brooks & Dunn, ‘Something’s Gotta Give’ by Leanne Rimes, ‘Love Me If You Can’ by Toby Keith, ‘If the Good Die Young’ by Tracy Lawrence, ‘Tell Her’ by Lonestar, ‘Hillbilly Bone’ by Blake Shelton and Trace Adkins, ‘Just Another Day in Paradise’ by Phil Vassar, ‘Better than That’ by American Idol winner Scotty McCreery, ‘Hey’ by Blake Shelton, ‘A Baby Changes Everything,’ ‘When the Lights Go Down’ and ‘Someone Else’s Dream’ by Faith Hill, ‘Walking Away’ by Diamond Rio, ‘Hell Yeah’ by Montgomery Gentry, ‘Jesus and Gravity’ by Dolly Parton, ‘Somethin’ Bout a Woman’ by Lady Antebellum, and ‘Wild Weekend’ by Luke Bryan.
Dean Dillon – Dean Dillon is considered one of Nashville’s most storied songwriting successes of the past 30 years, and perhaps most famously for the last 20 as one of George Strait’s closest songwriting counsels, having written over 50 songs cut by the country superstar over the past 3 decades, including such # 1 smashes as ‘The Chair,’ ‘Nobody in His Right Mind Would have Left Her,’ ‘It Aint Cool to Be Crazy About You,’ ‘Ocean Front Property,’ ‘Famous Last Words of a Fool,’ ‘I’ve Come to Expect it From You,’ ‘If You Know Me,’ ‘Easy Come, Easy Go,’ ‘The Best Day,’ ‘She Let Herself Go,’ ‘Living for the Night,’ and Top 10 Strait hits including ‘Marina Del Ray’ (# 6), ‘Unwound’ (# 6). Dillon is also the talent behind George Jones’ SMASH # 1 ‘Tennessee Whiskey,’ as well as hits by Kenny Chesney including ‘A lot of Things Different’ and ‘I’m Alive,’ ‘Spilled Perfume’ by Pam Tillis, ‘A Little Too Late’ and ‘Get My Drink On’ by Toby Keith, and Hank Williams’ Jr’s ‘Leave Them Boys Alone.’
Matraca Berg – One of Nashville’s steadiest female hit writers, Berg’s highlights include “The Last One to Know” by Reba McEntire, “Wrong Side of Memphis” by Trisha Yearwood, “Strawberry Wine” by Deana Carter, “Faking Love”by Karen Brooks/T.G. Sheppard, “I’m that Kind of Girl” by Patty Loveless, “Wild Angels” by Martina McBride, “All I Want is Everything” by Mindy McCready, “If I Fall You’re Going Down with Me” by Dixie Chicks, “I Don’t Feel Like Loving You Today” by Gretchen Wilson, and “You and Tequila” by Kenny Chesney and Grace Potter
Bobby Braddock – A Nashville songwriting treasure, Bobby Braddock takes country music fans inside the writing of smash hits including “He Stopped Loving Her Today” by George Jones, “The Bird” by Jerry Reed, “The Night Hank Williams Came to Town” by Johnny Cash, “Faking Love” by T.G. Sheppard and Karen Brooks, “Time Marches” and “Texas Tornado” by Tracy Lawrence, “I Wanna Talk About Me” by Toby Keith, “D-I-V-O-R-C-E” by Tammy Wynette, “Golden Ring” by George Jones & Tammy Wynette, “I Feel Like Loving You Again” by T.G. Sheppard, “People Are Crazy” by Billy Currington, “Thinkin’ Of a Rendevous” by Johnny Duncan and “Come On In” by Jerry Lee Lewis.
