Niko Moon has signed a worldwide publishing agreement with Warner/Chappell Nashville. Moon frequently collaborates with the Zac Brown Band, having co-written 22 songs across their last three albums, including five No. 1’s. Their latest hit together, “My Old Man,” is currently climbing the charts and is the lead single off the band’s upcoming album, Welcome Home.

Moon recently received his first CMA Triple Play Award for three No. 1 singles in a calendar year: Zac Brown Band’s “Homegrown,” “Loving You Easy,” and “Beautiful Drug.” “Homegrown” also earned Moon and collaborator Wyatt Durette a SESAC Song of the Year Award.

His latest project, Sir Rosevelt, is a trio comprised of Moon, Zac Brown, and Ben Simonetti, with production by Pharrell Williams and Jamie Kenney. Moon also co-penned much of the debut album from Decca Records’ artist Betti.

Nashville Songwriter Hall of Famer Mike Reid was the focus of the Country Music Hall of Fame’s Poets & Prophets series on Saturday, March 4. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the series, which recognized previous Poets & Prophets in the audience: Sonny Curtis, Buzz Cason, Dickey Lee, Mark D. Sanders and Don Schlitz.

With over a dozen No. 1s, Reid’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in its first year of eligibility this year.

Reid performed the Bonnie Raitt title among three others, including Tim McGraw’s No. 1 “Everywhere,” Ronnie Milsap’s 1983 hit “Stranger In My House,” and a title he said is as closely autobiographical as it can be, “More Life,” recorded by Randy Travis and Don Henley for Travis’ 25th Anniversary Collection.

A football fullback in high school outside of Juniata Gap, Pennsylvania, the lively Reid took the hall’s audience—rolling with laughter—through a five-season NFL career with the Cincinnati Bangles to eventually land in Nashville.

A middle child of three boys, Reid filed through Penn State as a history major, business major, and finally landed as a music major. Despite having few influences in music from his youth, he grew up hearing hymns in church and practicing from the age of six on his paternal grandmother’s beat-up piano. Songwriting didn’t come to the artist until he was in his mid-20s.

“I had no gifts or natural abilities in music,” said Reid. “[My gifts] were in sports. But the music was something that got in there. I just enjoyed trying things. Fortunately, my [college] coach Joe Paterno loved that he had a guy on the team that majored in music.”

Reid commented on the wear sports took on his body, and music’s constant pull. He noted the ’70s was a different time, having signed his NFL contract for only $22,000, which was double what he noted his father may have made in a year, but far less than today’s football contracts.

“It’s not all that long ago I realized sports was something I wanted to do, but I remember wanting to be a writer,” recalls Reid. “There was no discernible talent in me, but I do think following your heart sometimes requires overcoming common sense.”

After leaving the NFL, Reid’s early music career consisted of playing album covers and original songs at listening rooms around the country. He focused on comedic talents inspired from Steve Goodman to entertain a room.

“I remember back then thinking the one thing that comes close to equaling the beauty of music is a room full of people laughing,” recalled Reid. “So I tried to mix in the silliness with songs and figure out a set to engage people.”

A move from Cincinnati to Nashville in 1980 for a publishing deal with Gerry Teifer at ATV paid $100/week but Reid was dropped after a year and a half. Disheartened Reid met with Milsap’s producer Rob Galbraith.

“I walked in to Rob’s office that day feeling like Jimmy the Greek, and I walked out feeling like Jimmy Webb,” said Reid. “That one day he made me feel like a songwriter. Four months later we had a couple things on the next Milsap record.”

A record deal came in the ’90s with Columbia. Despite the No. 1 success of “Walk on Faith,” Reid felt dissonance.

“I’d be out in my bunk and think of Matt, Cait, Susie, and it was selfish on my part,” recalled Reid of young fans throwing themselves at him. “I thought, ‘Buddy, you’re lost enough, you start wondering down this road you’re about to never make it out of here.’ I gave it a shot, out on the road for a couple years, but it wasn’t in the heart of me.”

Around that time, Reid wrote “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” with Allen Shamblin after hearing a news report quoting a down-and-out man. “We wrote that song as an uptempo, bluegrass country song intended for Ricky Skaggs. Two lines laid around for six months but fortunately we couldn’t get any more than that.

“One day a couple words came to me, and I thought, ‘I wonder if this is related to those lines.’ So I called Allen and we dug in. I remembered thinking there were only three places this song could go: Bonnie Raitt, Linda Rondstadt or Bette Midler. Since I had a cut on Bonnie’s Nick Of Time record, it went to her first because I had her address.”

Forthcoming songwriter events celebrating the Hall’s 50th anniversary include April 1 with Curtis at 11:30 a.m. before a round with Cason, Lee, Dallas Frazier and Dan Penn at 2 p.m. A Tin Pan South round at 3rd & Lindsley with Sanders, Matraca Berg, Bobby Braddock and Roger Cook and another with Al Anderson, Tom Douglas, Roger Murrah and Gretchen Peters.

Jimmy Webb and Sharon Vaughn are the next songwriters planned for the Poets & Prophets in the Ford Theater: April 29 and August 5, respectively.

ASCAP honored Keith Urban’s latest No. 1, “Blue Ain’t Your Color,” written by Clint Lagerberg, Hillary Lindsey and Steven Lee Olsen, on Friday, March 3 at Nashville’s Basement East.

