We are currently accepting entries for the September/October 2013 Lyric Contest. Deadline is July 15, 2013.

Enter now for your chance to win a…

• 2013 “Dream Co-Write” with hit songwriter and recording artist Lee Brice
• Professional Demo Session (1 song) at Omni Sound Studios
• Round-Trip Flight to Nashville (domestic only)
• Gibson LG-2 American Eagle Acoustic-Electric Guitar (MSRP $2449)
• Legendary Shure SM58 Microphone

Each of the four finalists have their lyrics printed in American Songwriter, and the bi-monthly winner will be profiled in a one-page Spotlight in the coinciding issue of American Songwriter. You can enter to win the September/October 2013 Lyric Contest (and become eligible for the Grand Prize) 

Click here to enter the September/October 2013 Lyric Contest

Tin Pan South 2013 Takes Over Nashville

Everyone knows it’s finally spring in Nashville when thousands of aspiring songwriters and music fans invade the city for Tin Pan South. The world’s largest songwriter festival, produced by the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), just finished its 21st go-round, as some of the music industry’s most famed songwriters of past and present times performed in various venues around Music City for five straight nights.

PHOTOS: Tin Pan South Festival

Tin Pan South is primarily a week of writers in the round, some of whom are old friends and some of whom have never met, some of whom have stable careers as writers and/or performers, and some of whom are thrilled to have a gig for a night. Downtown at Nashville’s Hard Rock Cafe, writers from Major Bob Music’s staff held court. Platinum Major Bob staff writers like Karyn Rochelle and Cary Barlowe (former lead guitarist for the Rick Rubin-championed band-that-should-have-made-it-but-didn’t Luna Halo) played their hits and then some to a packed house.

Click here to continue reading and check out more photos from the festival.

Dan Auerbach, Kris Kristofferson Set For “Cowboy” Jack Clement Tribute In Nashville

Memphis-born singer/songwriter/producer “Cowboy” Jack Clement made his mark on the music industry working with legendary performers like Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash.

So it’s no surprise that when 81-year-old Clement’s house and studio burned down in 2011, more than a few musicians were concerned.

One of those musicians was Artist Growth founder Matt Urmy, who Clement recently produced.

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Nashville Recap: Your Cheatin’ Heart

“We Live in Two Different Worlds” is the title of last night’s everyone’s-spiraling-downward episode of Nashville, that found our sprightly, Swift-ian antagonist, Juliette Barnes, facing her demons, the dangers of live television and the repercussions of swiping a bottle of Sally Hansen Quick Dry in Pompous Pink. It’s also the third episode of the show to be named after a Hank Williams recording, which is kind of like people calling their kid Dylan or Jagger and hoping they grow up to be rock legends. It’s pretty big shoes to fill.

Of course “real” country music, or at least traditional country music, doesn’t make much of an appearance on Nashville. Not to say that there wasn’t scandal in the days of Hank Sr. – he died in the back of a car, after all. But scandalous dealings – musically, romantically, nailpolish-ly – are trendier than black trucker hats in the capitol of Tennessee. Apparently, they’re even trendier than music itself. So here we go.

Wait a minute. Is that Deacon and Rayna sweetly under the sheets together, in that moody day-for-night lighting? Well, not exactly. Rayna’s just having a juicy dream, which her uptight husband rudely awakens her from. Lady even has civilized sex dreams! Look, we know Rayna and her band man fantasize about each other. That’s no secret, probably not even to Teddy. Later, as Rayna is metaphorically splashing cold water on her face in the kitchen, her sister, Tandy (a.k.a “the mouth of the South”) breaks the news that Teddy is twelve points behind in the polls. “I can sing,” suggests Rayna, when she hears that he’s hosting a really boring fundraiser for guys in suits. Maybe she feels guilty about her dirty dreams..

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Old 97′s Wind Down Too Far To Care Tour In Nashville

The Old 97’s wrapped up their fall tour in Nashville at the Cannery Ballroom this week, celebrating the 15th anniversary of Too Far To Care by playing the album in its entirety. It was a loud, sweaty, boozy show, full of the boot-stomping drumbeats and riff-heavy guitars that anchored the band’s first major-label release. The Old 97’s tossed in some songs from other albums, too, hitting their recent Grand Theatre records especially hard.

Too Far To Care was released in 1997, back when alt.country was still being touted as “the next grunge.” The Old 97’s rode that wave as long as they could, accepting everything Elektra Records offered them — advances, free lunches, weeks in a top-shelf recording studio — without changing the kind of music they wanted to make.

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Q&A: J.D. Souther, The Real Watty White

The most accomplished songwriter appearing on ABC’s hit new show Nashville hasn’t so much as picked up a guitar or stepped up to the mic this season. Not unlike Watty White, the behind-the-scenes producer he plays on the series, JD Souther has made a fair share of musical dreams come true by contributing to a huge number of country and pop hits, often from the shadows of the studio.

If the Eagles had anything like a “fifth Beatle,” it would be Souther. Throughout the 1970s, he cowrote some of the band’s biggest hits, including “New Kid in Town,” “Best of My Love,” and “Heartache Tonight,” though he never officially joined the band. And after releasing a few hits of his own as a solo artist, including 1979’s “You’re Only Lonely,” he largely disappeared from the music spotlight, later popping up here and there on television shows like thirtysomething and the 1990 movie Postcards from the Edge.

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Rod Stewart and Stevie Nicks At The Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN

For more photos of Rod Stewart and Stevie Nicks, click here.

Fiona Apple at the Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN.

Old Crow Medicine Show Busk In Front Of Ryman

Last month, Old Crow Medicine Show performed a series of five “guerilla” shows around Nashville, in order to promote their new album, Carry Me Back Home, which will be released July 17th. Watch below as Old Crow perform “Sewanee Mountain Catfight” for an unsuspecting crowd of tourists in front of the Ryman Auditorium. 

Americana Music Festival Lands Punch Brothers, Brandi Carlile, Billy Joe Shaver

The Americana Music Association has announced the performers for the Americana Music Festival, held September 12-15 in downtown Nashville.

Artists booked for the three day festival include: Punch Brothers, Brandi Carlile, Billy Joe Shaver, Richard Thompson, Sara Watkins, Shovels and Rope, the Deep Dark Woods, John Hiatt, the Wood Brothers, Rodney Crowell, Honeyhoney, and John Fullbright. The first night of the festival will kick off the 11th Annual Americana Honors and Awards ceremony held at the Ryman Auditorium. This year’s ceremony will honor artists such as Bonnie Raitt, Booker T. Jones, Richard Thompson.