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.

He wrote his first hit song 50 years ago. It was a Ray Price hit called “City Lights,” and he wrote it when he was a disc jockey at a Georgia radio station. He had his first Top 10 record as a solo artist 47 years ago and he joined the Grand Ole Opry 46 years ago.

And he had his last big cut . . . well, what time is it? Anderson continues to be an in-demand songwriter, writing for Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley and a slew of other new millennium favorites. His co-written “Give It Away” was a rarity: a No. 1 hit that was co-written by a Country Music Hall of Famer (Anderson) and sung by another Hall of Famer (George Strait). And in 2005, his “Whiskey Lullaby” (written with Jon Randall and sung by Paisley and Alison Krauss) won the Country Music Association’s song of the year prize. BMI’s first country Icon is, as retired former Sony/ATV President Donna Hilley once noted, both an elder statesman and a contemporary talent.

“He’s young for his age,” Randall said. “I think he can go on indefinitely. I want to be Bill Anderson when I grow up.”

For the record, Anderson was born on Nov. 1, 1937. Writing top hits at his age is like Sandy Koufax pitching a no-hitter against a modern-day New York Yankees team. Anderson never figured it would work out this way, exactly, though he also never planned on retiring and fading away.

“I just knew that this is what I wanted to do for my life’s work,” he said. “But I do remember telling people I’d stop if it wasn’t working out.”

It worked out, in spades. He wrote “City Lights” when he was 19, entering the hit parade and launching a remarkable career in music. The songwriting success preceded his triumphs as an idiosyncratic solo artist: Though he didn’t have a classically superior voice, Anderson developed a signature vocal style that led folks to call him “Whispering Bill Anderson.” His breathy, intimate singing helped him to score smashes including “Mama Sang A Song,” “Still,” “I Get The Fever” and “Wild Week-End.”

“In the days when I came along, the style was the thing,” he said. “If you weren’t different, you didn’t stand much of a chance.”

Anderson’s career as a top-draw solo artist cooled in the late 1970s, though he remained a popular fixture on the Opry. He quit writing songs in the 1980s, figuring that his writing well was dry and that it was better to concentrate on other things (such as hosting game shows on ABC and The Nashville Network). But Steve Wariner’s version of Anderson’s “The Tips of My Fingers” became a radio hit in 1992, proving that a classic country song could resonate through the decades, and Wariner and Vince Gill kept pushing him to co-write.

“That’s when the writing thing started to bubble again, and that’s when I got happier than I ever had been in my life,” Anderson said.

And so Bill Anderson’s career entered unprecedented territory. Never before had someone been to the top of an industry as a songwriter in one decade, as a performer in another and then re-emerged as a top songwriter again decades later. His works have been sung at the Opry, at county fairs and at Carnegie Hall. And his longevity and versatility helped Anderson become a common denominator in the careers of a seemingly disparate group of artists: Ernest Tubb, James Brown, Loretta Lynn, Trini Lopez, Aretha Franklin, The Louvin Brothers, Elvis Costello, Merle Haggard, Dean Martin and Waylon Jennings have all recorded his songs.

A friend recently sent Anderson a 50th birthday card, which surprised him since he has long passed 50 and it wasn’t his birthday. But the date was August 27, 2007, and it was the 50th anniversary of the day he wrote “City Lights.” Ray Price recorded it the next year, and a small town disc jockey became a professional songwriter. The day Price recorded “City Lights,” Anderson received a congratulatory call from Roger Miller and then another congratulatory call from a publisher. Later that afternoon, he got a call from a second publisher who said, “If you’ll sign with us, I think I can talk Ray Price into cutting ‘City Lights’.”

“In four hours, I got a good lesson into the realities of the music business,” Anderson said.

In those days, Bill Anderson was still learning lessons. These days, he could teach them.

BMI presented the co-writers and artist with the traditional No. 1 cups. Pictured are (l to r): BMI songwriter John Scott Sherrill, artist Josh Turner, BMI songwriter Shawn Camp and BMI's Jody Williams

The song's penmen, Camp and Sherrill, first experienced success as a pair when Brooks & Dunn took "How Long Gone" to the top of the charts. Separately, singer, songwriter and guitarist Shawn Camp records critically acclaimed albums of his own and writes jewels for masters of their domains like Guy Clark and Garth Brooks. Songwriting legend-in-the-making John Scott Sherrill's catalog keeps growing, with country standards including Steve Wariner's "Some Fools Never Learn" and Patty Loveless' "Nothin' But the Wheel" already under his belt.