Urban’s 22nd No. 1 was not only nominated during the 2017 Grammy Awards but is up for Song and Single Record of the Year at the ACM Awards where he leads the nominations with a total of seven. Voting for the April 2nd event closes March 6.

As tradition with an Urban party, the songwriters joined the Capitol Records Nashville artist on stage to perform the track and kick off the event.

ASCAP’s Mike Sistad was on hand to welcome the crowd on behalf of sponsor First Tennessee Bank, and helped introduce the songwriters and artists with creative manager Beth Brinker.

Olsen had the idea for “Blue Ain’t Your Color,” and originally held the song for the Canadian’s Columbia Nashville project, which was never released.

Lindsey celebrated her 18th No. 1 with the song. BMG’s Daniel Lee remarked, “This song outperformed what everyone thought it could do. It connected with fans of the format and strangers of the genre. These [parties] don’t get better than this. And to Hillary: You’re the best songwriter I know. Period. The best.”

“I have no idea why they had this amazing idea and asked me to help write it,” said Lindsey of her two co-writers. “We had a blast that night—there was so much freedom to just be and let the song come alive. There was so much electricity in the air and magic. Especially songwriters, we need co-writers, musicians and people that inspire us and get us to strive higher. Thank you guys for being that for me. And for Keith—your heart is tuned in to what music is supposed to be.”

Marc Driskill of Sea Gayle, on behalf of Spirit Music’s Daniel Hill, noted the song is in rare air—earning No. 1 on all four Billboard charts. “I think this is one of three songs that that has ever happened with. That’s an enormous feat—12 weeks on the Top Country Songs chart. No doubt this song found its right home.”

“It’s been such a blur the last year working so much,” commented Lagerberg. “I haven’t taken very much time to let it hit me, but it is now. I knew when I met Steven that he would be the little brother I never had. He lived at my house for like a year.”

Nate Lowery offered remarks for Olsen’s first No. 1 on behalf of Cornman Music’s Brett James and Warner/Chappell’s Ben Vaughn. “It was your dream to sing someday with Keith, and this happened,” said Lowery. “When Missi Gallimore called that day looking for songs for Keith, you [Steven] said Keith was the only artist he would want to record it. So thank you Keith.”

After bringing Missi Gallimore to the stage, Olsen thanked his family and Urban, who inspired him to move to Nashville. “Keith made me realize I didn’t have to be anything I wasn’t and that gave me the courage to move to Nashville 11 years ago. I made a record last year with Clint that never got to come out. That was a tough time for me. We spent a year putting our blood, sweat and tears in a record. But Keith gave me the wind the first time to move here, and here he is again with this song. He continues to inspire me.”

Universal Music Group’s Mike Dungan then took the stage to “expound on the magnificence” of Urban, who celebrates his 20th year at the label this year. “It’s wonderful that a magnificent work of art is being appreciated by the rest of the world,” commented Dungan after touting stats for Ripcord. Dungan delivered impaler awards and streaming plaques to songwriters in addition to a plaque for Urban, commemorating the Ripcord‘s No. 1 status in three territories: Canada, US and Australia.

“If anyone had any amount of awareness to how much work Keith has put in these albums—especially the last two—it is astonishing,” noted Dungan. “No one works as hard in this industry at making every track special and making sure he never stays in the same place—always progressing, always throwing curve balls and more than relevant. Keith, for a record label, it is absolutely a dream come true to work with you.”

Additional presenters included Jim Asker of Billboard for Urban’s 37 consecutive Top 10 hits not including “The Fighter,” which brings the total to 38. Billboard‘s record for the constraint is 41. Pandora’s Rachel Whitney and Beville Dunkerley delivered a wood record plaque and noted a cumulative spin total for Urban at 2 billion spins on the service. Holly Freeman from the CRB and Brandi Simms from the CMA also presented.

Produced by Dann Huff mentioned mixing “legend” Chris Lord-Alge before Urban welcomed him to the stage.

“As a songwriter, I so understand the conundrum of writing a song like that and either keeping it as the launching song for me or giving it to someone else,” said Urban. “A handful of people find themselves in that place in this town every now and then. I value this song as much as you. These songs are rare, and you don’t just give them away.”

Urban went on to thank many of the studio players involved. He concluded, citing his influence from Nashville, including Don Williams/Garth Fundis records (like Portrait), which helped Urban understand how minimalism in the studio can frame a song just right.

BMG has signed veteran songwriter James Slater to an exclusive publishing deal.

Slater hails from the Panama Canal Zone and has called Music City home for over 15 years. He has had songs recorded by Willie Nelson, Julio Iglesias, Carrie Underwood, Enrique Iglesias, Kenny Chesney and many others. His songs “In My Daughter’s Eyes” by Martina McBride and “The High Cost Of Living” by Jamey Johnson have both been nominated for Grammys.

“We are thrilled to have James as part of our BMG family. His enthusiasm is contagious. You meet James and you have to love him.  He is a great fit,” said Chris Oglesby, VP/Creative BMG.

“To quote Casablanca, ‘I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship,'” said Slater about the new relationship. “I’m hitting the ground running with a dream team and the beautiful machine that is BMG music. My mission is to rise above their expectations of me and create a body of work we can all be proud of.”