My Music Row Story: Play It Again Music’s Dallas Davidson

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Dallas Davidson

The “My Music Row Story” weekly column features notable members of the Nashville music industry selected by the MusicRow editorial team. These individuals serve in key roles that help advance and promote the success of our industry. This column spotlights the invaluable people that keep the wheels rolling and the music playing.

Multi-Platinum songwriter, father of three and songwriter rights advocate Dallas Davidson has written over 700 noteworthy, cross-genre tracks recorded. With over a billion radio impressions to his name, his illustrious songwriting repertoire massively influenced the modern country music of today.

He has penned 27 No. 1 singles, including nine No. 1 hits performed by Luke Bryan like “That’s My Kind of Night” and “I Don’t Want This Night To End.” Other hit songs written by Davidson include “Boys Round Here” (Blake Shelton), “Just A Kiss” (Lady A), “I Don’t Dance” (Lee Brice), “Running Out Of Moonlight” (Randy Houser) and many others. He has written songs with and for megastars like Morgan Wallen, Darius Rucker, Lady Gaga, Jason Aldean, Sabrina Carpenter, Jewel, T-Pain, Trace Adkins, Teddy Swims, Florida Georgia Line, FloRida, Tim McGraw, Keith Urban and Blake Shelton.

The Georgia-born lyricist’s writing chops have won him countless awards and honors since he made his way to Nashville in 2004, including a Grammy Award, six CMA Triple Play, two ACM Songwriter of the Year honors, Billboard’s Hot Country Songwriter of the Year, two BMI Songwriter of the Year awards, NSAI Songwriter of the Year, two BMI Song of the Year trophies, two NSAI “Songs I Wish I Had Written” and others.

In 2021, Davidson launched his full-service music company, Play It Again Music (PIA), whose name is inspired by Bryan’s eight-times platinum smash hit of the same name, which Davidson co-penned. He and his PIA team champion rising artists and songwriters, helping them discover and strategically execute their goals and creative vision. With two decades of industry-altering success under his belt, Davidson is now keen on forging the way for emerging storytellers and artists.

MusicRow: Where did you grow up?

I was born in Atlanta and raised in Albany, Georgia, which is southwest Georgia.

Photo: Courtesy of Davidson

Were you musical growing up?

No. I played sports, hunted and fished. My mother played piano and always tried to get me to play. Where I was from, if you played piano, you were a little wimp. I have learned that I should listened to my mother because, man, did I miss out on that one.

What was your dream when you were 17?

I have always been very driven. My parents were divorced and my dad lived in Atlanta. He was one of the most successful lawyers in the world at that point. My mother was a school teacher. At 17, I was just looking for the next good time.

I went to the University of Georgia, and I got my real estate license when I was in college because I wanted to go make money. I transferred to Georgia Southern. Luke Bryan and I went at the same. That’s where the music started.

Photo: Courtesy of Davidson

How did you meet Luke?

When we were teenagers, we both [unbeknownst to each other] had gotten permission to hunt this dude’s farm. I had gotten permission from the owner and he had gotten permission from the farmer.

I kept seeing this truck parked and these tire tracks. I was like, “Who is this jack ass poaching on my land?” I wrote this really nasty letter and put it under his windshield wiper. The guy that called me was Luke. That’s how we met.

Later on, when I transferred from UGA to Georgia Southern, he had finished up junior college in Albany. We became best friends. I ended up being his first unofficial manager when he was playing bars and clubs in the area. My passion started by going to his shows and seeing that. I never wanted to be on stage, I just loved the action and hustle of it all.

When did you start writing songs?

I got a credit on one of the songs on his first CD, which was under his band Neyami Road, named after the halfway point between New York and Miami that ran right through our hometown. On the inside cover of the CD, he thanked me for helping him write a song. I don’t think I really helped write it, I was just hanging around enough to throw a few words in here and there. I wasn’t quite there yet when it came to songwriting.

Before he came to Nashville in 2002, I threw him a going away party at my house. I followed him in my truck with a U-Haul up to Nashville and helped him carry his 7,000 pound couch up two flights of stairs in his first apartment.

Photo: Courtesy of Davidson

Then you went back home.

Yep, I went back to back to Leesburg and kept selling real estate. One night I was on the way back from a friend’s wedding. My dumb ass friend threw trash out of the window and I got pulled over. I got a DUI—the judge threw the book at me and put me on house arrest. I could not leave or go to work, so my stepmother bought me a $200 guitar. I taught myself how to play during those 30 days. While I was learning the chords, I naturally started singing and mumbling. I would call Luke and he would give me honest feedback, but I got better. One day he called me and was like, “Some of these people don’t speak my language.” I was just dumb amd naive enough to think that I had a shot, so I moved to Nashville on Jan. 7, 2004 to try to work in the music business.

What happened when you got here?

My third night in town, I went to this bar called Tin Roof. Brian Cole and Alicia Pruitt were going to a big party at The Fontanel for John Rich‘s birthday. They snuck me into the party. I ended up meeting Kid Rock and a bunch of other people that night. I thought I had died and gone to heaven.

Big & Rich is important to my journey because when “Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)” came out, I remember thinking I could write whatever I wanted. I love country music in all its forms, from Hank Williams to Garth Brooks, but that opened my eyes. Three months after I moved to town, Jamey Johnson, Randy Houser and I wrote “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk.” Without “Save A Horse, Ride A Cowboy,” we probably never would’ve gone down that path.

Photo: Courtesy of Davidson

Then you were off to the races.

