The Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival has come to an end for 2019. Friday (March 29) and Saturday (March 30) were full of entertaining songwriter rounds on throughout Nashville.

Friday night’s 6:30 p.m. show offered a variety of performers. Steve Bogard, Kat Higgins, Matt Roy and Wynn Varble occupied Analog at the Hutton Hotel, while Cooper Alan, Desmond Child, Jeffrey Steele, Victoria Shaw and special guest Lee Greenwood played the Listening Room Cafe.

The late Friday night slot was filled by Jim Collins, Jesse Lee and Rivers Rutherford at the TRUE Music Room and Bar as well as the Big Loud Crowd featuring Matt Dragstrem, Madison Kozak, Craige Wiseman and Ernest K. at the Listening Room Cafe.

Casey Beathard, Buddy Cannon, Marla Cannon-Goodman and Mac McAnally occupied The Bluebird Cafe for hit-filled round. Buddy Cannon led the charge, starting out with a song he wrote with Bill Anderson and Paul Overstreet, “Old Things New.” He then played the George Strait No. 1 that he wrote with Dean Dillon, “I’ve Come to Expect It from You,” as well as “Set ‘Em Up Joe” (Vern Gosdin) and a new Willie Nelson tune.

His daughter, Marla Cannon-Goodman, kept everyone on their toes and played some of her hits, including “Cleaning This Gun (Come On In Boy)” (Rodney Atkins), “Ten Rounds with Jose Cuervo” (Tracy Byrd) and “The Fool” (Lee Ann Womack) as well as a song she wrote with Casey’s son, Tucker Beathard.

The ever-charismatic Mac McAnally played his Sawyer Brown cheating song, “All These Years” as well as the heart-warming Kenny Chesney No. 1 “Down the Road.” He then played a small medley of hits that he dubbed the college fund for his children, including “Old Flame” (Alabama), “Two Dozen Roses” (Shenandoah) and “Thank God for You” (Sawyer Brown).

Casey Beathard played a slew of Kenny Chesney hits, including “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems,” “Don’t Blink” and with the help of the crowd singing along, “The Boys of Fall.” He also played his Gary Alan hit “Right Where I Need to Be,” Tracy Lawrence’s “Find Out Who Your Friends Are” and Eric Church’s “Homeboy.”

In the Nashville way, country singer Mark Collie (“Even the Man in the Moon Is Cryin’,” “Born to Love You”) was in the house and joined the round for a funny cheating song.

Buddy Cannon also made another appearance Saturday morning to do the Outlaws Tales and Tunes with Marshall Chapman and Larry Gatlin at the Country Music Hall of Fame.

The early Saturday show featured songwriters Shelly Fairchild, Harper Grae, Ty Herndon, Brandon Stansell at Analog at the Hutton Hotel; Tony Arata, Matfield Green, Dallas Remington, Joel Shewmake at The Bluebird Cafe, and much more.

Marv Green, JT Harding, Deric Ruttan and Jimmy Yeary took over the Listening Room Cafe for the late show Saturday night while Dylan Brady, Paul Jenkins, Earl Bud Lee, Kylie Sackley played a show at Hard Rock Café called the “Up To No Good With Friends In Low Places” show.

Symphonic Distribution, a distribution and marketing company built by independent artists for independent artists, has expanded into Nashville, with an office at 901 Woodland Street.

The company was founded in 2006 in Tampa, Florida; and also has offices in Brooklyn, New York; and Denver, Colorado. Symphonic Distribution VP, Business Development Randall Foster leads the new Nashville office.

“Symphonic has always had its eyes on expanding in locations that we see as unique and inspiring. It was a natural decision and apart of our plan to look to expand to Nashville. Having individuals and presence there will better position the company for success and enable us to continue our mission of being a distributor with a very personalized approach and one that is aiming to help develop and grow record of artists, record labels, managers, and more,” said Symphonic Distribution CEO Jorge Brea.

Brea adds, “We’ve always felt that distribution companies in the Nashville region could do a better job at connecting with the industry and market there and thus our aim is to get as close as possible to songwriters, artists, publishers, and labels in the region and help give them tools that actually turn into successes.”

“I am excited beyond belief to be at the helm of Symphonic Distribution’s Nashville office. It’s an honor that Jorge has put his faith in me, and it’s a testament to the fact that Symphonic Distribution is really doubling down in Nashville.” Foster says.

