I was recently asked how the tools and techniques I teach today differ from those I have taught in the past. Have I noticed any recent changes in successful songs and in the processes of writing them? I looked back over the thirty years that I have been teaching songwriting,… Read more...
“That ain’t country!” is a comment I often hear when I play current country hits in my songwriting workshops. It’s true that today’s country hits bear little resemblance to the songs that topped the charts by Elvis, Tammy, Waylon, Willie, and Patsy. Music evolves and the styles that rule the… Read more...
For Brantley Gilbert, who is half of the writing team behind Jason Aldean’s country-rap smash “Dirt Road Anthem,” the key to writing a hit song is still a mystery. In one breath, he advocates sticking to what you know. In the next, stretching your creative boundaries. That’s what happened with… Read more...
BMI toasted Colt Ford, Brantley Gilbert, and Jason Aldean at a party honoring the no. 1 hit “Dirt Road Anthem,” held August 30 on the rooftop of the company’s Music Row offices. Both successful recording artists in their own right, Ford and Gilbert topped the charts for the first time… Read more...
Nominees for the 45th annual CMA Awards were announced Tuesday, September 6, and the nods read like a roll call of BMI’s contemporary country vanguard. In fact, BMI songwriter/artists account for the overwhelming majority of the list. Jason Aldean, Taylor Swift, the Band Perry, Zac Brown Band and Blake Shelton… Read more...
Captured at 2012 BMI Country Awards