Sonny Throckmorton– In the world of Nashville hit writing, Texas songwriting legend Sonny Throckmorton has done it all, from cuts (a record 90 songs cut in a 2 year period in the late 1970s!), charts (multiple # 1s and Top 10 hits), and awards (Sonny was named Songwriter of the Year by the Nashville Songwriters Association three years in a row between 1978 and 1980, and by BMI in 1980; in 1977, he won the same designation in Cashbox Magazine, won the Academy of Country Music’s Song of the Year Category in 1980 and 1985, and had hits including “Middle Age Crazy” by Jerry Lee Lewis used as the title cut to a film starring Bruce Dern and Ann Margret in 1980 of the same title, and in 1987 with the Ray Price hit “I Wish I Was 18 Again”, which became the theme song to a film of the same title starring the legendary comedian George Burns. Throckmorton’s hit streak began in with his penning the Top 5 hit by Bobby Lewis “How Long Has it Been,” in 1965, and really picked up in the 1970s when he co-wrote Johnny Duncan’s first # 1 in 1976 with “Thinkin’ of a Rendezvous,” continuing with the aforementioned Tsunami of cuts including a record 90 in a 2 year period in the late 1970s producing hits like “If We’re Not Back in Love by Monday” by Merle Haggard, # 2 (1977), “It’s a Cheating Situation” by Moe Brandy with Janie Fricke, # 2 (1979), hits for T.G. Sheppard including the 1979 # 1 “Last Cheater’s Waltz” and “You Feel Good All Over” (# 4), “Middle Age Crazy” made famous by Jerry Lee Lewis which later became a regular live standard for Tom Jones, and “Little More Like Me (The Crucifixion)” by Kenny Rogers on his legendary The Gambler LP. Throckmorton’s hit wave continued at the turn of the 1980s, starting with the smash # 1 hit “The Way I Am” by Merle Haggard, also cut by Alan Jackson, “Tryin’ to Love Two Women” by the Oak Ridge Boys (# 1), “Friday Night Blues” and “She Can’t Say That Anymore” by John Conlee (# 2), along with another # 1 for T.G. Sheppard with “I Feel Like Loving You Again”, who also had a hit that same year with “Smooth Sailing” (# 6). Throckmorton’s hit streak continued throughout the 1980s with smash country hits including “I Wish You Could Have Turned My Head (and Left My Heart Alone)” by the Oak Ridge Boys (# 2), “Where the Cowboy Rides Away” by George Strait (# 5), “Stand Up” by Mel McDaniel (# 5), “Why Not Me”, a massive # 1 for The Judds, and other popular country standards including “I Wish I Was 18 Again”, cut by both George Burns and Jerry Lee Lewis, “Waiting for the Sun to Shine”, cut by both Lee Ann Womack and Ricky Skaggs, “Lovin’ You, Lovin’ Me” by George Jones in a duet with Tammy Wynette, “I’m Knee Deep in Loving You” by Dave & Sugar, “Made for Lovin’ You” by Dan Seals (# 6), “Big Booty” by Willie Nelson, and “Fadin’ In, Fadin’ Out” by Tommy Overstreet.
Colt Ford – Considered a pioneer in the Country Rap sub-genre, Colt Ford has carved out his own place in country music history as the first, and so far only, artist to have a Number One album on Billboard Top Country Albums and Top Rap Albums. Here, he gives fans the inside story behind his rise in the genre, and creation of his collaborative catalog of hits including “Dirt Road Anthem,” made famous by both Brantley Gilbert and Jason Aldean, “Back” with Jake Owen, “She Likes to Ride in Trucks” with Craig Morgan, “The High Life” with Chase Rice, “She’s Like” with Keith Urban, “Ain’t Out in the Woods” with Montgomery Gentry, “Country Thang” with Eric Church, “Overworked and Underpaid” with Charlie Daniels, “Twisted” with Tim McGraw and many more!
Dallas Frazier – A true songwriting Legend in every sense of the word, Dallas Frazier was writing his first hits back in the late 1950s whenThe Hollywood Argylesmade a hit out of “Alley Oop,” and takes fans through a star-lit career as a songwriter of other hits that followed like “There Goes My Everything” by Jack Greene, “All I Have to Offer You is Me” by Charlie Pryde along with other hits like “(I’m So) Afraid of Losing You Again,” “I Can’t Believe That You’ve Stopped Loving Me,” and “Then Who Am I,” “Elvira” by the Oak Ridge Boys, “Beneath Still Waters” by Emmy Lou Harris, “Hank and Lefty Raised My Country Soul” by Stoney Edwards, “California Cottonfields” by Merle Haggard, “What’s Your Mama’s Name” by Tanya Tucker, “I’m a People,” “Fourteen Carat Mind” by Gene Watson, “If My Heart Had Windows,” “Say Its Not You” and “I Can’t Get There from Here” by George Jones, “Ain’t Had No Lovin’” by Connie Smith, and “There Goes my Everything” by Elvis Presley.