After that song hit, I was immediately painted into a corner as the guy that wrote “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk.” I’m still a painted in that corner sometimes, which I don’t like.

It was my second hit, “Start A Band” with Brad Paisley and Keith Urban, that proved that it wasn’t luck. It was my first actual No. 1, because “Badonkadonk” went to No. 2. After I got that “one hit wonder” off my back, then it happened fast. And it never really stopped.

It’s interesting that you still feel painted into a corner. You’ve had 27 No. 1 hits.

Even today, sometimes I’ll get introduced as the “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk” guy. It was interesting because I had to write my way out of it. But I like that side of country music, and my style became to write the feel-good music, which became the Peach Pickers sound that was later named “Bro Country.” That was another corner I got painted into. Looking back now, I shouldn’t have let whoever was writing the negative stuff about me [and the songs I was writing] matter that much, but when you’re in your twenties and early thirties and your songs are your babies, you care a lot about what people think. You want people to like you.

Photo: Courtesy of Davidson

By focusing on writing the kind of songs I like, I wrote “Gimmie That Girl,” “If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away” and “Put A Girl In It.” I did “Country Girl (Shake It for Me)” several hits down the road, so I painted myself back into the corner. [Laughs]

Tell me about The Peach Pickers, your work with Ben Hayslip and Rhett Akins.

Me and Rhett Akins wrote “Kiss My Country Ass,” which Blake Shelton cut. Rhett wanted me to meet his best friend, Ben Hayslip. They’re both from Valdosta, Georgia, so we were three boys from the Peach State, all picking guitars. Tom Luteran was the one that named us the Peach Pickers. We spoke the same language—I’m talking about finishing each other’s sentences. God blessed us by putting us all together.

We had such a great run. For over a decade, we wrote every Wednesday. We wrote so many songs, and those songs just keep getting recorded. We became the greatest of friends and then we started touring together, opening up for Luke Bryan. I didn’t play this year, but it was our 14th year on “Farm Tour.” I missed out for the first time because I quit drinking about a year ago. It sucked to miss, but they had a good time. We’ll do year 15.

Photo: Courtesy of Davidson

Looking back on the songs, are there any that stand out as your most proud work?

“Rain Is A Good Thing.” When I would go into a write during that time, I would be the first one there. I’d grab a guitar and come up with a bunch of ideas. I tried to be really prepared when my co-writer showed up. I would call my buddies back at home that morning and talk to them about their lives. I wanted to write songs that made them proud of me, so that had to reflect on what they did. “Rain Is A Good Thing” was the perfect song to make my friends proud of their boy. I also wrote it with one other person named Luke Bryan, who is my best friend. It was our first No. 1 together—just two boys that came from the same place stood up on stage at the No. 1 party and celebrated that song.

I’m also proud of “Play It Again,” “If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away,” “Just a Kiss” and “Huntin’, Fishin’ and Lovin’ Every Day.”

When did you start Play It Again Music?

2015. With the publishing deals I had been through, there were a lot of things I loved and there were a lot of things I didn’t like about the way things were run. I felt like I had been given a gift by the Nashville, by music and by God, so I started the company to give others a chance. I wanted to run it the way I wish that I had been treated. Still to this day, when I do a deal with a songwriter, I always put my songwriter hat on so I can sit across from the writer and give them fair deals.

Photo: Courtesy of Davidson

Kyle Fishman with my first writer. Kyle wound up writing for me for nine years. That was a great relationship. His co-written “Small Town Boy” was our first No. 1 as a publisher.

After we started having success, Dylan Marlowe came into my life through another amazing [former PIA singer-songwriter] Trea Landon. We signed Dylan as a writer and saw his potential early on. Organically, we started managing him. I wanted to give Dylan the opportunity to get bigger and I felt like I could help him do that.

His songs got better and better and his artistry and brand started coming together, so we did a development deal with him. Next thing you know, we wake up one morning and he’s got a million streams on TikTok. We took him to Sony and did a JV with them on the records side of things, and we just did a deal with Hardy and his publishing company Relative Music. That’s how Play It Again Music went from just publishing to all things music.

Who have been some of your mentors?

Don Schlitz took a chance on me early on. We met when he came and watched me play a round. I didn’t play “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk” because I was ashamed. He came up to me after the show and said, “I came to watch you play ‘Honky Tonk Badonkadonk.'” I said, “Why? You wrote some of the biggest classic country hits ever.” He said, “I wanted to see you play that. Always play your hits.” That developed into a friendship and a lot of co-writes.

Photo: Courtesy of Davidson

Brett Johnson gave me my first shot. He was the first one that really put me in the pros, so to speak. Ben Vaughn really coached me up, gave me confidence and believed in me. Ben Hayslip’s longtime publisher Rusty Gaston was a mentor. Brian Wright, too. My mother and father are mentors. My dad was the one that really taught me country music, and my mother was Motown.

Luke Bryan would be my top mentor, even though I forget that sometimes because we’re buddies. He taught me a lot and mentored me in the ways of handling things appropriately.

What is the best advice you’ve ever gotten?

Be yourself. Don told me to write what you know, and I repeat that to my writers all the time. I won ACM Songwriter the Year in 2011 and Don introduced me. He said, “Dallas is writing these songs and it’s a party where everybody’s invited.” That’s how he described my music. That made me proud that I have continued to write stuff that I wanted write.

What is your favorite part of your job now?

100% watching the smile on people’s faces when we get a win, whether it’s Cade Price, Dylan Marlowe, Faith Hopkins or Alyssa Ramsey. That’s what drives me today, seeing other people succeed.

LB Cantrell
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