Lyric Financial and BMI also co-hosted an industry mixer on the rooftop of Atlanta hotspot Luckie Lounge, where Lyric Financial's Eli Ball and Al Kapone detailed the unique services the company offers exclusively to BMI songwriters and producers.

About the Atlantis Music Conference & Festival Now in its 10th year, Atlantis is a three-day and four-night musical extravaganza held September 17-20 in Atlanta, Georgia. Atlantis' goals are to provide independent artists unparalleled access to educational and networking opportunities including professional demo critiques, insightful panels featuring industry insiders and exposure to a&r executives and music fans through nightly showcases. The mercurial state of the contemporary music industry has opened new avenues for independent artist development and success, all thoroughly explored and explained during the unique Atlantis Music Conference & Festival. www.atlantismusic.com

Panel participants huddle for a group shot. Pictured are (l-r): BMI's Byron Wright and Catherine Brewton, Zack Odom, Kenneth Mount, Cri$tyle, DJ Toomp, Jasper Cameron, Jeffrey Steele and BMI's David Claassen. (Photo by Donna Parmell)

Crossover hit-maker Jeffrey Steele shares lessons learned with the audience. (Photo by Duncan McAlynn)

DJ Montay listens attentively to a question from an attendee. (Photo by Duncan McAlynn)

Jasper Cameron shares stories behind his songs for stars including Ciara, Lloyd and Nelly. (Photo by Duncan McAlynn)

Center Stage in Midtown provided an ideal setting for the panel. (Photo by Catrina Maxwell)

Pictured at the Lyric Financial and BMI mixer are (l-r): Yung Joc manager William Word, Lyric Financial's Eli Ball, BMI's Catherine Brewton, Al Kapone, attorney TaQuisha Tobin, Lyric Financial's Joseph Moran and BMI's Dave Claassen. (Photo by Cara Pastore)

Pictured at Luckie Lounge are (l-r): Battery 5 Productions CEO Greg Smith, Trimm, Ashe Watson and Head ROC. (Photo by Cara Pastore)

Luckie Lounge mixer attendees enjoy the Atlanta skyline.

For more information, please visit Atlantis Music or Center Stage-Atlanta.

“I love co-writing,” she declares. “I love the idea of sitting in a room and brainstorming, throwing ideas out: ‘Okay, I’ve got this and this and this, and what are you in the mood for today? Are you feeling blue? Are you feeling happy?’ I feed off that.”

The talented co-writers Newfield enlisted for her solo debut, What Am I Waiting For — a list that includes Al Anderson, Leslie Satcher, Jeffrey Steele, Dean Dillon and others — helped her to create an album that establishes her identity outside the party-hearty Trick Pony template. Listeners have had no trouble making that transition with her: What Am I Waiting For debuted at No. 2 upon its release in August, led by the hit single “Johnny & June.”

Healdsburg, California native Newfield’s artistic evolution began early. “I must have been 6 or 7 when I started picking up a pen and paper,” she recalls. “There was a lot to write about. My mom and dad divorced when I was a little bitty girl, and writing songs was therapeutic.”

For Newfield, songwriting still serves that therapeutic function today, especially since she began inviting others into the process. “There are days when I’m driving into town to write with somebody, and I’m just dog-tired because I’ve been going nonstop, and I’m thinking to myself, ‘Boy, I wish there was a way I could back out of this’,” she admits. “And those are always the days when I end up going home with the biggest smile on my face, thinking, ‘Thank god I went’.”

“I grabbed my guitar and wrote a song called ‘That Girl Made a Fool Out of Me’,” he recalls with a chuckle. “Even then I was thinking, ‘God, this song sucks.’ Still, I couldn’t believe that I had actually written a song. That blew me away.”

Within a few years the Ada, Oklahoma, native moved to Nashville and began developing his songwriting skills with master mentors including Mae Boren Axton, Naomi Martin and Bobby Braddock. “It was probably three years into writing that I wrote what I would consider a complete song — something that has a beginning and a hook, and the second verse says something,” he says. “It was not something that came natural to me at all.”

Shelton remains modest about his considerable songwriting gifts. He’s never included more than a handful of his own tunes on the four albums he has released to date, including last year’s Pure B.S. “There’s just too many good songs in town,” he explains. “I’ll guarantee you Craig Wiseman or Jeffrey Steele is going to have written something that will beat the hell out of any of mine. That’s just the truth. Why would you shut those people out?”

In fact, Shelton hopes to someday be in their position. “Nothing would excite me more than to have another artist cut one of my songs,” he says. “Will that ever happen? I don’t know, but that’s a goal of mine. When I sit down and write a solid country song, that’ll always be in the back of my mind.”

