NSAI Coffee Break

Songwriter and recording artist Phil Wickham is our guest on today’s episode. His new album “Living Hope” was just released a week ago and if you have not yet heard it, it's absolutely beautiful! While he was in Nashville we had the pleasure of welcoming him to NSAI to talk about the songwriting process of the new project. Phil co-wrote the title track with Brian Johnson of Bethel Music, and colla...

Today’s guest, songwriter/producer/artist Gavin Slate is with us. Originally from Toronto, he moved to Nashville a few months ago to work closely with the music scene here. Gavin has scored placements on NBC’s Rookie Blue, the 2016 NHL All-Star Game and writes frequently with Donovan Woods, Todd Clark, Adam Hamrick, Emily Reid and others . He has an extensive background in production for his own m...

The guests in this episode are the writers and performers behind Passion, the worship team that leads Passion Conference. This faith-based event stemmed out of Passion City Church in Atlanta over 20 years ago and has brought together more than 32,000 students from 700 universities and 35 countries. Kristian Stanfill, Melodie Malone and Brett Younker share their perspectives on writing worship musi...

Today's guest has spent time curating his songwriting craft from the likes of Country, Blues and Americana influences such as Merle Haggard, Ray Charles and Darrell Scott. Ben Danaher is Texas native and comes from a musical family, specifically his father who spent time touring as a singer/songwriter and greatly impacted Ben’s decision to pursue that same career for himself. We chat about his mus...

In this episode you’ll have the pleasure of hearing confessions of serial, #1, award-winning songwriter, Shelly Peiken. She and Meredith Brooks took a risk with their '90s pop anthem “Bitch,” which ended up topping the charts, receiving a Grammy nomination and several tv/film placements. Shelly received her first #1 hit with Christina Aguilera for “What A Girl Wants” followed by “Come On Over Baby...

Our guest today is Nashville native and one of Capitol CMG’s breakthrough artists, Riley Clemmons! Riley quickly climbed the charts with her debut single “Broken Prayers” a song born out of the soulful singer’s journey to finding her own voice. We talk about the gospel and pop influences that have contributed to her writing style as well as the group of industry songwriters she has worked with to...

Our guest today is country music up and comer, Jenna Paulette. Jenna’s music is a blend of rooted Texas country and modern big city glam, a style she calls the New West. Jenna first made waves in the country/pop genre with her debut single, “Coolest Girl In The World” co-written with Jordan Reynolds and Sydney Cubit. The single made it in the U.S. Top 100 Charts for iTunes and has been featured on...

About this episode: Today’s guest is platinum selling country star, RaeLynn! We recently enjoyed coffee at the Kimpton Aertson Hotel to get the backstory on her latest single “Queens Don’t” an empowerment anthem that encourages self-love to anyone and everyone who hears it. Additionally RaeLynn tells us about her songwriting inspirations, creative community and the process of discovering her voice...

About this episode: We’re featuring a Facebook LIVE interview from this past week with country songwriter/artist, Carly Pearce! Since the day she convinced her father to let her quit highschool and pursue a job performing at Dollywood, Carly has paved her own way to becoming the highest charting solo female debut since July 2015. With years of hard work and perseverance she’s taken the world by a...

About this episode: Today’s guest is a Nashville-native and one of the most talented piano musicians of our time. Songwriter/artist Gabe Dixon, began playing music at age 7, with exposure to household names like Elton John, The Allman Brothers and Paul Simon. Natural talent and interest in music, led him to pursue a career writing songs and performing alongside names like: Gavin DeGraw, Alison Kra...

About this episode: Award winning Christian Songwriter/Artist Matthew West joins us for Episode 1 of Season 2 to talk about his new album “All In,” which rests on the theme of what it means to fully invest in the most important areas of our lives. He also shares advice about songwriting and producing that he’s learned throughout his career that I think you’ll enjoy. Matthew West has more than 130...

About this episode: Steve Seskin is one of the most successful writers in Nashville today, with a boatload of songs recorded by Tim McGraw, Neal McCoy, John Michael Montgomery, Kenny Chesney, Collin Raye, Peter Frampton, Waylon Jennings, Alabama, Mark Wills, and Peter Paul and Mary. On today’s podcast, he talks about his journey as a songwriter and why life is something "you learn as you go." Abou...

