Story songs are essentially short stories set to music. Like short stories, effective story songs are tasked with conveying a great deal of information with a relatively small number of words. While many songs include elements of a story, the following components are almost always included in strong story songs:… Read more...
Songwriter and artist Skip Ewing released his first Christmas album, Following Yonder Star, more than 25 years ago. For years, playing Christmas shows was a regular part of his touring itinerary, a yearly ritual he missed last year due to the COVID pandemic. Fortunately, Ewing made good use of the… Read more...
BMI is saddened by the news that singer-songwriter Jamie O’Hara passed away yesterday. Highly decorated for the GRAMMY-winning megahit “Grandpa (Tell Me ‘Bout the Good Old Days),” which was recorded by The Judds in 1986, O’Hara was also the scribe behind Ronnie McDowell’s smashes “Wandering Eyes” and “Older Women.” Early… Read more...
During a recent workshop I was asked if I could identify the most important trait or skill for songwriters to possess. Was it an innate talent to craft a fresh, memorable melody? Was it the ability to craft a lyric that touched millions of hearts? Or was it something else?… Read more...
ACM Male Vocalist nominee Chris Young celebrated his current chart-topping success, “Losing Sleep” by taking the stage last night at Nashville’s Tin Roof Broadway for a special live performance of his ten No. 1 singles. Renamed “Ten” Roof just for the momentous occasion, Young was joined by family and music… Read more...
The Sutler Saloon saw a crowd of friends, family, and industry executives converge on June 13 in celebration of “Think A Little Less,” which recently soared to number one on the country charts. Written by BMI talents Thomas Rhett and Barry Dean with writers Jimmy Robbins and Jon Nite, the… Read more...
To grab our listeners’ attention we need to separate our songs from the competition, and one way to accomplish this is by including an unexpected twist—an element of surprise. This article examines various ways to incorporate twists into lyrics and melodies. Story Songs With Surprise Endings “Ol’ Red” (written by… Read more...
Multi-hit BMI songwriter Thom Schuyler stopped by the Company’s Nashville office July 8 to celebrate his hit song “Love Will Turn You Around,” performed by Kenny Rogers, reaching the airplay milestone of three million spins. Schuyler, who also had a hand in the songs recorded by Eddie Rabbitt, Randy Travis,… Read more...
BMI provided the musical entertainment for the annual Association of Independent Metropolitan Radio Stations (AIMS) conference held recently (3/1-3/3) at the Omni Hotel in Nashville. Host Tony Richards of Federated Media was intent on bringing the music of Music City to all of the conference events, so BMI songwriters were… Read more...
Broadcast Music, Inc. Vice President, WriterPublisher Relations, Nashville, Jody Williams, and the BMI Nashville Writer/Publisher team recently made the trip to Kingston Springs, TN, just outside of Nashville, to re–present songwriter, artist and country music mainstay Paul Overstreet with more than 30 BMI Country Awards to replace the ones lost… Read more...
