The SONGWRITERS

THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY: SONGWRITERS NIGHT

This evening features a group of renowned Nashville songwriters telling the stories behind their biggest hits, along with performing those hits.

Thursday, February 29, 2024
4:00 p.m. Registration Opens | Credential pick-up | South Counter
5:30 p.m. Dinner | Springs Salon G-L
7:00 p.m. Show starts | JW Marriott Pavilion

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2023 Artists who appeared

 Tim Nichols – Tim has been writing hit songs for the past 25 years for artists including “Girls Lie Too” and “I Wanna Do It All” by Terri Clark, “(This Ain’t) No Thinkin’ Thing” by Trace Adkins and “I’ll Think Of a Reason Later” by Lee Ann Womack. In 2004, Nichols co-wrote Tim McGraw’s “Live Like You Were Dying” with Craig Wiseman, which set a new record of 10 consecutive weeks at #1 on the Radio & Records chart, won the Best Country Song Grammy award in 2005 and was nominated for the Grammy Song of the Year. It also won the Song of the Year award from the Country Music Association, Academy of Country Music, BMI Country Awards, ASCAP Country Awards and the Nashville Songwriters Association International. It is the only song ever to have won every major song award that is presented for country music. Other artists to record Nichols’ songs include Kenny Chesney, Reba McEntire, Gretchen Wilson, Brad Paisley, Travis Tritt, Aaron Tippin, Collin Raye and Clay Walker. Read More

 Kelley Lovelace – As a writer, he has had many songs recorded by artists such as Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Kenney Chesney, Keith Urban, Rascal Flatts, Sheryl Crow, Lauren Alaina, Randy Houser, Scotty McCreary, Terri Clark,Montgomery Gentry, Joe Nichols, and many others. Among these recordings are 21 Top 10 Billboard / R&R / Mediabase hits: 16 of which have reached the #1 position: “He Didn’t Have To Be”/ Brad Paisley #1. “Wrapped Around” / Brad Paisley #2, “Two People Fell InLove” / Brad Paisley #4. Kelley has also received Song of the Year nominations for “He Didn’t Have To Be,” co-written with and recorded by Brad Paisley, from the Country Music Association (CMA), the Academy of Country Music (ACM), and the TNN Music Awards. Kelley’s first Grammy nomination came in 2002 in the category of Best Country Song for “The Impossible” recorded by Joe Nichols, co-written with Lee Miller.

Ashley Gorley – has written a record 64 #1 radio singles and has had over 400 songs recorded by hit artists such as Morgan Wallen, Chris Stapleton, Luke Bryan, Carrie Underwood, Thomas Rhett, Kelsea Ballerini, and more. This past fall, Gorley celebrated number-one hits, “She Had Me At Heads Carolina” by Cole Swindell and “You Proof” by Morgan Wallen, which spent a record-breaking 10 weeks at #1 on Billboard Country Airplay to end 2022. Gorley has been named Country Songwriter of the Year by Billboard, iHeartRadio, ASCAP, and NSAI and has earned a record 18 CMA Triple Play awards. He was recently honored at the 2022 Nashville Songwriter Awards as Songwriter of the Decade, alongside the event’s other honorees Taylor Swift and Garth Brooks. Gorley also finds passion in championing talented songwriters at his publishing company, Tape Room Music, in Nashville, TN, who have celebrated nearly 40 number-one hits.

Heather Morgan
Heather Morgan is a singer/songwriter in the truest sense. As a songwriter, she has written multiple #1 hits including “Beat of The Music” and “Love Someone” by Brett Eldredge. She is the recipient of the BMI Song of the Year award in 2015 for “Beat of The Music,” and was listed among the Top 100 writers in Nashville in 2019. Her songs have been recorded by standout artists such as Dierks Bentley, Keith Urban, Maren Morris, Kenny Chesney, Lindsay Ell, Cole Swindell, Wade Bowen and many others. As a singer Heather released her highly acclaimed debut album, Borrowed Heart, to top nods from The New York Times, Rolling Stone Magazine, and NPR. Her solo written song, “Your Hurricane,” was featured on Sirius XM’s “The Highway” as well as “Bobby Bones’s Women of iheart Country” playlist. She has performed on The Grand Ole Opry, made her debut at the Ryman Auditorium in 2020, and shared her songs on stage at The Kennedy Center in support of music education with the CMA Foundation. Her work has been featured on the Fox television drama, “Monarch,” and recently played on “Fire Country,” on CBS. She is a co-founder of Girls of Nashville, a quarterly show celebrating the incredible female talent in Nashville and beyond with proceeds going to support charities in music city.