About this episode: After teaching privately in Tallahassee, Fl. for eight years, songwriter and educator, Steve Leslie moved to Nashville in 1992. He was signed to a staff songwriting position at EMI Music Publishing shortly thereafter, where he had songs recorded by Kenny Rogers, Mark Chesnutt, George Strait, Darryl Worley, Rhonda Vincent, and Neal McCoy, to name a few. Steve earned a Grammy Cer...

About this episode: There's no shortage of guitar teachers in Music City USA...they don't call Nashville "Guitar Town" for nothing. But Dave Isaacs has earned a reputation as one of the best: not simply a guitar and piano teacher but as a musical mentor to performing artists, songwriters, and performers as well as beginners, weekend warriors, and perpetual beginners. Dave's approach to teaching de...

About this episode: In 2011, Luke and Beth Laird decided it was time to take a fresh business approach to publishing and artist management. In this episode of Coffee Break, I chat with the couple about their careers in both the business and songwriting sectors of the industry and advice they’d give to individuals seeking growth in their craft. Creative Nation is home to a variety of songwriters an...

About this episode: THiS Music publisher Rusty Gaston shares why hard work prevails over talent when it comes to writing great songs. In the early beginnings of his career, he discovered his knack for recognizing the next radio hit was in a fact a job. This realization led him to put his song sensibility to the test in music publishing. Rusty has an extensive background in working both label and p...

About this episode: To Tim Hunze, dedication to your songwriting craft and building your network are two very important factors in pursuing a career in the music industry. In 2011, Tim opened the doors of Parallel Music Nashville in partnership with JP Williams. Tim’s day to day includes managing a roster of songwriters and artists including Jon Mabe, Jesse Lee, Lance Carpenter, Zella Day, Alex Ha...

About this episode: From performing to working in artist development and now publishing, Katie Jelen has experienced it all. At a young age, she played music at coffeehouses in her hometown of Philadelphia, including an Open Mic that was frequented by the likes of Amos Lee and Norah Jones. In this episode we discuss why work ethic in any area of the industry is essential to career growth, the arti...

About John Tumminello: Entrepreneur and music industry leader John Tumminello shares how his passion for supporting emerging artists led him to leave his banking job in New York, move to Nashville and start up one of the leading free music events in town. In 2007 he co-founded Music City Unsigned, a program dedicated to helping up&coming artists grow their following. This initiative then led to Mu...

About Jimmy & Sarah Robbins: Jimmy is a songwriter/producer at Roundhill Music. His catalog of #1 hits include, Blake Shelton’s “Sure Be Cool If You Did”, “It Goes Like This” for Thomas Rhett, Keith Urban and Miranda Lambert’s duet “We Were Us,” “Whatever She’s Got” by David Nail and “Beachin’” by Jake Owen. Jimmy latest project involved producing RaeLynn’s debut album, Wildhorse, alongside songwr...

About Cliff Goldmacher: In his years of songwriting, Cliff has built a catalog of over a thousand songs. He’s worked as a staff songwriter for a Nashville publisher and his songs have been cut by major label artists across genres from country, pop and jazz to classical crossover. Cliff’s songwriting collaborators include GRAMMY-winning artist, Keb’ Mo’, multi-platinum selling artists Ke$ha, Lisa L...

About Jennifer Schott: Jennifer Schott is a songwriter at Parallel Music Publishing Nashville. Jenn was born and raised in Pittsburg, Kansas. She does have a family background in music, specifically her grandfather who was the concert master violinist for the CBS orchestra including the Ed Sullivan show. Her father was a university professor of woodwinds, and her mother is a flutist. She is an alu...

Today’s episode features the ladies of NSAI’s Membership Team. Katie, Dana and Erin will be sharing their expertise and perspective on music business etiquette, publishing do’s and don’ts and projects they’re working on within the organization. If you are a member and need some guidance on how to utilize your membership, this is the episode for you. And if you are thinking about becoming a member,...

Boy Named Banjo, described by Sonicbids as, "Tennessee's Americana apostles," is creating a lot of buzz in the southeastern music scene. The Nashville natives founded the group in 2011 and released their debut album, The Tanglewood Sessions, before graduating high school. Boy Named Banjo has since released its sophomore album, Long Story Short, performed at Bonnaroo, and received a nomination for...

Gordon Kennedy and Karla Davis share why they chose music to be their ultimate career path, the beginnings of working together and why being nice to everyone you meet just might "Change The World." To hear an extended version of this podcast with performances by Gordon and Karla, visit nashvillesongwriters.com/nsaicoffeebreak! About this podcast: NSAI Coffee Break is a series featuring legendary a...