PODCAST · music
Write You A Song Podcast
by Write You A Song
You know their words and melodies, but maybe not their names: Write You A Song features country music’s most successful songwriters talking about their craft with host Tom Mailey from Bonneville radio station New Country 105.1 KNCI in Sacramento. Tom is a country radio veteran with over 30 years of experience in Seattle and Sacramento, and has always been a song lyric junkie. He hopes this podcast will shine a spotlight on the talented men and women who, mostly behind the scenes, write the songs that become part of our lives. (Follow Tom on Twitter at @kncitom, Instagram at @tomailey or on Facebook at facebook.com/kncipatandtom)
Episodes
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Tony Arata: Because Kevin Did It
Tracking down songwriters for this podcast can be challenging. Publishing companies don’t return your email. A songwriter doesn’t return your email. Publishing companies really don't return your emails. But, just when you think it’s time to hang it up, the universe throws you a bone and you get a...
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Johnny Bulford: Musical Pharmacist
If the name Johnny Bulford sounds vaguely familiar, then maybe you used to watch the Colgate Country showdown, a country music talent show sponsored by the toothpaste company. In 2008, he won it and was given a $100,000 check by the evening’s host, Leanne Rimes. But here's the thing: The Showdown...
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Sherri Austin: It's a Jobby, Not a Hobby
When you think country music and Australia, the first person who comes to mind is that guy married to Nicole Kidman. But he wasn’t the first. He was beaten to the states by a then teenage girl, who arrived here in the 1980s with her parents. But her first job wasn’t singing, or writing. It was as…
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Matt Butler: Reckless Son
The goal of most performers is to be so good, their audience is captivated. A captive audience. But ...what if your audience has no choice because they're literally captive? This episode’s guest isn’t really Country. He’s more folk, or Americana, or whatever you want to call it. I just think he's...
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What's This? A Bonus Episode? With a DRUMMER?
A drummer? On a podcast about songwriting? What is this abomination?? Truth is, it's not an abomination at all! An aberration, maybe but a cool one. Or at least, I think it is. I hope you do too. No, the format of Write You a Song isn't changing. I simply had the opportunity to interview a...
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Ray Fulcher: Writing Stuff To Be Proud Of
Ray Fulcher had no plans on ever becoming a songwriter or a singer. Teaching and coaching. THOSE were his plan. But they got set aside one fateful night Ray went to a club in his college town and saw a young country artist named Eric Church. Seeing and hearing Eric lyrics lit something inside…
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Jordan Fletcher: Stupid Optimism
Florida native Jordan Fletcher was a drummer. Is a drummer. Still. But, his hands are usually busy with an acoustic guitar these days. Jordan came to Nashville to play drums but somewhere along the way, he discovered he was pretty good at writing songs. And singing them. And thanks to what he…
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Luke Laird: When The Redneck Angels Sing
It’s truly amazing how one simple, polite gesture can utterly change a person’s life. As a teenager, songwriter Luke Laird took a family vacation to Nashville. And even though he was already deeply interested in music, he had no idea somebody like him, a young man from Pennsylvania, could do it…
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Drew Parker: Looking For Those High Five Moments
they say 3 of the most disruptive things a person can go through in life are a job change, a move, and a new child. Drew Parker had 2 of those 3 things happen on the same day his first song went to #1. Drew's initial country music dream didn't actually include songwriting. He wanted to perform.…
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Jeff Stevens: A Guy Who Believes In His Gut
Starting in the mid-80s, Jeff Stevens has written some monster country hits, including songs that could fairly be called classics- Carrying Your Love With Me from George Strait, for example. But, as his career has gone on, he hasn’t just gone back to the same well again and again and as such…
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Kent Blazy: The 26th Time Is The Charm
The podcast is back after a three month hiatus and what a great guest to return with. Kent Blazy was a young songwriter in Nashville but didn't have enough hits to quite make ends meet. So he opened a recording studio and recruited a stable of demo singers who would go on to become some of the...
