Trent Dabbs was tuned into Nashville’s local music scene way before the stylish ABC drama Nashville started using his songs.

His long list of credits include founding member of Tenn Out of Tenn, a collective of Nashville singer-songwriters that launched in 2005 and spawned a documentary and a 10-year anniversary show at the Ryman. He’s in a duo with Amy Stroup called Sugar & the Hi-Lows and they’ve opened a number of tour dates for Kacey Musgraves. On the business side, he and his wife, Kristen Dabbs, run a label called Ready Set Records.

As for Nashville, his songs on the show include “Undermine” (written with Musgraves), “Don’t Throw Dirt on My Grave Just Yet,” “Shine” and others. He also co-wrote six songs, including the title track, for Ingrid Michaelson’s 2014 album, Girls Chase Boys.

Now he’s returning with his 10th solo pop project in 12 years, The Optimist. (He’s partnered with Postmates to have it delivered directly to Nashville fans on release date.) During a lunch break at Edgehill Café, Dabbs chatted about the new music, co-writing in Nashville, and why he’s reluctant to compare his career to anyone else’s.

MusicRow: I was listening to The Optimist this week and I was thinking that you have a real eye for detail. Some writers are always looking into themselves for material, but you seem to be very observant, and drawing on that for inspiration. Is that a fair assessment?

Trent Dabbs: Yes, that’s definitely a fair assessment. Most of it is little narratives on Nashville and friends around me. I had almost two albums worth of music. But when Amy and I got back from the UK tour with Kacey, I started realizing that a lot of my songs aren’t literal—and [those kind of songs] really connect with people. And what’s my fear with doing literal songs, you know?

So I had one album that was literal and one that wasn’t. I couldn’t make my mind up, so I started from scratch and called Daniel Tashian. We wrote for a week and a half, and then recorded it the next week. The worst thing an artist can have is time on their hands, because they second-guess everything. So I thought it would be cool to give fans a Polaroid that seemed like a moment in time.

You’re known for connecting people, but with so many people moving here, are you having a harder time with that?

I feel like I’m just getting introduced a little faster, you know? I’ll still reach out to someone who I feel like has a fresh sound that I might not be familiar with, but want to work with or write with. And then they’ll introduce me to someone else. For that Nashville Indie Spotlight compilation on iTunes, we held the release party at our office because I was like, “Well, I don’t know more half of these people and I need to meet them.’ I guess the best way to do it is through a party. So I’m looking at all these people who are insanely talented, and a much younger age.

And you can’t pretend that they aren’t here.

No, I’d rather work with them. I was working on a song the other day with a girl who’s amazing, and I said, “This one has kind of a Sundays/Cranberries feel” and she was like, “Who?” (laughs)

But did she make references that you didn’t get?

Totally. I told her to send me a playlist of a couple of songs that she was into, and I was like, “Well, these are great. I’m a fan of this now.”

Let’s talk about co-writing. What do you get out of that experience? It’s a big question.

Yeah, it’s like a novel. I guess when I can see the connection happening with someone I respect, that’s my favorite thing in the world. It’s what I wake up for. I can recall certain times where it happens, but it’s that point in a co-write when I hear their voice match some melody that I have. And I feel like millions of people can hear it—and even if they don’t, I feel like they could. That’s what does it. … There’s really nothing better than writing with an artist who has something they’re excited about, with something started. Or I’ll have something started. But I’m not a big fan of waiting for it to show up.

I wanted to talk about about Nashville, because you’ve had several songs on that show.

And the show must go on! When the first season started and “Undermine” was on there, that was both amazing and hilarious because Hayden and Charles [a.k.a. “Juliette” and “Deacon”] were writing in the bed of a truck, and then went skinny-dipping, and I’m like, “I’ve never had that in a co-write.” (laughs)

What sort of traits does it really take to have a successful career in the real Nashville?

You have to be driven and be kind. A lot of the people that have been here since we moved here are still doing what they’re doing for those reasons. They didn’t burn bridges, even when they could have. People root for those people as well. And also that “comparison is the thief of joy” thing. Don’t get caught comparing because you’ll just drown. Just do what you love and do it with your heart.