Clint Black – Clint Black is a country music superstar and one of the biggest-selling artists of the 1990s and early 2000s, featuring a couple Greatest Hits collections worth of # 1s that he unpacks the writing of here in depth over “A Better Man,” “Killin’ Time,” “Nobody’s Home,” “Walkin’ Away,” “Nothing’s News,” “Loving Blind,” “Where Are You Now,” “We Tell Ourselves,” “When My Ship Comes In,” “A Bad Goodbye,” “State of Mind,” “A Good Run of Bad Luck,” “Half the Man,” “Summer’s Comin’,” “One Emotion,” “Like the Rain,” “Something That We Do,” “The Shoes You’re Wearing” and “Nothing But the Taillights” and “Been There” among many more!
Kinky Friedman – Truly one of the most original songwriters to ever lend his gifts to Country Music, Kinky Friedman’s most celebrated songs were played by Nelson Mandela on his prison radio show and have been favorites of country fans for decades, here he takes his loyal fanbase inside the creation of “Ride ‘Em Cowboy,” “Sold American,” “Before All Hell Breaks Loose,” “They Ain’t Makin’ Jews Like Jesus Anymore,” “Mandela’s Blues,” “Resurrection” and more!
Earl Bud Lee – Arguably any bar in America has the option of hearing “Friends In Low Places,” whether the live band or singer-songwriter playing on stage, the old-fashioned dance floor juke box or smart phone plugged into a sound system. One of Garth Brooks’ biggest and most enduring hits and favorite live staples at stadium concerts around the world where he famously sings a call-and-response acapella version back and forth with his audiences, and here Lee talks about co-writing this and other # 1s like “One Night at a Time” by George Strait and “Who Are You When I’m Not Looking” by Blake Shelton among others.
Jack Tempchin –Perhaps most famous in pop country music circles for penning the Eagles’ monster hit, “Peaceful Easy Feeling,” an authentic celebration of the band’s country music roots that continues to be a fan favorite 40 years after its release, Tempchin as a songsmith has additionally racked up hits in the country and pop rock worlds with the former category including “Someone You Used to Know” by George Jones, “White Shoes” by Emmylous Harris, “Somebody Trying to Tell You Something” by Tayna Tucker and “To Feel that Way at All” by Patti Loveless. In the latter category of pop, Jack has penned such crossover # 1 highlight hits as “You Belong to the City” and “Smuggler’s Blues,” both co-written with longtime writing partner Glenn Fry, along with “Already Gone,” co-written by Tempchin, and another of the Eagles’ biggest hits ever.
Wayne “The Train” Hancock – The undisputed “King of the Juke Joint,” the veteran road warrior takes us on a ride through his catalog of hits including “You Don’t Have to Cry,” “Wild, Free and Reckless,” “That’s What Daddy Wants,” “Juke Joint Jumping,” “Brand New Caddilac,” “Thunderstorms and Neon Signs,” “Flat Land Boogie,” “Miller, Jack and the Dog,” ,“Slinging Rhythm,” “Knocked Out Rhythm,” “Gonna Be Some Trouble Tonight,” “Cold Lonesome Wind,” “Ride,” “Drinkin’ Blues,” “Shootin’ Stars from Texas,”“Viper of Melody,”“Jump the Blues,”“Killed Them Both,”“87 Southbound,” “Your Love and His Blood,” “Hillbilly Hill Country Gal,” “Tulsa,” “Long Road Home,”“Man of the Road” and “Life on the Road.”
Willie Tea Taylor – Called “the next great songwriter of his generation,” Willie takes readers on a walk back through his catalog of fan favorites like “Life is Beautiful,” “Nothing Ever Dies,”“Waterlogged,” “The Very Best,” “Young When I Left Home,” “Everywhere Now,” “Bull Riders and Songwriters,” “Lazy Third Eye,” Chickamuga,” “Wrong Way to Run,” “Kunckleball Prime,” “California,”“Lost in a Song” and “Lullaby.”
Jim Weatherly – “Midnight Train to Georgia,” as made by famous by Gladyn Knight and the Pips, has become among America’s most beloved radio staples, # 1 hit, Grammy winner and inductee into their Hall of Fame, also made a Top 5 hit by country artist Bob Luman and subsequently cut by Garth Brooks, Glen Campbell, Kenny Rogers, Neil Diamond, Kenny Chesney. Here, Jim deconstruct’s its writing, along with other Weatherly hits like “Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)” became the first # 1 hit on Cashbox and Record World’s Magazine Charts, and Jim found chart success with other smashes like “The Need to Be,” “I Still Love You,” “Where Peaceful Waters Flow,” “Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me,” “Smooth Sailin’,” “All That Keeps Me Going,” and more by the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee!
