Congratulations to our newest “Play For Publisher” Top Ten songs and songwriters!
First of all, BIG thanks and congrats to each of you who took a chance, took positive action, and submitted one or more songs to the “Play For Publisher” event with John Ozier of Ole Music. Ya’ll are just plain awesome.
Out of over 200 songs, it took a while to whittle it down to just 10. We have country songs, pop songs, cowrites, solo writes, male songs, female songs, simple recordings and full demos!
There were a lot of worthy songs sent in, and I felt bad about leaving so many out. If your song wasn’t chosen this time, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t a good song.
So these were picked based on the song, not on the songwriter. As a result… some folks got more than one in the Top 10 and On Hold. Congrats to them for doing good, consistent work.
You know, one time I turned a song in to my publisher, and they didn’t know what to do with it, so they didn’t want to do anything with it. My cowriters wanted to demo it, and the publisher said they wouldn’t pay for a demo.
The song was called, “Crickets,” and we got it cut by Joe Nichols. It’s the title track to one of his recent albums.
That’s right. The song my publisher wouldn’t even pay to demo got cut anyway. (My cowriters did an out-of-pocket guitar/vocal, and we pitched it ourselves.)
Welcome to Nashville. So while I listened to each and every song and did my best to pick the ones that have the best chance of catching John’s ear… I could be wrong. That’s just the way the music biz works. So if your song wasn’t selected, it doesn’t mean you should give up on it.
Okay, here are the Top Ten (in no particular order):
“Ain’t That A Beach” by Jonathan Helfand, Lucy LeBlanc, McMellon
“Apple Tree” by Billy Sweeney
“Bulletproof Girl” by Jody Stewart-Regner, Brittany Brant, Selby Copeland
“Chasin’ The Ace” by Lynn Tessari, Mandy McMillan
“Funhouse” by Kris Bradley, Connor Thuotte, Katrina Burgoyne
“Hurt Somebody” by Ethan Bell, Steve Smentek
“Old Oak Tree” by Jenny Leigh, Ryan Sorest, Nick Donley
“Spin” by Marla Rubinstein, Troy Castellano, Jayne Sachs
“Stars In The City” by Cody Coggins, Cheryl Jividen
“Zero Latitude” by Troy Castellano, Donna King, Lisa Whitters
(The Songwriting Pro community would LOVE to hear your songs, so if you have a link you’d like to post to your “Top 10” song, please post it in the comments below or in the Songwriting Pro Facebook Group!)
Congratulations! John and I look forward to hanging out with you on September 25. (In the days before the event, I’ll email the winners the instructions about the online meeting.)
Like I said, the 10 songs above aren’t the only good ones I had the pleasure of hearing. There are several more that were put “on hold” for the top 10 songs. This list could be quite a bit longer, but I’d like to spotlight a few of them, too. (Ya’ll feel free to link up your songs in the comments or in the Facebook group, too!)
“ON HOLD” songs…
“A Dollar” by Bobby Simpson
“I Am Yours” by Russ Parrish
“Just A Dirt Road” by Marla Rubinstein, Lee Thomas Miller, Fran Beaudet
“Koozie In Your Pocket” by Selby Copeland, Joey Ebach
“Sexy As Hell” by Cody Coggins & Cheryl Jividen
“The Girl I Never Met” by Adam Bahadursingh, Sean Spollen, Jim Logrando
“We Made It” by Selby Copeland, Jeff Roe, Ryan Griffin, Jason Duke
“What Makes Me Want You” by Ava Paige, Patrick Dodge
“Where Cowboys Go To Die” by Blaine Younger, Jonathan Olivares, Ken Matthiessen, Jackson Gulick
“Who Are You Waitin’ For” by Karen Kiley, Brittany Brant
These songs, along with others, were in there battling it out with the top 10, so be encouraged!
________________________________
To BE a pro, you need to THINK like a pro, and this FREE ebook will help transform your thinking, your songwriting, and your success. Get it today!
_________________________________
God Bless and Enjoy the Journey,
Brent
Brent Baxter is a hit songwriter with cuts by Alan Jackson, Randy Travis, Lady Antebellum, Joe Nichols, Gord Bamford, Ruthie Collins, Ray Stevens, and more. He’s written a top 5 hit in the US, a top 10 in Texas and a #1 in Canada… so far.