I think of that all the time. For a lot of people, most everyone, that would hinder their writing processes, or their releases. If you start comparing yourself to other people, it’s going to be a lose-lose. I’ve always surrounded myself with people who inspire me, which I’ve been fortunate enough to do.

Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott turns pain and loss into healing on the upcoming gospel project Love Remains, a collaboration with her musically talented family, which releases July 29 on EMI Nashville.

On Wednesday evening (July 20) at Nashville event space The Bell Tower, the family’s close-knit performance effortlessly made a tightly-packed gathering of approximately 200 industry executives, artists, songwriters, and publishers feel relaxed and intimate. The family shared harmonies and stories for approximately half the tracks included on the intensely personal project.

Hillary Scott & The Scott Family includes her mother, singer-entertainer Linda Davis, who released five solo albums of her own, and is perhaps best known for her enduring 1993 duet “Does He Love You,” with Reba. Hillary’s 16-year-old sister Rylee, and her father, songwriter and businessman Lang Scott, are also in the ensemble.

A true family affair, also onstage that evening were Hillary Scott’s husband Chris Tyrell (who played on Love Remains), and their nearly 3-year-old daughter Eisele.

Love Remains began in 2011, after Hillary’s grandfather W.M. Scott Jr., passed after a battle with leukemia. While the family recordings were originally intended to be a collection of hymns sent to thank family and friends for their support, the family’s musical synergies escalated the recordings into an album, guided by legendary musician, singer and songwriter Ricky Skaggs.

Calling him the “pastor of this project,” Scott welcomed Skaggs to the stage that evening to offer mandolin and vocals on “The Faithful Love of Jesus,” which Scott said featured Steven Curtis Chapman’s vocals on the album.

Calling the song one of her personal favorites, Hillary said the lyrics were “pure and true,” and recalled how the melodies and words conjured a certain inspiration. “I thought, ‘What would Bonnie Raitt do to a worship song?’” Hillary said.

Hillary recalled how she sent out to a small number of publishers a letter that discussed her grandfather’s character and legacy. Writers took her words and crafted them into the track “Safe Haven.” “It was important to have a song about him on this record,” Scott told the crowd.

Hillary’s younger sister Rylee displayed stunning confidence as she took the lead on the track, “Your Unfailing Love,” sharing the stage with Skaggs while he assisted on mandolin and harmonies. The track was penned by songwriters Glenn Warren and Worley Max.

Several in the industry crowd could be seen wiping tears after the family gathered for a rendition of the album’s title track “Love Remains,” penned by Tom Douglas and Jim Daddario. The song chronicles the natural changes family experiences over decades, and the steadfast bond that holds them together.

Love Remains took on even more personal meaning with the addition of “Thy Will,” the project’s lead single, inspired by the confusion, pain, and ultimate decision to trust, that Hillary experienced after her second pregnancy ended in miscarriage in fall 2015.

She offered a quiet but powerful live rendition of the song during the album preview event, and thanked co-writers Emily Weisband and Bernie Herms. “I feel like we were a pass-through of something bigger, and I’m glad we were allowed to be part of this,” said Scott.

The family rejoined for a “sister song,” a rendition of “The River,” featuring Hillary, Linda, Rylee and Cheryl White. “This will be an animal to do live, because we had so many singers stacked on the studio track,” said Hillary. She needn’t have worried; the track’s up-tempo grove and soulful harmonies filled the room, and included an appropriate snippet of “Down To The River To Pray.”

Altogether, the Scott Family showcased another chapter in the long-held tradition of close-knit family music intertwined in both country and gospel music.

Music City Hit-Makers returns to Cheekwood for the third annual Songwriters Under The Stars concert on August 26 and 27. The concert will feature some of Nashville’s most successful songwriters including Brett James, Rivers Rutherford, and Chris DeStefano all performing their hits with the Music City Symphony. NBC’s America’s Got Talent Season 9 runner-up Emily West will open the evening with the debut of her symphony show set to tour in 2017.

“This year’s show is going to be the best yet. We’re reimagining the hits symphony style,” says producer and creator Charles Dixon. “We are recreating the American songbook with a symphony instead of big band both for Music City Hit-Makers and Emily West. You don’t want to miss it.”

Tickets for the event are $50 per person are available here.

For more information on the Music City Hit-Makers, visit www.MusicCityHitmakers.com.