Welch Takes Tenth Week At No. 1 On MusicRow Top Songwriter Chart

Kevin Welch remains at the No. 1 spot for the tenth week on the MusicRow Top Songwriter Chart. Following are Ashley Gorley, Shane McAnally and Luke Combs, respectively.

Brett James enters the top five this week, propelled by songs, Carrie Underwood’s “Love Wins” and Cody Johnson’s “On My Way To You.” Bobby Pinson follows at No. 6 with credits on Eric Church’s “Some Of It” and Dierks Bentley’s “Burning Man.”

The weekly MusicRow Top Songwriter Chart, published every week, uses algorithms based upon song activity according to airplay, digital downloaded track sales and streams. This unique and exclusive addition to the MusicRow portfolio is the only songwriter chart of its kind.

Click here to view the full MusicRow Top Songwriter Chart.

Joey Ebach and Ryland Fisher Sign With VibeCity Music

Front Row: (L-R:) Ebach, Fisher. Back Row: Chuck Floyd, VibeCity’s Clay Mills and Marty Dodson, Jim Zumwalt

Joey Ebach and Ryland Fisher have both joined VibeCity Music as staff writers. Ebach and Fisher are the first songwriters signed to VibeCity Music.

“I have been mentoring writers for many years through SongTown, an online songwriting community I co-founded with Clay Mills,” said VibeCity Partner Marty Dodson. “We have mentored a number of writers who have moved on to staff writing deals with other publishers or had their songs recorded. Clay and I decided it was time to start our own publishing venture as the next step for SongTown writers who are ready to be staff writers. Our contracts are revolutionary in that they offer our writers unprecedented opportunities to succeed and benefit from their success almost immediately. Being writers ourselves, Clay and I want to put VibeCity writers in the driver’s seats at the beginning of their careers.”

“It became apparent pretty quickly while mentoring Joey and Ryland that they had the same qualities and skills of many of the hit writers I’ve co-written with over the years,” said VibeCity Partner Clay Mills. “It was really a no-brainer to help these guys take it to the next level with VibeCity.”

VibeCity launched in Nashville in late 2018 with SongTown Co-Founders Clay Mills and Marty Dodson at the helm. Mills and Dodson have a combined 30-plus years as songwriters writing No. 1 hits and charting songs that have garnered Grammy nominations, ASCAP and BMI Awards.

Jimmie Allen, Josh London, J.P. Williams Celebrate Their First No. 1 With “Best Shot”

Pictured (L-R, back row): Major Bob’s Tina Crawford, SESAC’s Shannan Hatch, Wide Open Music’s Ash Bowers, Major Bob’s Chandler Thurston, BMI’s David Preston, BBR’s Jon Loba, Producer Eric Torres; (L-R, front row) Josh London, Jimmie Allen, J.P. Williams. Photo: Peyton Hoge

Jimmie Allen‘s friends and admirers packed the house on Tuesday night (Jan. 22) to celebrate his first No. 1, “Best Shot.” The track, produced by Eric Torres and Ash Bowers, was also a first No. 1 song for Allen’s co-writers, Major Bob Music’s J.P. Williams  and Josh London. The Wide Open Music writer and Stoney Creek recording artist was emotional as he acknowledged those along for his long journey to the top of the country charts.

Presented by SESAC and BMI, “Best Shot” was celebrated at The Local, the venue where Allen first earned the attention of BBR’s Jon Loba.

After spending two weeks at the top of the chart, “Best Shot” fell to No. 2, only to return the next week for its third week atop the chart. This is the first time since 2012 that a debut artist spent three weeks at No. 1 with their debut single.

Pictured (L-R): SESAC songwriters Josh London, Jimmie Allen, BMI songwriter J.P. Williams. Photo: Peyton Hoge

SESAC’s Shannan Hatch was on hand to emcee the event, as well as to congratulate SESAC writers London and Allen. “While most of us are all hitting the snooze button, Josh is up working landscaping on his first job,” Hatch said of London. “Then when the rest of us are getting up and [hitting] the road, that’s when he’s coming in and writing music. I can tell you that he is a super nice and funny guy. He’s a great writer and singer, and he’s an incredibly hard worker.”

“The moment I met Jimmie I fell in love with him and his music,” she added. “And it’s easy to do, he’s like this ray of sunshine. He played all over the place in Nashville, for anybody that would listen to him. He didn’t stop, he kept going. This was his dream and he pursued it.”

David Preston of BMI was there to present Williams with a Taylor guitar for first No. 1. “Talk about a bunch of underdogs that have really persevered,” he said. “Here’s a guy with a disability, he’s got one strike against him already, but he’s persevered and got the No. 1 song in the country.” Williams has been blind since the age of 10.

