In early April I travelled to Nashville for the Tin Pan South Songwriting Festival and to meet various singers, songwriters and industry folks. During the two-week visit I met such wonderful people as 1980s country hit-maker Sylvia (Hutton), Gail Davies, Irene Kelley, Hugh Moffatt, Craig Campbell, Martha Moore, Kari Estrin, Clif Doyal, George Hamilton V, Erin Morris & Alison Auerbach, plus members of Waylon’s Waylors (late Waylon Jennings’ band). I saw some amazing songwriters in the various Tin Pan South shows, and got to appear live on Americana Central Time radio show on WKRM Radio, Columbia, Tennessee.
On Monday April 1st we went across to Music Row to meet up with Thomm Jutz, an acclaimed multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, performer and producer at the legendary Columbia Recording Studios. Now part of the Belmont University Campus, this impressive building houses the original Quonset Hut studio, where such major acts as Patsy Cline, Brenda Lee, Marty Robbins, Johnny Cash, the Byrds, Bob Dylan, etc, all recorded. Thomm, who teaches songwriting at the University, took time to show us around and in an informal chat, offered me great advice on songwriting and how it works within the Nashville community.
On Tuesday April 2nd, we drove out into the mid-Tennessee countryside to hit songwriter Victoria Shaw’s house. Secluded in its own grounds, we went into Victoria’s basement studio/office space, in which the walls were covered in Gold and Platinum discs, showcasing her incredible songwriting successes. We spent an hour with Victoria, during which I sang some of my songs and she critiqued my work and passed on advice and help, for which I’ll be eternally grateful.
Thursday April 4 we again drove out of Nashville, this time to hit songwriter Gary Burr’s house for my first co-writing session. Up until this point I had only ever done a couple of co-writes with other songwriters, so being able to truly learn from the best felt like such an honour. After a couple hours of writing, rhyming and playing we finished a great song, Reckless, about being young and making good mistakes.
Friday April 5th, I went to singer-songwriter Shantell Ogden’s house to co-write with Shantell and Corey Barker. This was the very first time I had ever written with two other songwriters and I couldn’t have had better company for my first time. Both Shantell and Corey are fantastic writers, who have the amazing ability to get an idea and run with it, meaning that at the end of the session we had an awesome song channelling the hard but sometimes ruthless way of breaking a heart.
Tuesday April 9, we visited singer-songwriter Sally Barris’ house for another co-write. Sally has always enjoyed British pop culture, so there were plenty of accent attempts from both Sally and myself. I think it’s safe to say, her English accent was much better than my American. After a cup of tea, we got down to the writing. That day was one of the rainier days we had while in Nashville, and staring out of Sally’s window we just started with the first line – ‘it’s raining today’. I wish that every song that I write came together on the page as easily as this one with Sally. The song seemed to flow out of both of us and almost formed itself. Touching onto the struggles of trying to make it as a songwriter, in the music industry itself or just feeling like you are unsure of what the next step in life is. This song tapped into both myself and Sally when writing it – although I’m sure everyone feels this way sometimes.
Thursday April 11th took me to Jan Buckingham’s house to co-write with Jan and Shantell Ogden. It was such a pleasure to be able to write with Shantell again, and having the opportunity to write with Jan was out of this world. After throwing a few ideas into the pile, we landed on one that we all thought would work well. Working with Jan and Shantell to carve this song from the idea was an experience I will never forget.
Looking back, I can’t believe I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to write with all of these amazing hit-songwriters. How to bounce off of one another and use different techniques to get the best possible song out of the idea you walked in the room with, are just some of the things I will be able to bring to my career, and grow my songwriting exponentially.
During the trip, I was lucky enough to play in two songwriter rounds, one at the Cambria Hotel and the other at the Commodore Grille.
The Cambria Hotel was a fantastic venue and playing alongside fantastic songwriters such as J4 and Taylin Rose (along with many others) was such a privilege. I was a little nervous to play my own songs, as I was unsure how the crowd would react to my accent and my take on country music, but I couldn’t have had a warmer welcome! I really enjoyed the night and got the opportunity to meet some of the audience members afterwards and take some pictures.
Prior to this trip, I had visited Nashville once before as part of a road trip I did with my family. During this first trip I managed to play as a part of the Commodore Grille’s Open Mic night, where anyone in the audience can participate if they put their name down. Going back there a few years later and being able to play in their songwriters round as a billed artist was an incredible honour and really shows how things can come full circle. Again, I was in fantastic company, playing alongside Shantell Ogden, J4 and Jan Buckingham. I felt so lucky to be playing my songs and sharing stories alongside those amazing songwriters and meeting other songwriters and audience members.
I really couldn’t have asked for a better experience in Nashville. It really showed me that something that can feel so daunting sometimes, can also feel like a small town experience. Everyone we met with was unbelievably wonderful and I look forward to staying in touch, building lasting friendships and making more great music.