The room filled up quickly with some of the most talented pickers and voices in town. Pictured are (l to r): BMI's David Preston, songwriter John Scott Sherrill, guitarist & singer/songwriter Pat McLaughlin, artist Josh Turner and BMI songwriter John Prine.

Classic country enthusiasts keep cheering on Josh Turner, whose first two albums have both been certified platinum. Turner's quintessential country pipes and songwriting know-how lay the foundation for his burgeoning career and promising future.

It was a good day for one of Nashville's premiere indie publishing companies, Big Yellow Dog, whose staff writers include John Scott Sherrill and Shawn Camp. Pictured are (l to r): artist Josh Turner, Big Yellow Dog's Carla Wallace, Sherrill, songwriter Sarah Siskind, Big Yellow Dog's Hallie Harris, songwriter Scotty Emerick, Camp and producer Frank Rogers.

Photos by Alan Mayor]]> 2006-11-22T03:00:00-05:00 http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/334699 Artists, Atkins, Chet, Hall, John, Wariner, Steve BMI Award-winning songwriter John Hall, best known for co-writing such hits as "Still the One" and "Dance with Me," is running for Congress in New York State.

A former county legislator and school board president, Hall's musical career spans 35 years as an original member of renowned rock band Orleans. He has recorded 18 albums and has worked with other notable BMI artists including Chet Atkins, Steve Wariner, Bobby McFerrin, Linda Ronstadt and the Doobie Brothers.

Originally a hit for Orleans, "Still the One" was honored with a BMI Pop Award in 1976 and 1977, as well as a BMI Country Award in 1978. To date, the song has accumulated more than 4.5 million broadcast performances (roughly the equivalent of 28.5 years of continuous airplay).

Also a hit for Orleans, "Dance with Me" won a BMI Pop Award in 1975 and has been covered by such diverse artists as Bobby McFerrin, Earl Klugh and the Nashville Symphony Orchestra.

Hall is running in the 19th Congressional District of New York. His stated goals are to restore checks and balances to government, to make healthcare affordable and available for all, and to promote energy independence based on clean alternatives. As a songwriter and publisher, he is keenly aware of the intellectual property issues facing content owners.]]> 2006-03-02T17:00:00-05:00 http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/234584 Anderson, Al, Braddock, Bobby, Bryant, Del, Gentry, Montgomery, Gill, Vince, Grant, Amy, Hanna, Jeff, Hicks, James Dean, Hill, Ed, Hummon, Marcus, Loveless, Patty, Martin, Tony, Montana, Billy, Overstreet, Paul, Pinson, Bobby, Prestwood, Hugh, Rascal Flatts, Rochelle, Karyn, Shapiro, Tom, Shelton, Blake, Steele, Jeffrey, Wariner, Steve, White, Phillip, Williams, Hank, Country, Rock, International Vince Gill, Jerry Reed and Roger Murrah are the newest additions to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. They were inducted Sunday, October 16 during annual ceremonies conducted by the Nashville Songwriters Foundation at the Renaissance Nashville Hotel.

Hugh Prestwood, Jeffrey Steele, Dennis Morgan

In addition to the Hall of Fame inductions, the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) conferred a series of Songwriter Achievement Awards, with the top prizes won by BMI affiliates. BMI Award-winning writer Jeffrey Steele earned his second NSAI Songwriter of the Year title, honored this year for his compositions "Gone," recorded by Montgomery Gentry, and "Help Somebody," recorded by Van Zant. NSAI's Song of the Year honors went to "Bless the Broken Road," written by Bobby Boyd, Jeff Hanna and Marcus Hummon. The song, previously recorded by Hummon, was a recent hit for Rascal Flatts.

Del Bryant, Patty Loveless

Longtime friend and fellow Hall of Famer Rodney Crowell gave a poignant introduction speech for Vince Gill, followed by a stunning performance of "Whenever You Come Around" by Gill's wife, Amy Grant. Patty Loveless brought the house down with her rendering of Gill's "Go Rest High on That Mountain," backed by John Hobbs and Al Anderson, who also paid tribute to Gill by treating the audience to a sampling of his other signature songs, including "When I Call Your Name," "Never Knew Lonely," "Pocket Full of Gold," "Don't Let Our Love Start Slipping Away," "I Still Believe in You," "Look at Us," "Whenever You Come Around," and "Which Bridge To Cross (Which Bridge To Burn)."

NSAI's Mark Alan Springer, Phillip White, Roger Murrah, Jeff Hanna, Bobby Boyd, Vince Gill, Jeffrey Steele, Del Bryant, James Dean Hicks

Blake Shelton and BMI's Thomas Cain saluted Murrah, whose hits include "Goodbye Time," "Don't Rock the Jukebox," "High Cotton," "I'm in a Hurry (and Don't Know Why)," "We're in This Love Together," "Ozark Mountain Jubilee," "It Takes a Little Rain (To Make Love Grow)," "Life's Highway," "It's a Little Too Late" and "National Working Woman's Holiday." Murrah's induction speech was provided by Hall of Fame member Bobby Braddock.