“[Jimmie] has a habit now of carrying $2 a day when he leaves the house and he finds somebody in need and he gives it to them,” Preston added. “I think that just shows the heart of this artist and really this whole team of guys up here.”

Allen’s publisher, producer and manager, Ash Bowers, thanked everyone who had a part in making “Best Shot” such a success, including his business partner and best friend Steve Williams. “I’ll be back up in a few minutes as manager and producer,” he joked as he joined Allen on stage.

“I met Jimmie less than three years ago at a writer’s round. He was working two jobs and trying to figure out a way to get in the business. I was trying to figure out a way to stay in it,” Bowers admitted. “It’s incredible to watch Jimmie not only be so creative but this guy gets up and creates relationships and maintains them with everybody because he cares. He cares about people.”

Major Bob Music’s Tina Crawford spoke candidly about the songwriters, saying, “I’m not going to cry, that’s usually my M.O. but I’m not going to do it. In July 2016, Jimmie signed his [publishing] deal with Wide Open. He walked across the street [to Major Bob], came in for his first co-write and it was with Josh and J.P.. They wrote not one but two songs that day. I would love to tell you that one of those songs was ‘Best Shot,’ but that would be a lie,” she quipped.

BBR’s Jon Loba summed up the gravity of the success, and recognized his radio promotion team at Stoney Creek. “This is a historic day, a historic song and a historic moment in our genre,” he said. “As everyone says, it does not happen without that promotion team so, Carson James, Byron Kennedy, our new National Director of Promotions Stan Marczewski, Lexi [Willson], Matt Vieira, Renee Leymon, Ashley [Wojcinski], Matt [Holmberg], Stephani [Waters] — the newest member who is a complete rockstar. That Stoney Creek staff is going to be one of the absolute best in this business, trust me.”

MusicRow’s Sherod Robertson presented the three with No. 1 Challenge Coins, as “Best Shot” reached the top of the MusicRow CountryBreakout chart in November of 2018. MusicRow named Allen as one of its “Next Big Thing” Class of 2019 for the 2019 Touring Issue.

“We’re big champions of the people that we report on,” Robertson said. “This song is about giving your best shot to a girl, but when you look at these lyrics, it really applies to all of us, too. You get scars, we all get scars. You strike out, we’ve all struck out in this business. You get knocked down, have any of you got knocked down? You get high…some of us get high. But what do you? You always give it your best shot.”

Pictured (L-R): Josh London, MusicRow‘s Sherod Robertson, Jimmie Allen, J.P. Williams. Photo: Peyton Hoge

CMA’s Brandi Simms was on hand to give each writer their first No. 1 medallion from the CMA. “I want to thank everyone at BMI and SESAC for making this possible because CMA loves being apart of these celebrations. It’s such a big deal, especially when it’s your first No. 1.”

Country Aircheck‘s Lon Helton said, “We all know that breaking new artists and having new songwriters hit No. 1 is really the life blood of this industry and country radio. It takes so much work to get that debut single to No. 1. When you have a format that has a bunch of superstars turning out two or three, or sometimes even four No. 1s a year, to work that new artist up the chart just requires so much work.”

To honor that hard work, Helton and Country Aircheck presented plaques to Allen and the Stoney Creek staff.

“We recently came into a partnership with Wide Open and Jimmie, and we’re so thankful to be here,” said Sony/ATV’s Josh Van Valkenburg. He also announced that they had made a donation to MusiCares in celebration.

“Sitting up here is surreal because I’ve been to several of these and I would always sit out there and wonder ‘maybe one day,'” Williams said. “I have to thank my wife, Irene, along with Jesus is like the constant in my life. I have to thank Major Bob Music. They hung in there with me for a very, very long time and kept taking a chance on me.”

“I moved here 10 years ago this September with no intentions of writing songs,” London admitted. “I moved here to work for a company and then open my own. After meeting a few people in the business, I decided that I would give it a try about six years ago. I started writing and I wanted to write during the day because the better writers wrote during the day. I’m thankful that my attorney Noah McPike set me up with a meeting with Tina and Chandler over at Major Bob.”

When the man of the hour got to speak, he was deeply moved by the love and his journey.

“I moved to Nashville in 2007. I had a Chevy Malibu, a green one, and like $21 bucks. I’ve worked every job you can think of from janitor, over-night stock, server, [etc.] in the hopes of one day landing a deal.” He recounted how he met Ash Bowers after a cancellation at a writer’s round at [Nashville restaurant] Puckett’s  opened up a spot for him. “I at least get to play my songs, I get $200 and a free meal.” Bowers soon offered him a publishing deal. He then became Allen’s manager and producer. “It’s been a long journey. To find guys that believed in me meant a lot,” he summed, through tears.

Welch On Top; Gorley and McAnally Follow On MusicRow Top Songwriter Chart

How many ways can you say that Kevin Welch is No. 1 on the MusicRow Top Songwriter Chart? For nine weeks Welch has remained, as the 59 beneath him shift.