Tim Dubois – Arguably best-known as songwriter of country superstar Vince Gill’s signature # 1 smash “When I Call Your Name,” which famously won the Country Music Association’s Song of the Year and a Grammy Award Nomination for Song of the Year, Tim Dubois has written # 1 singles including “Love in the First Degree” for Alabama, “She Got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft)” for Jerry Reed, and 24 Top 10 Singles by beloved country music stars including “A Good Night’s Love” by Tammy Wynette, “I Love The Way She Keeps Me In The Dark” by Conway Twitty, “I Was Meant To Be With You” by Diamond Rio, “Oklahoma Swing” by Vince Gill and Reba McEntire, “D-R-U-N-K” by David Allen Coe, “Heaven Sent” by Bryan White, “She Got The Goldmine” by Johnny Paycheck and Jimmy Reed, and “Unconditional Love” by Glen Campbell. As an A&R man, Dubois has earned equal spotlight as “Record Executive of the Year” by Pollstar, and as record producer, Dubois has produced multi-platinum albums for Diamond Rio, Restless Heart, Steve Wariner, and Blackhawk.
Rock Killough – Considered by ALL to be one of country music’s unsung heroes, here Rock opens the archives and talks about writing Oak Ridge Boys hits like “The Absence of Love” and “The Home Stretch”, Hank Williams Jr.’s “Old Nashville Cowboy”, Randy Travis’ “Where Can I Surrender” alongside other popular hits like “The House At the End of the Road, The Lord’ll Provide,” “Alibis,” “Still Loving You,” “Going Home,” “Wish I had a Bottle,” “Hank Williams is the King,” “Take Jesus as Your Lawyer,” “You Only Cry When It Hurts Me,” “Rolling the Dice of Life,” “Rusty Plow,” “Stand in Your Own Light,” “You Gotta Be Tough as Hell to Get Old.”
Mark Irwin – Songwriter Mark Irwin co-wrote Alan Jackson’s first number one hit “Here In The Real World,” a two time CMA Song of the Year nominee, Garth Brooks cut “Ill Be the Wind,” Jimmy Buffet’s “Bama Breeze” off the Margaretville legend’s 27th studio LP, Take the Weather with You, which debuted at # 1 on the Billboard Country Albums chart in 2006. Irwin was also a writer on the lead single from Hank Williams Jr’s “That’s How They Do it In Dixie”, featuring Big & Rich and Gretchen Wilson. He has also had his songs cut by such mainstream country hit-makers as Randy Travis, Martina McBride, Patty Loveless, Dierks Bentley, and George Jones.
Larry Cordle– Kentucky native Larry Cordle is perhaps most famous for penning the 2000 CMA Awards’ Song of the Year smash hit “Murder on the Row” by George Strait and Alan Jackson, as well for co-writing the title cut “Against the Grain” from Garth Brooks’ best-selling # 1 album “Ropin’ the Wind,” which became Brooks’ first studio album to debut at #1 the Billboard 200 chart and the Top Country Albums charts simultaneously, spending a combined 18 weeks at the top, eventually being certified for shipments of 14xPlatinum by the RIAA in 2010. Cordle is also responsible for writing popular Ricky Skaggs cuts including “Callin’ Your Name,” “Highway 40 Blues,” and “Heartbreak Hurricane”, “Country in My Genes” by Loretta Lynn, “Hollywood Squares” by George Strait, “Lonesome Dove” by Trisha Yearwood, and was part of the 2004 Grammy Award winner for Country Album Of The Year with his participation on “You’re Running Wild.”
Jim Lauderdale – Long know as one of George Strait’s most reliable hit-writers, Lauderdale here walks country music fans through the creation of hits like “When Did You Stop Loving Me,” “We Really Shouldn’t Be Doing This,” “One of You,” “What Do You Say to That?”, “Twang,” “Two More Wishes,” and “I Gotta Get to You,” “You Don’t Seem to Miss Me” by George Jones and Patti Loveless, “Halfway Down” by Patti Loveless, the Dixie Chicks’ “Hole in My Head,” “ Mark Chestnutt’s “Gonna Get a Life,” giving his generations of fans a look inside the writing of these and other solo hits like “Stay Out of My Arms” and albums like Lost in the Lonesome Pines – winner of the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album, Planet of Love, Blue Moon Junction, Old Time Angels, When Carolina Comes Home Again, Game Changer and The Long and the Lonesome Letting Go among more.