BMI will take part in the 2008 Atlantis Music Conference and Festival by presenting a Producer/Songwriter panel Thursday, September 18 at Atlanta’s Center Stage in Midtown (1374 West Peachtree St) from 4 until 5:30 p.m. A diverse cross-section of the elite producers, managers and songwriters who happen to share a passion for working with up-and-comers will discuss current issues facing independent artists, including creating memorable music on a shoe-string budget; taking advantage of digital recording technology indies can use at home; and the dynamics behind an electrifying producer/artist relationship.

Established hit-makers including Cri$tyle (Mariah Carey, Brandy, Teyana Taylor), DJ Montay (DJ Unk, Flo Rida, Three 6 Mafia), DJ Toomp (Mariah Carey, Kanye West, TI), Eric Hudson (John Legend, Kanye West, Omarion), Jasper Cameron (Ciara, Lloyd, Nelly) and Jeffrey Steele (Rascal Flatts, Tim McGraw, Montgomery/Gentry), with Zack Odom and Kenneth Mount (Cartel, Mayday Parade) will provide invaluable insight during an intimate discussion.

About the Atlantis Music Conference & Festival Now in its 10th year, Atlantis is a three-day and four-night musical extravaganza held September 17-20 in Atlanta, Georgia. Atlantis’ goals are to provide independent artists unparalleled access to educational and networking opportunities including professional demo critiques, insightful panels featuring industry insiders and exposure to a&r executives and music fans through nightly showcases. The mercurial state of the contemporary music industry has opened new avenues for independent artist development and success, all thoroughly explored and explained during the unique Atlantis Music Conference & Festival.

For more information on the Atlantis Music Conference & Festival, please visit www.atlantismusic.com.

In a festival first, the New Orleans-inspired street concert staged at the Hog’s Breath Saloon featured BMI songwriters Robert Earl Keen and the Jeffrey Steele Band, and attracted hundreds of revelers.

The 13th Annual Hog's Breath Key West Songwriters Festival looms enticingly on the horizon. Presented by Cherry Heart Music and proudly supported by charter sponsor BMI, the event is slated for April 30 through May 4 in Key West, Florida. The festival revolves around five days and nights of more than 20 free shows, staged at an array of the island's most popular drinking holes and hot spots. Informal adaptations of Nashville's signature in-the-round acoustic showcases dominate much of the schedule, while this year, a street concert Saturday, May 3 featuring the Jeffrey Steele Band and Robert Earl Keen adds a Mardis Gras fillip to the mix.

BMI songwriters dominate the diverse lineups. Americana trendsetters including Robert Earl Keen, Raul Malo, Kim Richey and John Oates will perform alongside Nashville's most engaging and prolific hitmakers, including Jeffrey Steele (Rascal Flatts' "What Hurts the Most"), John Scott Sherrill (Steve Wariner's "Some Fools Never Learn"), Wendell Mobley (Rascal Flatts' "Fast Cars & Freedom"), Jamey Johnson (George Strait's "Give It Away"), Scotty Emerick (Toby Keith's "As Good As I Once Was"), David Lee (Tim McGraw's "I Need You," featuring Faith Hill), Keith Follese (Tim McGraw's "Something Like That"), Jim Beavers (Gary Allan's "Watching Airplanes"), Heather Little (Miranda Lambert's "Gunpowder and Lead"), Steve Bogard (Dierks Bentley's "Every Mile A Memory"), Bobby Pinson (Sugarland's "Want To"), Doug Johnson (Randy Travis's "Three Wooden Crosses"), Chas Sandford (John Waite's "Missing You"), Chuck Cannon (Toby Keith's "How Do You Like Me Now"), Max T. Barnes (Diamond Rio's "That's How Your Love Makes Me Feel"), Chuck Jones (Chris LeDoux's "Cadillac Ranch"), Rodney Clawson (Jason Aldean's "Why"), Gary Hannan (Joe Nichols's "Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off"), Billy Yates (George Jones's "Choices"), Jerrod Niemann (Garth Brooks' "Good Ride Cowboy") and Dallas Davidson (Trace Adkins's "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk"), with Curb recording artist Lee Brice (Garth Brooks' "More Than A Memory"), singer/songwriters Heather Morgan, Stephanie Chapman and Lauren Lucas and Orange County rock outfit Lit's Jeremy Popoff.

For a complete list of sponsoring hotels, local businesses, schedules and participating songwriters, please visit www.keywestsongwritersfestival.com or call 305.296.4222.