June 19, 2006

News, Country

‘Why’ Gives No. 1 Reason to Celebrate

Music Row enjoyed a change of pace as publishers, songwriters and other industry executives gathered downtown at nightclub Mystic to celebrate hot new star Jason Aldean's first No. 1 hit, "Why." BMI songwriters Vicky McGehee and Rodney Clawson co-wrote the soul-searching tune with John Rich, and Aldean provided the passionate delivery that sent the song flying up the charts. Aldean, who is also a BMI writer, is one of the latest success stories to emerge from Broken Bow, a flourishing independent label.

Pictured are (l to r): BMI's Bradley Collins, Warner Chappell's Kos Weaver, Jason Houser and Michael Martin of Writer's Extreme Music, Jason Aldean, producer Michael Knox, BMI's Jody Williams, songwriter Rodney Clawson, and Broken Bow's Benny Brown and Jon Loba.

Partiers gave a boisterous extra toast to "Why" songwriter Vicky McGehee, whose well-known work has been performed by superstars like Big & Rich, Gretchen Wilson, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. The happy reason for the toast: "Why" also supplied McGehee with her first No. 1 hit.

BMI's Bradley Collins, songwriters Vicky McGehee and Rodney Clawson, and BMI's Jody Williams.

Photos by Dan Harr

In this story: Big & Rich, Rodney Clawson, Faith Hill, Vicky McGehee, Tim McGraw

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BMI represents more than 400,000 songwriters, composers, and publishers with more than 6.5 million works.