Scotty McCreery & Songwriters Celebrate No. 1 Hit ‘Cab In A Solo’
Pictured (L-R, back row): Mike Sistad, Kari Barnhart, AJ Burton, George Couri, MaryAnn Keen, Scott Stem, Cyndi Forman and Kevin Herring; (L-R, front row): Frank Rogers, Brent Anderson, Scotty McCreery and Derek Wells. Photo: Larry McCormack for BMI
Scotty McCreery and his team gathered on Wednesday (July 31) to celebrate his latest chart-topper, “Cab In A Solo.” The track marks McCreery’s sixth No. 1 hit.
Industry members gathered in the BMI lobby as the song’s writers and producers, McCreery, Frank Rogers, Brent Anderson and Derek Wells, took their seats on stage.
Kicking off the event was BMI’s MaryAnn Keen who congratulated McCreery on his multiple No. 1 hits including “Cab In A Solo,” his Gold-certified “You Time” and “In Between,” Platinum-certified “Damn Strait” and “This Is It” and triple-Platinum-certified “Five More Minutes.”
Pictured (L-R): Leslie Roberts, Scotty McCreery and MaryAnn Keen. Photo: Larry McCormack for BMI
Next, was ASCAP’s Mike Sistad who praised songwriters Anderson and Rogers for achieving their second and ninth No. 1 hits, respectively. Between the two, they have had cuts from artists such as Brad Paisely, Blake Shelton, Dustin Lynch, Chris Stapleton, Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars and many more.
As a songwriter, producer and publisher on the track, Rogers stepped to the mic to tout his writer Anderson.
“I’m here as a publisher right now—that is my current hat,” said the multi-talented Rogers. “I met Brent when he was 19 years old, after he had already signed a publishing deal at 16, which is amazing. He has already had a No. 1, but this one marks a new era of Brent Anderson. Y’all better get used to this because he is going to be on this stage a whole lot.”
Stepping up to the stage next for a special presentation was Studio Bank’s Kari Barnhart. To commemorate McCreery’s induction into the Grand Ole Opry earlier this year, Studio Bank donated to the Opry Trust on behalf of the songwriters and producers of “Cab In A Solo.”
Other industry members present to speak about the song and its writers were Universal Music Publishing Group Nashville’s Cyndi Forman and Triple Tigers’ Kevin Herring.
Soon, it was time for the writers and producers to share their thoughts. Wells was the first to take the mic. He started off by thanking the teams that made it possible before reflecting on the full-circle moment he was having. “The first master record I played on was for Scotty. A few months later, I got a call to play on a Blake Shelton record, which was Brent’s first No. 1. To be up here with all of these guys is a real special moment for me.”
Next, Rogers took the stage to speak for the second time. “This is songwriter Frank, who, just so you know, is my wife’s favorite Frank,” he joked. Rogers went on to thank the crew involved and compliment his fellow songwriters and producers for their talent and passion.
Anderson took the chance to thank God and congratulate everyone’s hard work before sharing a funny story. “I had a thought this morning, Frank,” he began. “When we met I remember thinking, ‘Frank is such a nice guy and he is really cool, but he is an older dude.’ I realized recently that you were my age now, and I just want to say that you were not an older dude!”
Lastly, McCreery shared his gratitude for another hit song.
“I am at the point in my career now where I am just grateful that I get to live my dream and grateful that I get to sing country music,” McCreery said. “I get to wake up every day and sing for a living—that is crazy. It is because of everyone in this room that I get to do that. So, thank you, I love you and I appreciate y’all being here today.”