Ashley Gorley and Shane McAnally follow at No. 2 and No. 3. Luke Combs appears after them. The top 10 remain the same as last week.

Laura Veltz, the first woman featured on the MusicRow chart, moves from No. 42 to No. 40. It was announced last week that Veltz, along with songwriter Sarah Buxton, had been elected as new members of the Nashville Songwriters Association International’s (NSAI) Board of Directors.

The weekly MusicRow Top Songwriter Chart, published every week, uses algorithms based upon song activity according to airplay, digital downloaded track sales and streams. This unique and exclusive addition to the MusicRow portfolio is the only songwriter chart of its kind.

Click here to view the full MusicRow Top Songwriter Chart.

Texas Heritage Songwriters’ Association To Honor Christopher Cross, Steve Earle, Billy F Gibbons, Bob McDill

 

Tickets to the 2019 Texas Heritage Songwriters’ Association Hall of Fame Awards Show at Paramount Theatre go on sale today (Jan. 18) at 12 p.m., honoring a new class of inductees including Christopher Cross, Steve Earle, Billy F Gibbons, and Bob McDill.

The 2019 Hall of Fame Awards Show will take place on Saturday, Feb. 23, celebrating this new class of Texas songwriters, delivering an evening of presentations, tributes, and performances by honorees Cross, Earle, and Gibbons with Mike Flanigin and Chris Layton. Performances by Shawn Camp, Rodney Crowell and Lee Ann Womack will pay tribute to songwriting honoree McDill.

Past inductees include Guy Clark, Mac Davis, Ronnie Dunn, Joe Ely, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, Lyle Lovett, Willie Nelson, K.T. Oslin, Liz Rose, Allen Shamblin, Townes Van Zandt, Cindy Walker, and more.

Tickets are available here.

Reviver Publishing Signs Multi-Instrumental Songwriter And Producer Alex Kline

Pictured (L-R): SESAC Vice President Creative Services Shannan Hatch, Reviver Publishing consultant Clay Myers, Reviver Founder/CEO David Ross, Alex Cline, Reviver President Gator Michaels, Reviver Publishing/A&R consultant Carol-Ann Mobley and SESAC Writer Representative Lydia Schultz.

The Reviver Entertainment Group has signed songwriter and producer Alex Kline to its publishing division. Kline served as co-producer on Australian artist Adam Brand’s No. 1 country album Get On Your Feet, and co-wrote Ronnie Dunn’s 2016 single “Damn Drunk.” Kline has also produced for and written with country music stalwarts such as Rascal Flatts, Reba, Bill Anderson, Mason Ramsey and others.

“We are thrilled to have Alex join the Reviver Publishing team,” says Reviver CEO David Ross. “She is a student of the songwriting craft, and her abilities as a multi-instrumentalist bring us another element in terms of producing and arranging. We have been following Alex’s work for a while now, and are very excited to work with her.”

A native of Marin County, California, Kline moved to Nashville in 2008 after attending The Berklee College of Music in Boston. It was in Nashville that Kline became a founding member of Sony Nashville all-female band The Lunabelles. Over the subsequent years, Kline built up her songwriting and producing skills by working on projects for Terri Clark, Tara Thompson, John King, Maggie Rose and Jon Langston.

Kline is currently working alongside CMT for their Artist Discovery initiative as a producer for their emerging artists.

Before the Christmas holiday break, Kline performed at Reviver Entertainment Group’s Reviver Fest 2018 in St. Petersburg.

ole Extends Deal With Jordan Davis

Pictured (L-R): Alex Tamashunas, Lauren Lieu, Gilles Godard, Helen Murphy, Jordan Davis, John Ozier, Noah McPike, Zach Sutton, Randall Foster

ole has extended its exclusive publishing deal with Nashville-based hit singer-songwriter Jordan Davis. The deal renews the successful partnership between ole and Davis and includes the exclusive ownership of Davis’s publishing rights over the long-term.

“Being able to extend our deal with Jordan Davis is a huge moment for ole in Nashville. Jordan was developed and up-streamed to MCA Nashville out of the ole Nashville office, so to be able to continue to share in the future success together is incredibly special. Look for great things coming up from Jordan Davis,” commented ole’s Vice President of Creative, John Ozier.

Helen Murphy, ole’s Chief Executive Officer, added, “Jordan is a gifted artist with an incredible work ethic, and we look forward to continued success together.”

“ole believed in what I was doing since day one and couldn’t have been more supportive. I’m really excited to extend our partnership and continue to grow with my friends at ole,” said Davis.