Wanda Mallette – In these pages, this songwriting favorite takes us inside the muse behind her role in penning one of the biggest and most timeless # 1 hits in Country Music, “Lookin’ For Love (in all the Wrong Places)” as performed by Johnny Lee (and later Waylon Jennings), “Just Another Woman In Love,” performed by Anne Murray, spending 13 weeks at # 1 on the US Billboard Hot Country Singles chart, among others.
Jim McBride – Alan Jackson fans know Jim for his role penning # 1 hits like “Chasin’ That Neon Rainbow,” “Someday,” “Chatahoochie,” “Who Says (You Can’t Have it All),” Conway Twitty’s “Bridge That Just Won’t Burn,” “Rose in Paradise” by Waylon Jennings, “Bet Your Heart on Me” by Johnny Lee, and here talks about writing these and solo hits like “I Don’t Feel Like No Hero Tonight,” “We Let Love Fade Away,” “I Might As Well Be Home Tonight,” and “I Just Don’t Feel At Home (In Your Arms)” among more!
Larry Gattlin – Celebrated for his multi-platinum, legendary Gattlin Brothers’ legacy as one of country’s most enduring vocal acts, lead songwriter Larry Gattlin – a solo star in his own right – talks here about his long career as a hit writer, beginning over early smashes like “Delta Dirt,” “Broken Lady,” “Statues Without Hearts,” “I Don’t Wanna Cry,” “Love is Just a Game,” “I Just Wish You Were Loving Someone,” and “Night Time Magic,” Gattlin Bros hits like “All the Gold in California,” “Taking Somebody With Me When I Fall,” “Take Me to Your Lovin’ Place,” “When We Were Doin’ Lonesome,” “Sure Feels like Love,” “Houston (Means I’m One Day Closer to You),” “Denver,” “The Lady Takes the Cowboy Every Time,” “She Used to Be Somebody’s Baby,” “Love of a Lifetime.” Larry’s found success writing hits for superstars like Elvis Presley’s “Help Me!”
Don Cook – Cook began cranking out hits in the late 70s when Barbara Mandrell took his “Tonight” into the Top 5, and has been on a hot streak ever since courtesy of other smashes like “Cryin’ Again” by the Oak Ridge Boys, “Lady Lay Down” and “Baby Your Something” by John Conlee, “Somebody’s Gonna Love You” by Lee Greenwood, “I’ve Been Wrong Before” by Deborah Allen, “The Power of Love” by Charlie Pryde, “Working Without a Net” by Waylon Jennings, “Small Town Girl” by Steve Weriner, “Julia” and “I Still Wish I Was in Your Dreams” by Conway Twitty, “Who’s Lonely Now” by Highway101. Talking here about his career pre-and-post becoming superstar duo Brooks & Dunn’s producer, Cook recounts how he racked up another generation of hits co-written with the band including “Brand New Man,” “My Next Broken Heart,” “Lost and Found,” “We’ll Burn That Bridge,” “That Ain’t the Way Love Goes,” “Whiskey Under the Bridge,” “You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone,” “Its Getting Better All the Time” and “Only in America.”
Carl Jackson – Arguably best known for country classics like “Against the Grain” by Garth Brooks, “Love Always (Letter to Home” by Glenn Campbell, “No Future in the Past” by Vince Gill, “Put Yourself in My Place” by Pam Tillis, he discusses the writing of these and solo hits like “Dixie Train” and “All That’s Left for Me.”
Randy Brooks – Everyone grew up listening to the Christmas radio classic “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer,” made popular by Elmo and Patsy and written by Randy Brooks, and even becoming a Country Music chart hit, the subject of its own Cartoon Network’s animated TV special, and has been performed year after year on networks ranging from The Tonight Show on NBC to shows on MTV, VH1, CMT, TNN, and reaching # 1 on the Billboard Christmas Hits Chart 2 years back to back. Here, Brooks reveals the true story behind the song’s writing, which earned him SESAC Songwriter of the Year and Song of the Year honors, and his other comic hits like “The Garbage Dumpster Took My Love Away,” “Buy the Band a Drink” and more!
