Music News (8/17/22)

Taylor Swift, Ashley Gorley To Be Honored At 5th Annual Nashville Songwriter Awards

Taylor Swift & Ashley Gorley

Taylor Swift will be honored by NSAI as the Songwriter-Artist of the Decade and Ashley Gorley as the Songwriter of the Decade at the 5th Annual Nashville Songwriter Awards.

Presented by City National Bank, the awards will take place at the Ryman Auditorium on Sept. 20, with 20 previously announced performers set to take the stage to honor their favorite writers and award-winners.

Performers newly-added to the growing lineup include Jordan Davis, Little Big Town, Luke Combs, Parmalee, and Alana Springsteen. Previously announced performers include Pat Alger, Tony Arata, Babyface, Kent Blazy, Jacob Davis, Gayle, Hardy, Walker Hayes, Josh Jenkins, Matt Jenkins, Matt McGinn, Thomas Rhett, Matt Rogers, Jenn Schott, Nathan Spicer, Matthew West, and more to come.

Swift’s incredible success between 2010-2019 puts her in the company of previous decade award recipients: Toby Keith (2000-2009) and Vince Gill (1990-1999). This decade honor adds to her long list of NSAI achievements, which includes being named NSAI’s Songwriter-Artist of the Year a record-breaking seven times. Swift has also received three 10 Songs I Wish I’d Written awards (“Lover” in 2020, “Better Man” in 2017, and “Shake It Off” in 2015).

Gorley has earned the title of NSAI’s Songwriter of the Year five times in the past eight years. He recently celebrated another hit with his 62nd No. 1, and he has previously earned nine awards from NSAI including the 2008 Song of the Year award for “You’re Gonna Miss This” recorded by Trace Adkins. Additionally, Gorley has earned three 10 Songs I Wish I’d Written awards (“I Lived It” and “Marry Me” in 2018, and “Dirt On My Boots” in 2017).

In addition to celebrating the aforementioned decade winners, the evening will also honor the 2022 song, songwriter, and songwriter-artist of the year, as well as previously announced recipients Garth Brooks (Kris Kristofferson Lifetime Achievement Award) and Sony Music Publishing Chairman & CEO, Jon Platt (NSAI President’s Keystone Award).
 

Marty Stuart Signs With Snakefarm, Marking His First Major Record Deal In Nearly A Decade

Marty Stuart. Photo: Alysse Gafkjen

Country Music Hall of Famer Marty Stuart has signed with Snakefarm, a label housed under the Spinefarm Music Group and owned by UMG. The deal marks his first major record deal in almost a decade.

Stuart will head out on a headlining European tour in August and September, where he and his Fabulous Superlatives—Kenny Vaughan, Harry Stinson and Chris Scruggs—will visit the UK, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. This will mark the five-time Grammy winner’s first European outing in over a decade. He will be supported by Nashville-based rising star Sam Williams, who released his debut album Glasshouse Children last year via Snakefarm in the UK on behalf of Mercury Nashville.

Following his European tour, Stuart will perform at Pilgrimage Music Festival in Tennessee and hit the road for a fall US trek.

Of the announcement, Stuart says, “I like the idea of joining forces with Snakefarm. I am intrigued by the global mindset and the aura of musical integrity that surrounds the brand. I look forward to a long line of thrilling musical escapades in the days ahead.”

Stuart has new music on the way, with more details to be announced shortly.
 

Sydney Mack Signs With Warner Chappell Music

Sydney Mack

Rising singer-songwriter Sydney Mack has signed a global publishing deal with Warner Chappell Music.

The Nashville-based artist kicked off her career on Season 14 of American Idol, followed by starring in NashNext Top 10 where she toured with Raelynn. She has opened for Miranda Lambert, Florida Georgia Line, Brett Eldredge, and more.

In 2021, Mack released a handful of tracks which garnered over 3.4 million streams on Spotify and Apple Music. Earlier this year, she shared two new songs, “Don’t Call” and Pretty Boy,” on TikTok and amassed more than four million views. In March, “Pretty Boy” debuted at No. 12 on the iTunes chart.

She is managed by Creekhouse Entertainment.
 

Derek George Renews Publishing Deal With Spirit/Fluid

Pictured (L-R): Chip Petree, Ritholz Levy Fields; Kara Jackson, Senior Creative Director, Spirit Music Nashville; Michelle Davey, Director of Administration/Office Manager, Spirit Music Nashville; Hannah Hall, Creative Director, Spirit Music Nashville; Derek George; Brian Bradford, General Manager/VP of Administration and Operations, Spirit Music Nashville; Frank Rogers, CEO, Spirit Music Nashville; Matthew Beckett, Milom, Horsnell, Crow, Kelley, Beckett, Shehan; AJ Burton, Vice President, Fluid Music Revolution; and Elizabeth Lombardi, Milom, Horsnell, Crow, Kelley, Beckett, Shehan.

Spirit/Fluid, the Nashville-based joint venture between Spirit Music Group and Frank Rogers’ Fluid Music Revolution, has renewed an exclusive publishing deal with Derek George.

George is a Grammy-nominated musician with hits spanning across three decades as a songwriter, producer and publisher. He has had over 100 cuts and has worked in almost every facet of the industry—managing his own recording studio, being an accomplished session singer and guitarist, writing hit songs, producing major record label releases, and running an independent publishing company. He has had songs recorded by Blake Shelton, Bryan White, Randy Houser, Diamond Rio, Rascal Flatts, Brantley Gilbert, Jerrod Niemann, Jennifer Nettles, Trace Adkins, Miley Cyrus, Wynonna, Chase Bryant, Drake White, and Hootie And the Blowfish, among others.

In the last decade, he has produced eight top 10 hits, five of which were No. 1s. George has had eight singles released to country radio as a songwriter in the same six-year span, and celebrated his third No. 1 as a writer with Darius Rucker’s “For the First Time.” He currently has the Frank Ray radio single “Country’d Look Good On You,” which is top 20 on the country chart. George also co-wrote five of the six tracks on Ray’s upcoming EP, releasing on Aug. 12, and has upcoming releases with Rucker, Chris Young, and Lainey Wilson.

As a producer, George helmed Randy Houser’s How Country Feels, which yielded 4 top 5 hits, along with the lead single off Houser’s follow up album Fired Up. He produced Joe Nichols’ “Sunny And 75,” co-wrote Jerrod Niemann’s No. 1 hit “Drink To That All Night” and produced and co-wrote Chase Bryant’s “Little Bit of You” and “Room To Breathe.”