Davis’ debut album, Home State, on which he co-wrote all of the songs, debuted at No. 6 on the US Country Album charts and reached Platinum sales status by July 2018. The album’s first single, “Singles You Up,” went to No. 1 on the country radio charts in both Canada and the US, and as of August 2018, was the most-played song on US country radio, while the video for “Singles You Up” has received over 27 million views to date on YouTube. The second single from Home State, “Take It from Me,” is in the Top 10 on the country radio charts. Most recently, Davis earned a 2019 iHeartRadio Music Award nomination for Best New Country Artist.

Tape Room Music, Artist Publishing Group Sign Benjamin Johnson

Pictured (L-R): Ashley Gorley, Kelly Bolton (Tape Room Music), Lauren Johnson, Benjamin Johnson, Penny Gattis (Round Hill Music), Josh Saxe (Round Hill Music), Blain Rhodes (Tape Room Music)

Ashley Gorley‘s Tape Room Music, along with Artist Publishing Group, have signed a worldwide co-publishing deal with multi-genre songwriter and producer Benjamin Johnson.

Originally from Meridian, Mississippi, Johnson attended Belmont University on a cello scholarship. He is on the current Charlie Puth record and is co-producing Kylie Morgan with Shane McAnally, along with the new Hunter Phelps project. In addition, Johnson is a member of Track 45 with his sisters Jenna and KK, who are managed by Borman/Gallimore.

“We are thrilled to have Ben join the Tape Room family. It is rare to find such a triple threat as an Artist, Writer, and Producer who can work in multiple genres. We look forward to celebrating many hits with Ben and APG.” boasts Blain Rhodes, Tape Room’s VP & GM.

“Ben is a true songwriting gem. Between being the only writer to land an outside song on Charlie Puth’s last album (“Patient” from Voicenotes) and being taken under Ashley Gorley’s wing and mentorship, he is clearly destined for greatness. We’re so excited and lucky to have him as a part of our APG family,” said Miles Beard, VP of A&R for APG Music.

Gorley created Tape Room Music in 2011. Writers for Tape Room have already celebrated 15 No. 1 songs, and eight Top 10 singles by artists such as Florida Georgia Line, Charlie Puth, Keith Urban, Dustin Lynch, Jason DeRulo, Kane Brown, and Sam Hunt, including the 2018 ASCAP Country Song of the Year, “Body Like A Back Road.”

Pictured (L-R): Angie Pagano (Artist Publishing Group), Miles Beard (Artist Publishing Group), Ashley Gorley, Benjamin Johnson

MV2 Entertainment Signs Houston Phillips

Pictured (Back row, L-R): Mike Whelan, Senior Creative Director; Tony Harrell, General Manager; Ben Strain, Creative Director. (Front Row, L-R): Lauren Davis, Artist Management and Contract Services; Houston Phillips; Nicole Sherrill, Creative Director. Photo: Courtesy of MV2.

MV2 Entertainment has added songwriter Houston Phillips to its publishing roster. Phillips’ career has included cuts with Jerrod Niemann (“Free The Music”), Tyler Farr (“Redneck Crazy,” “Suffer In Peace”), Jason Aldean (“Rearview Town”) and Colt Ford (“Love Hope Faith”), among others.

“Houston Phillips is at the beginning of an awesome songwriting career and we are thrilled to have him join our team at MV2,” said MV2 General Manager Tony Harrell. “He is a self-starter full of drive, integrity and talent, making him a great fit for our company.”

Phillips, a Cleveland, Tennessee native, graduated from Belmont University with a degree in Music Business, after which he held many music industry jobs including four years as Tyler Farr’s tour manager. After stepping off the bus, Phillips decided to pursue songwriting full time.

MV2’s roster of writers also includes Thomas Archer, Nick Donley, Jimmie Deeghan, Eric Dodd, Clay Mills, Robert Arthur and artist Nora Collins.

Kevin Welch Starts 2019 With Another Week Atop The MusicRow Top Songwriter Chart

Kevin Welch begins the new year as he left it last year on the MusicRow Top Songwriter Chart; at the No. 1 spot.

The holiday season did not alter the positions of the top four on the Top Songwriter Chart. Following Welch, is Ashley Gorley at No. 2, Shane McAnally at No. 3 and Luke Combs at No. 4.

The No. 5 slot on the MusicRow Chart is occupied by Justin Ebach, who moved up three slots from No. 8. Ebach is advanced by songs like Maddie & Tae’s “Friends Don’t,” Dustin Lynch’s “Good Girl” and Brett Young’s “Here Tonight.”

The last chart of 2018 did not feature a female songwriter under No. 35. The first Songwriter Chart of 2019 does not see a woman until Laura Veltz at No. 42.

The weekly MusicRow Top Songwriter Chart, published every week, uses algorithms based upon song activity according to airplay, digital downloaded track sales and streams. This unique and exclusive addition to the MusicRow portfolio is the only songwriter chart of its kind.

Click here to view the full MusicRow Top Songwriter Chart.