Billy Montana, Del Bryant	Jeffrey Steele

Steve Wariner joined Jeffrey Steele, Reed band member Mark Thornton and guitarist John Knowles to celebrate Reed, whose classics include "East Bound and Down," "Amos Moses," "When You're Hot, You're Hot," "A Thing Called Love," "Guitar Man," "The Claw," "Crazy Legs," "Misery Loves Company," "Talk About the Good Times" and "Tupelo Mississippi Flash." Longtime friend Bobby Bare provided the induction speech.

Besides honoring the Song, Songwriter and Songwriter/Artist of the Year, the writers of NSAI's Professional Songwriters Division also singled out 13 songs and their writers for its 2005 Achievement Awards (informally dubbed "The Songs I Wish I'd Written").

BMI recipients were Bobby Boyd, Jeff Hanna and Marcus Hummon for "Bless The Broken Road," Bart Butler and Bobby Pinson for "Don't Ask Me How I Know," James Dean Hicks and Roger Murrah for "Goodbye Time," Phillip White for "He Gets That from Me," Hank Williams, Sr. for "Hey, Good Lookin'," Joe Diffie, Tony Martin and Tom Shapiro for "My Give a Damn's Busted," Billy Montana for "Suds in the Bucket," Ed Hill, Karyn Rochelle for "Georgia Rain" and Paul Overstreet for "Some Beach." "Bless The Broken Road" was the top choice of the NSAI Pro writers.]]> 2005-10-17T05:00:00-05:00 http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/234449 Artists, Wariner, Steve, Musical Styles, Rock Little Hill is now out on Franklin, Tenn.-based Selectone Records. Ross's dad, BMI Award-winning writer/artist Steve Wariner, makes a guest appearance playing steel on the song "Factory Robots."

Pictured are (seated) Cody Uhler and Ross Wariner, (standing) Steve Wariner, and BMI's Paul Corbin and Shelby Kennedy. Photo by Beth Gwinn

]]> 2005-05-16T18:00:01-05:00 http://www.bmi.com/musicworld/entry/234438 Allan, Gary, McClinton, Delbert, McLaughlin, Pat, Morrison, Van, Prine, John, Tucker, Tanya, Wariner, Steve, Blues, Rock, Hitmaker Pat McLaughlin is well known around Nashville, and in the nationwide musicians’ circle, as one soulful dude. And a humble one, too, because he downplays that endemic respect by saying that practically anybody who tries to do their own thing and is successful at it, gets tagged by others as having soul. Maybe he’s right to a certain degree; but anyone who knows McLaughlin’s music will tell you that there are few as poignant, or smart, or as funky as he is, and that he obviously draws his creativity from a very private, personal well. Most of us think, in fact, that McLaughlin’s groove-power borders on the mystical.

Just listen to his latest release, Next Five Miles (Cream-Style Records), and you’ll understand. Part John Prine — with whom he writes — part Van Morrison, part Stevie Ray Vaughn, yet wholly, unequivocally Pat McLaughlin, Next Five Miles is grown-up, literate soul/pop/cool.

Next Five Miles opens with “Hey, Yeah,” an adult feel-good anthem. “Just Getting By,” with its loping, rise-above-the-fray cinematic quality makes you feel good about the struggle. The of “Little Grass Shack” conjures up Vaughn with Elvis Costello as his channel, and “Mornin’ Train” reincarnates Sam Cooke as Morrison. This is, quite simply, magnificent music for the mature music fan.

And though McLaughlin may not be on the tip of the average music consumer’s tongue, he, for a couple of decades, has been many a musicians’ favorite musician. He’s even been called the greatest rhythm guitar player on the planet. He plays rhythm — he calls it “chunking” — with some venerated bluegrassers, including Tim O’Brien and Ronnie McCoury. And McLaughlin even got a gig as a rhythm player for the last round of the American Recording sessions with Johnny Cash. “That was probably the biggest reward for learning to chunk,” he says.

Besides being a revered under-the-radar artist — an anonymity he nearly escaped with a Capitol recording deal in the mid ’80s — he’s also a heralded songwriter with about 40 cuts. Not bad for a guy who doesn’t really do the Nashville songwriting thing. Delbert McClinton and Tanya Tucker had a hit with “Tell Me About It.” Steve Wariner had a #1 with “Lynda,” and Texafornian Gary Allan recently took McLaughlin’s “Songs About Rain” into the top five. Alan Jackson cut “It’s Alright To Be a Redneck,” and, just to show how deep is his soul, McLaughlin has even been covered by blues icon Taj Mahal.

