Attention, songwriters! The deadline for the July/August 2013 Lyric Contest is tonight at Midnight! Enter now for your chance to win a . . . 2013 “Dream Co-Write” with hit songwriter and recording artist Lee Brice Professional Demo Session (1 song) at Omni Sound Studios Round-Trip Flight to Nashville (domestic only) Gibson J-35 Acoustic Guitar [...]

This article appears in our May/June issue. Subscribe here. Gojo Café is a charmingly dingy Ethiopian restaurant on a strip of dingier Nashville road filled with chain shops and taco trucks, in an orange building that looks like a cross between a miniature brick warehouse and an adult video store. It’s 5:30 p.m., and Kacey [...]

We started digging on Craig Campbell a few years back when he stopped by our office to perform a few cuts from his self-titled debut album. Since then, the rural Georgia singer-songwriter has forged a nice career as something of a neo-traditionalist in today’s world of pop country. Earlier this week, Campbell dropped his new [...]

Irish singer-songwriter Marc Carroll’s 4th studio album, Stone Beads & Silver is out now on One Little Indian. The album features guest spots from My Morning Jacket keyboard player Bo Kostell and Larry Campbell, guitarist for Levon Helm and Bob Dylan. A Sense Of Discovery I don’t know how songwriting comes about. It’s a unique experience [...]

“Every time you make a record, the minute you finish, you write your favorite song ever,” says Lori McKenna. She and producer Mark Erelli whittled down twelve songs out of 70 to create Massachusetts, her sixth studio album. We spoke to McKenna, whose songs have been recorded by Alison Krauss, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill and [...]

Rolling Stone once named Denison Witmer their “favorite underrated singer-songwriter.” His ninth album, Denison Witmer, was recorded for Sufjan Steven’s label Asthmatic Kitty (Stevens guests on the record). Witmer talked to us about why he named the album after himself, writing on a schedule, embarrassing first song attempts and more. Who are your songwriting heroes? [...]

Listen to any adult contemporary radio station across the country, and it’ll be easy to hear a song that Gregg Wattenberg has either written, produced, or both. “I recently drove from Seattle to San Fransisco, and on the radio during my trip I was always hearing songs I’ve been involved in,” Wattenberg says from his [...]

  ASCAP’s 8th annual “I Create Music Expo” was held this past weekend at that Loews Hollywood Hotel (formerly the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel and before that, a Holiday Inn) in the heart of Hollywood. Once again, it brought in a vast range of musical talent, including hit songmakers of all stripes – producers, engineers, publishers, [...]

It’s not every day we get to ask championship surfers our Writer of the Week questions, but singer-songwriter-slash-wave-riding zen master Tom Curren has changed all that. This month, Curren released In Plain View, his debut full-length album, which marries blues, folk and rock in an appealing way. We asked Curren about every surfing band we [...]

Written by: Hunter Hayes, Luke Laird, Andrew Dorff Recorded by: Hunter Hayes Peak Chart Position: No. 1 Billboard Country What’s a typical day like in the life of Andrew Dorff? I love the mornings. I’m usually at the gym by 7 am, have something to eat and get ready for the day. One of my [...]

Everyone knows it’s finally spring in Nashville when thousands of aspiring songwriters and music fans invade the city for Tin Pan South. The world’s largest songwriter festival, produced by the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), just finished its 21st go-round, as some of the music industry’s most famed songwriters of past and present times performed [...]

Jessa Callen is a pop singer and harpist for the sibling duo The Callen Sisters. They’ve been together as this group since 2006 and are releasing their new EP, The Light Bringer, which focuses on current-day controversial issues while simultaneously providing a ray of hope for listeners. Check out the sisters here or listen to [...]