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Walker Hayes: Swinging For the Fences
If you listen to this podcast at all, then you’ve heard Walker Hayes' name dropped by a few other writers who’ve collaborated with him- Nicolle Galyon, Josh Jenkins, to name two. There’s a lot of respect in Nashville for him, especially since he’s been there since the early 2000s. But all this…
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Josh Jenkins: Surrender To The Musical Gods
If you’re at all familiar with the ocean, you’ll know that while most swells on a given day will be roughly the same size, every once in a while that pattern gets upset when, out of nowhere, a wave twice the size of the others, or even greater, suddenly appears. They’re called rogue waves and…
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Jimmie Allen: Do The Stuff You Don't Want To Do
This month’s guest has wasted little time making the most of his growing career. It hasn’t been that long since he was literally living out of his car on the streets of Nashville. His debut single shot to #1 in November 2018. His 2nd single also went to number 1 and as I put together this…
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Don't say no: Steve Dorff
This month's guest didn't set out to write some of country music's most romantic ballads. But then...Clint Eastwood called. There is no doubt Steve Dorff is talented beyond measure. But how he found country music - or rather, how country music found him- is a tale all to itself. Sit back and…
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Patience, Thick Skin, Big Heart: Ashley Gorley
If you were to take just the number 1 country songs Ashley Gorley has written and, supposing their average length is, say, 3:30... played them back to back to back... you’re gonna be listening for just over 3 hours. With his current tally of #1 songs at a ridiculous 51, Gorley seems to have a…
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Making Mom Proud: Matraca Berg
This month’s guest, Matraca Berg, grew up in a musical family. Her mother Icee Berg (yep, real name!) was a songwriter and session singer who at first wasn't crazy that her daughter wanted a career in country music but later became her best teacher. Her stepfather, Dave Kirby, was a songwriter...
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Tommy Lee James: "Up Tempo, Positive Never Really Worked For Me"
Over 30 years in ANY business is impressive but in the world of songwriting, it's especially notable....even more so when that writer is still very much at the top of their game. Tommy Lee James was the "bigshot songwriter" our last guest, Ross Copperman, talked about. Ross grew up in the same…
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Ross Copperman: You Have To Win Every Time
30 number one singles as a writer and a producer...six of which he wrote in 2015 alone. He’s been nominated for and won multiple BMI, CMA and ACM songwriter awards He works with the biggest names in Nashville, including songwriters like Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne, and artists like Dierks...
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Niko Moon: Kicking The Ball Down The Field
Singer/songwriter Niko Moon has one foot in the country, and one in the city. He can write as traditional a country hit as anyone (Zac Brown Band's "Homegrown", for example), and he'll show off his Atlanta hip-hop influences on his solo hits, like "Good Time". And while traditionalists may cluck…
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Not Paper Airplanes: Nicolle Galyon
Sometimes in life, you have to find out what you don’t want to do, before you figure out what you do wanna do. And that’s definitely part Nicolle Galyon's story. Originally planning for a career in artist management, Galyon moved to Nashville to attend Belmont University. But, she took an…
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James T Slater: Never Stop Being Curious
"There's nothing like this town. Songs are in the air". That's how James T Slater sums up Nashville, where he's made his home and his living for past 15+ years. Before that though, he lived and worked in a lot of places- and not necessarily places you'd consider "country": Panama. L.A.…
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John Rich: The Wizard Of Honky Tonk Oz
"As long as you've got a pencil and a blank sheet of paper, you're still in the game". Singer/songwriter/producer/entrepreneur/opinionated son of a gun John Rich has been at the top of his game for going on two decades now. But before that, he was adrift, between gigs and without a record or...
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Aimee Mayo: Talking To The Sky
If Aimee Mayo had never become a successful Nashville songwriter, her story would still be worth telling. Growing up in a dysfunctional family in Gadsden, Alabama, Aimee dreamed of a life beyond constant personal chaos and somehow, against all odds, she achieved it. Her book recounting that...
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Granger Smith: A Lot More Than a Guy Named Earl
Surprise! This is the first extra Write You a Song podcast that is actually a full interview. Granger Smith's image is that of a good ol' country boy- he's got songs galore about pickups and dirt roads. And, of course, he's got his comic alter-ego, Earl Dibbles Jr. But Granger is a lot more than...
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Adam Hambrick: Small Batch Songwriting
Growing up in Corinth, Mississippi, country singer/songwriter Adam Hambrick loved to sing, but held himself back from the spotlight because he felt that kind of modesty was more in line with the roots and values of his small-town, and the people who lived there. It wasn't until he went to college...