The Waterloo, Iowa native credits his parents for giving him his start in the business. “I got a lot of encouragement from my parents to play music,” he says. “I came from a family who liked to just sit around and sing songs.”

Pictured (l to r) onstage at BMI Nashville are BMI Senior VP Del Bryant, Richie McDonald, Sony/ATV Music Publishing's Donna Hilley, BMI ICON honoree Bill Anderson, BMI President & CEO Frances Preston, BMI VP Paul Corbin, Tom Shapiro and Troy Verges.

“I’m Already There” earned songwriter Richie McDonald of Lonestar the 34th Robert J. Burton Award as Most Performed Country Song of the Year. This distinction is given to the song tallying the most feature broadcast performances during the eligibility period. Sony/ATV Tree (an entity of Sony/ATV Music Publishing Nashville) was also presented with a BMI Crystal as publisher.

Click here for photos from the event

Click here for the Country Awards Song List

The title track from Lonestar’s platinum RCA album was a multi-format smash, including six weeks at #1 on the Country chart, and has already achieved Million-Air (million performance) status. McDonald, who previously garnered BMI Country and Million-Air accolades for Lonestar’s “Everything’s Changed,” wrote “I’m Already There” with Gary Baker and Frank Myers (shares not licensed through BMI). This marks the second time Lonestar has recorded the BMI Country Song of the Year: “Amazed” (written by Marv Green, Chris Lindsey and Aimee Mayo) won in 2000.

Click a photo to learn more about these writers:
Bill Anderson	Troy Verges	Richie McDonald	Tom Shapiro

A veteran writer and a newcomer each contributed four songs to the list of 50 to share the title of Country Songwriter of the Year. Tom Shapiro, also BMI’s top country songwriter in 1993, ’96 and ’97, took the prize via “Ain’t Nothing ‘Bout You” (Brooks & Dunn), “In Another World” (Joe Diffie), “Just Let Me Be In Love” (Tracy Byrd) and “Loving Every Minute” (Mark Wills). Shapiro’s BMI Awards total now stands at 32, with 23 BMI Million-Airs.

Troy Verges saw his first BMI Awards - “Blessed” (Martina McBride #1), “I Would’ve Loved You Anyway” (Trisha Yearwood), “Who I Am” (Jessica Andrews #1) and “With Me” (Lonestar) - deliver a share of the night’s top songwriting prize.

Complementing its Song of the Year victory, Sony/ATV Music Publishing Nashville claimed BMI Country Publisher of the Year by accumulating the highest percentage of copyright ownership in award songs. President & CEO Donna Hilley accepted on behalf of the publisher, which placed 16 songs on the most-performed list through its companies Sony/ATV Tree and Sony/ATV Acuff Rose.

Legendary singer/songwriter Bill Anderson was saluted as a BMI ICON for his “unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers.” Since his first hit, “City Lights,” in 1958, Anderson has scored with nearly 50 charting singles and more than 50 BMI Country and Pop Awards. Presented tonight for only the fifth time, the honor was bestowed earlier this year on Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Little Richard at the BMI Pop Awards and on James Brown at the BMI Urban Awards.

Of the 54 songwriters recognized on the list of 50 songs, six collected two awards: Casey Beathard, Brett James, Wayne Kirkpatrick, Jeffrey Steele, Steve Wariner and Phillip White.

Additional publishers collecting three or more awards were Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., Universal Music Publishing (Irving Music, Songs of Universal, Inc., and Universal-Songs of PolyGram International, Inc.), EMI-Blackwood Music, Inc., Shapiro’s company Wenonga Music and Ensign Music Corporation.

Among this year’s honorees, 20 songs have reached the status of BMI Million-Air (accumulating at least one million broadcast performances) for a total of over 23 million performances. Based on an average length of three minutes, one million airplays is the equivalent of 50,000 hours or 5.7 years, continuously; Million-Airs on the 2002 Country list translate into 1.1 million hours or 131 years of continuous airplay.

Two songs were cited for the second consecutive year: multi-Million-Airs “I Hope You Dance” by Tia Sillers (2001 BMI Country Song of the Year) and “One More Day” by Bobby Tomberlin.

BMI’s Citation of Achievement awards are given annually in recognition of popularity in the field of country music, as measured by feature broadcast performances on American radio and television; the 2002 Country Awards eligibility period ran April 1, 2001 through March 31, 2002.

High-resolution photos are available for downloading at press.bmi.com/country02