Since its inception, the company has distributed over 1 million releases from over 250,000 artists and record labels to retail and streaming platforms. Symphonic has worked with new and established artists and record labels including Deadmau5, Bassnectar, Ozuna, Waka Flocka Flame, Tito El Bambino, and Alok. Today, Symphonic offers a full suite of services covering strategic marketing and release planning, publishing administration, music video distribution, sync licensing, comprehensive graphic design, recoupable budgets and more.

BMI recently honored some of Gospel music’s top songwriters as part of the BMI Trailblazers of Gospel Music luncheon on March 28, held at La Cave in Las Vegas. The event was hosted by BMI President & CEO Mike O’Neill as well as VP, Creative/Atlanta Catherine Brewton and Asst. VP, Creative/Los Angeles Wardell Malloy.

Travis Greene’s “You Waited” was honored with Song of the Year.  The event also recognized the ten most-performed BMI Gospel songs in 2018, which included “Change Me” (Thomas “TC” Clay), “Close” (Solomon Edwards, Jr., Aaron Lindsey and Marvin Sapp), “Grace” (Charles Jenkins), “He Promised Me” (Bebe Winans), “Kept by His Grace” (Harry James Johnson), “My World Needs You” (Kirk Franklin), “Pray & Don’t Worry” (Branden Anderson and Rufus Johnson, III) “Won’t He Do It” (Makeba Riddick, Raymond Reginald Murdock, Jr. and Richard Worley Shelton, Jr.) “Work It Out” (Stanley G. Green, Jr., George Allen Jordan and T.J. Simon), and “Your Great Name” (Todd Dulaney).

“BMI is proud to commemorate the artistry and achievements of these incredibly talented songwriters,” said Brewton. “Their music and lyrics have been a pillar of strength and encouragement for many worldwide, and they continue to transform lives through their divinely inspired gifts.”

Reservoir has added a fifth global office, expanding into Nashville, Tennessee. John Ozier has been named Executive Vice President of Creative and will oversee operations for the company in Music City. Ozier will also sign and develop new talent, working closely with the teams in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, and London, alongside a staff based in Nashville.

The company will occupy a 5,000-square-foot building, complete with six writing rooms, located on West End Avenue in Nashville.

“I am incredibly excited to join Reservoir and help expand the company’s footprint into Nashville,” said Ozier. “Golnar, Rell and their entire team have built an exceptional global roster and one of the leading independent music publishers in the business. Their commitment to Nashville is thrilling and I am confident we are going to knock it out of the park.”

Reservoir’s country music roots tie back to the company’s foundation in 2007, as some of the first artists represented were Kenny Alphin and John Rich of Big and Rich and Vicky McGehee. A few years later, the company came to publish the catalogs of country music icons like John Denver, Sheryl Crow, and Leon Russell, and evergreen singles including Carrie Underwood’s “Jesus, Take The Wheel,” Lonestar’s “Amazed” and Dorothy Moore’s “Misty Blue,” among many others. The addition of Ozier and a Nashville office builds upon an already fruitful 2019 for the company, which recently celebrated six Grammy wins including Song of the Year and Record of the Year, among its 22 nominations.

Ozier joins Reservoir following a six-year tenure at olé that included marquee signings Jeff Trott, Tony Martin, Jordan Davis, Chris Janson, Adam Hambrick, and Tyler Farr, and the acquisitions of the Red Vinyl Music, Parallel Music, and Better Angels Music publishing catalogs. Prior to that, he looked after the recording careers of the likes of Tim McGraw, LeAnn Rimes, Wynonna Judd, Lee Brice, and Rodney Atkins at Curb Records. He has overseen more than 30 No. 1s throughout his career and over 100 singles internationally in the last three years alone, including No. 1s by Kelsea Ballerini, Jason Aldean, Brantley Gilbert, LOCASH, Randy Houser, Jordan Davis, Chris Janson, Justin Moore, Brett Young, Dan + Shay, and more.

Ozier is additionally an accomplished songwriter in his own right, having co-written award-winning No. 1 hits for Lee Brice and Tyler Farr, plus cuts recorded by Kid Rock, Kellie Pickler, Air Supply, and more.

“John is one of the most respected music executives in Nashville and his extraordinary track record for success speaks for itself,” added Reservoir President and COO, Rell Lafargue. “When we met him, we knew he was the guy to break ground with in Nashville and we look forward to digging deeper into our country catalog, welcoming new local talent together, and helping their music reach a global audience.”