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TerryMcBride: Play Somethin' Country
In the 1990s and early 2000s, no other songwriter collaborated with Brooks and Dunn more than Terry McBride. He even became Ronnie Dunn's travel pal, riding from gig to gig on various tours on Ronnie's bus. Together, they came up more than 20 songs, some of which became stone-cold classics,...
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Tia Sillers And Shannon Labrie: Firewalkers
Little different episode this month. For the first time, there are two guests. One is a recently-nominated Nashville Songwriting Hall of Fame candidate who wrote one of the most inspiring songs ever recorded, Tia Sillers. And the last 15 minutes or so, we welcome a young singer-songwriter named...
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Mom, Metal and Country Music: Devin Dawson
Singer/Songwriter Devin Dawson's debut album, "Dark Horse", was one of the most critically acclaimed country albums when it was released in 2018. Although it yielded only one top ten hit, "Put It All On Me", the album's daring mixture of country, rock, americana and even 70s songwriter pop was...
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Rodney Clawson: "Dare To Suck"
Rodney Clawson is one of the most unusual country songwriters to guest on Write You a Song. He's also one of the most successful. A farmer in Texas most of his life, songwriting was never even a consideration until one day he got a call from a friend who'd moved to Nashville. Annually, he writes...
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Brett Eldredge: The Heart of the Heartland
In 2017 Singer/songwriter Brett Eldredge was at the top of his game. 5 #1 songs, several more in the top 10, a massive and entertaining presence on social media, TV appearances, Christmas albums and then .... he shut it all down. For 3 years he worked on refocusing his life and somewhere during...
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Paul Overstreet: Who Cares What 'They' Think
Paul Overstreet. There really doesn't need to be any further explanation. Paul. Overstreet. See our website for privacy information.
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Jessi Alexander: Decatur County Red
Songwriter Jessi Alexander joined us during the 2nd week of the Covid 19 quarantine- which also happened to be the week when her solo album dropped. Busy homeschooling her kids and trying to promote a new record, she still found time to talk on the podcast about smash hits she's written for…
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Drew Kennedy: Music You're Invited To Find
Texas singer/songwriter Drew Kennedy is a bit of a departure from the normal line-up of commercially successful country songwriter guests on this podcast. But just because he hasn't had a mainstream radio hit yet doesn't mean he isn't talented, successful or without fans. He's an Americana...
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Neil Thrasher: New Again
Songwriter Neil Thrasher discusses hits he's written for Reba, Jason Aldean, Rascal Flatts and others and talks about staying relevant and why, 25 years into his career, it all feels new again. See our website for privacy information.
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Marv Green: Words Inspire Melody
In an easy, laconic style that you'd expect from someone born and raised in Southern California, songwriter Marv Green (Amazed, Shotgun Rider, True, Creepin') talks about journeying from the laid-back life of a west coast beach town to becoming one of Nashville's most in-demand writers. As with…
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Lindsay Ell: Long Road To The Starting Line
Even though she's only 30 years old, Lindsay Ell has spent most of her life getting to the point she's at right now: poised to take the next step as a singer, songwriter and pretty sick guitar player. Deviating from most previous podcasts, this interview focuses on an artist who only recently had...
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Shane McAnally: Authentic and Real
If country music's songwriting community has one common denominator, it could very likely be Shane McAnally. With over 40 #1 songs since breaking through in 2010 with Kenny Chesney's Somewhere With You (which he co-wrote with JT Harding), McAnally has emerged as gifted a writer and producer as...