Jeff Stevens & Jody Stevens – The songwriting team of Jeff and Jody Stevens is a unique father-son one in Country Music, responsible as producers for nearly all of Luke Bryan’s Greatest hits between the two, and as songwriters, Jeff Stevens before he ever sat down behind the boards was celebrated for a career of hits including “John Anderson’s “I Fell in the Water” and Alabama’s #1 “Reckless,” George Strait’s “Carrying Your Love With Me,” “True” and “Carried Away,” Tim Mcgraw’s #1 “Back When,” Tracy Byrd’s “Big Love” and “I Don’t Want to Feel This Way,” Atlanta’s “Sweet Country Music” and “Atlanta Burned Last Night,” Blackhawk’s “Down in Flames,” and once he became producer to then-unknown Luke Bryan, Stevens co-penned early hits including“All My Friends Say” and “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye.” Son Jody Stevens since he began producing with his father, has scored a decade of his own hits including “Let Me See Ya Girl” by Cole Swindell, “She Got Me High,” “Kill the Lights,” “Home Alone Tonight” and “My Ole Bronco” by Luke Bryan, and Jake Owen’s “I Was Jack (You Were Diane).” Together father and son sit down to talk about the family business!
Josh Thompson – Known by fans for his own stable of hits like “Beer on the Table,” “Way Out Here,” “Won’t Be Lonely Long,” “Comin’ Around” and “Cold Beer With Your Name On It,” Thompson has helped Morgan Wallen become the biggest star in Country courtesy of his role in co-writing hits like the # 1 smash “Wasted on You,” “Dying Man,” “Neon Star,” “Whiskey Friends,” “Any Ol’ Barstool” and “Drowns the Whiskey” by Jason Aldean, “I’ll Name the Dogs” by Blake Shelton, “Angels Workin’ Overtime” and “Every New Day” by Luke Combs, “One Margarita” by Luke Bryan, “Be a Light” and “Half of Me” by Thomas Rhett, “Ain’t Always a Cowboy” by Jon Pardi, “Whiskey and Rain” by Michael Ray, “Stars Like Confetti” by Dustin Lynch and many more!
Drew Parker – One of Nashville’s most popular new singer-songwriters of the 2020s, Parker has found success on the charts co-writing hits for Luke Combs like “Forever After All,” which hit # 1, sold 5 million copies and earned Drew the BMI Country Award for Song of the Year in 2022, along with other popular Combs’ cuts like the Grammy-nominated “Doin’ This,” “1, 2 Many” and “Nothing like You,” Jake Owen’s “Homemade,” along with his own hits “While Your Gone” and “At the End of the Dirt Road” among more he discusses the writing of here with fans!
Steve Moakler – Co-writer of Dierks Bentley hits like # 1 hit “Riser,” Steve has made his mark in Nashville through a combination of hits recorded by country stars like “Never Gets Old” by Joe Nichols, “Surefire Feeling” by Jake Owen, Reba McEntire, and more alongside his own original singles like “Suitcase” with 16 MILLION+ streams on Spotify, “Slow Down” with 11+ million, “Love Drunk,” “Damn Do I Think About You,” “Hesitate,” “Born Ready,” and he sits down here to give fans a look behind the creation of it all!
Will Weatherly – One of Ashley Gorley’s Tape Room Publishing songwriters on the rise, Weatherly has racked up 4 #1 hits so far including Kane Brown’s “Lose It” and “Good As You,” Florida Georgia Line’s “I Love My Country,” and the longest-running Billboard top ten country hit: Dustin Lynch and Mackenzie Porter’s number one, “Thinking ‘Bout You,” while other country music superstars who have cut his songs include Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts, Kane Brown, Brantley Gilbert, and more!
Matt Rogers – Since winning the Music Row Magazine Discovery Award for “Richest Place on Earth,” singer-songwriter Matt Rogers has been a country star on the rise, CMT selected “I Was Raised” for a songwriting achievment award, and here he takes fans inside the writing of other staples like “South Dakota Sky,” “Coal,” “She Was Everything,” “Whatever Keeps you Crazy,” “You’re My Hallelujah,” “Get You Off That Fence,” and on through his catalog!