Karen Staley: Reba, Faith Hill & the Stories Behind the Hits :: Ep 53 Circling the Drain Podcast

Karen Staley has spent decades on the inside of Nashville’s music business — as a songwriter, performer and background singer — and this week she joins Circling the Drain to tell the stories behind the songs.Karen takes Johnny Bozeman, Jay Harper and Jim McCarthy back to her early days entering a talent contest at the legendary Wheeling Jamboree, her move to Nashville and the unlikely series of events that eventually put her on the road with Reba McEntire.She also tells the story behind Tracy Byrd’s “The Keeper of the Stars,” its journey to becoming a number-one hit and ACM Song of the Year, and the unforgettable night George Strait told her he wished she had pitched the song to him.Karen’s response — at least internally?“Who do you think we wrote it for?”We also get into her years around Faith Hill, the realities of being a songwriter versus an artist, how dramatically the economics of songwriting have changed, and why Karen is actually encouraged by some of the young writers and artists making country music today.It’s funny, candid and packed with stories from an era of Nashville that produced some of country music’s most enduring songs.Karen Staley on Circling the Drain.Follow Johnny B:https://www.facebook.com/john.e.bozemanFollow Jay Harper:https://www.facebook.com/harperjeffFollow Jim:www.jmvos.comCircling The Drain is sponsored by:www.crabtreebenefits.comwww.muletownbikes.comCircling The Drain is produced by It's Your Show dot Cowww.itsyourshow.co