Laura Veltz’s ‘Songwriter Soup’ Kicks Off Season 5 With A New Mission As A Nonprofit

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Kevin Sokolnicki, Laura Veltz & Tracy Hackney

Laura Veltz’s Songwriter Soup podcast has officially become nonprofit as it kicks off Season 5.

Hosted with Tracy Hackney and Kevin Sokolnicki, the move expands the podcast’s mission beyond its weekly conversations to create new ways to educate, support and advocate for songwriters, with a focus on helping them protect their minds, their money and their legacies. The first episode of Season 5, lovingly dubbed Season 5-01(c)(3), kicks off with Joybeth Taylor, co-writer of Ella Langley’s record-breaking hit “Choosin’ Texas.”

Songwriter Soup has expanded its overall mission, but the podcast isn’t changing the formula that has made it a must-listen for songwriters both in and outside of Nashville. The new nonprofit status gives the team an opportunity to take its mission further while continuing to create the candid, insightful conversations that have become a hallmark of the show.

“The songwriting community is abysmally underserved and incredibly small. That tiny group of creators is who Songwriter Soup has always served,” says Veltz. “Every time we tried to think of the podcast itself as a business we were trying to grow, something just felt off. Converting Songwriter Soup to a nonprofit allows us to keep our mission the same as it’s always been: to protect, inspire, educate and support songwriters so they can navigate, survive and thrive in this kaleidoscopic business. Providing frank, unsanitized, unfiltered conversations about the parts of the job that are seldom talked about is the best way we know how to actually support songwriters at every stage of their careers. That’s what we plan to continue doing.”

As part of the nonprofit launch, Songwriter Soup has also officially established its board, which includes the three hosts along with songwriters Connie Harrington, Thomas Daniel and Ava Suppelsa. Together, the board will help guide the organization as it grows its programming and resources for the songwriting community.

In addition to co-hosting Songwriter Soup, Veltz continues her songwriting hot streak, and among this year’s collaborations are songs with Ella Langley (“Broken”), Shaboozey (“Born to Die”), Stella Lefty (“The Kill”), frequent collaborator Jessie Murph (“Certain Kind of Love”), the faith-driven “Maker’s Mark,” co-written for Drew Baldridge and Anne Wilson, and Bryan Andrews’ “Yeehaw.”

She is also set to host a sold-out round at The Listening Room on Nov. 4, with Maren Morris, Ashley McBryde and Luke Dick in a special night of music, storytelling and giving in support of the M.A.D. Mavericks, a local Nashville 12U baseball team, as they work to make a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Cooperstown Dreams Park in New York next year.

Lorie Hollabaugh
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