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BobDipiero: "It's a fine line between stupid and 1/2 million dollars"
Bob DiPiero is a genuine Nashville songwriting legend, with over 1000 songs recorded, not to mention dozens of top tens and number ones. In this episode of Write You a Song, the Songwriting Hall of Famer shares his journey from Midwest rock n roller to the guy to the guy who wrote some of the…
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Brandy Clark Follows Her Arrow
Singer/songwriter Brandy Clark has released 2 critically acclaimed albums and scored a handful of hits writing for other artists, including Kacey Musgraves. But she hasn't yet had the widespread commercial success other songwriters have had, and believe it or not, that's just fine with her. See…
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Country Music Highway: Josh Osborne, A Writer's Drive For Success
A Grammy, a CMA, an ASCAP and a Music Row Award...plus numerous #1 and top ten hits...those are just at the tip of songwriter Josh Osborne's resume iceberg. One of the most sought-after songwriters in a city full of them, Osborne's road to success wasn't easy or quick. But along the way he…
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Episode 11: Kelley Lovelace, Four Bars And The Truth
Kelley Lovelace is best known as Brad Paisley's longtime songwriting collaborator and yes, they've written a lot of hits together. But Brad is just one of several artists who've benefited from Kelley's skills. Jason Aldean, Carrie Underwood and Joe Nichols have all scored #1 songs thanks to…
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Chris Janson, "Certified Weirdo"
He calls himself a "certified weirdo", and while, yes, that might be true, Chris Janson is also, without a doubt, a certified musical genius: at age NINE he learned to play music in less than a week... and he's been doing it ever since. He's written some pretty huge songs, too, including "I Love...
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Episode 9 JT Harding
A famous biological father (whom he'd never met until he was grown) is just one of the many fascinating things about this month's guest, JT Harding. Listen as he talks about that, his many hits (including "Somewhere With You" for Kenny Chesney and "Sangria" for Blake Shelton) and what it was like...
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Episode 8 Lee Thomas Miller
Songwriter Lee Thomas Miller shares the stories behind hits like The Impossible, You're Gonna Miss This and what it's like to write with artists such as Brad Paisley and Brothers Osborne. Also, in a special extra episode segment at the end of the main interview, Mr. Miller also discusses the…
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Episode 7 Liz Rose
From helping a young Taylor Swift find her voice as a songwriter, to soaring success writing songs for Little Big Town, Gary Allan, and others, Liz Rose has one of the most unique songwriter stories you'll ever hear, not the least of which is--she doesn't play music. Hear one of the more unlikely...
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Girl Going Somewhere: Ashley McBryde
Eric Church called her a "badass". Eric Church is right. Recently nominated for a Grammy and up for two awards at the Academy of Country Music awards next month, Ashley McBryde might be one of the most exciting new country singer/songwriter you haven't yet heard of. But if you have heard of her,...
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Write You A Song Episode 5 Brett James
Songwriter Brett James talks about writing hits with Carrie Underwood... and what makes her such a creative songwriter in her own right. He also shares stories behind hits like "Man I Want To Be", "Something in the Water" and how a night out in the Islands with Kenny Chesney led to writing two...
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Write You A Song Episode 4 Brice Long
With huge hits for artists like Jon Pardi, Randy Hauser and Gary Allan, you might think a songwriter can sit back a little and enjoy their success. Not so, as Brice Long explains in this episode of Write You A Song. Growing up on a farm in Kentucky--plus years of grinding it out by writing album...
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Write You A Song, Episode 3, Tim Nichols
So you think songwriting sounds like a pretty great gig, eh? It is, but are you up for the challenges? Songwriter Hall of Famer Tim Nichols (Live Like You Were Dying, Heads Carolina, Tails California, I'm Over You, I Only Want You For Christmas) shares the joys and the challenges of songwriting,...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
You know their words and melodies, but maybe not their names: Write You A Song features country music’s most successful songwriters talking about their craft with host Tom Mailey from Bonneville radio station New Country 105.1 KNCI in Sacramento. Tom is a country radio veteran with over 30 years of experience in Seattle and Sacramento, and has always been a song lyric junkie. He hopes this podcast will shine a spotlight on the talented men and women who, mostly behind the scenes, write the songs that become part of our lives. (Follow Tom on Twitter at @kncitom, Instagram at @tomailey or on Facebook at facebook.com/kncipatandtom)
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Write You A Song Podcast have?
Write You A Song Podcast currently has 52 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Write You A Song Podcast about?
You know their words and melodies, but maybe not their names: Write You A Song features country music’s most successful songwriters talking about their craft with host Tom Mailey from Bonneville radio station New Country 105.1 KNCI in Sacramento. Tom is a country radio veteran with over 30 years of...
How often does Write You A Song Podcast release new episodes?
Write You A Song Podcast has 52 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Write You A Song Podcast?
You can listen to Write You A Song Podcast on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Write You A Song Podcast?
Write You A Song Podcast is created and hosted by Write You A Song.
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