Songcraft: Spotlight on Songwriters

PART ONE Scott and Paul go down the rabbit hole of why it's just not the same when certain famous musicians aren't accompanied by their indispensable musical compatriots. PART TWO - 8:15 mark Scott and Paul call up Matraca to get the lowdown on why she wanted to marry songwriter Red Lane when she was four years old; how she ended up with her first hit after crashing Bobby Braddock's party and snea...

PART ONE Scott and Paul give a shout-out to their latest Patreon supporter before revealing their respective Top 5 favorite live albums of all time - a topic suggested by Songcraft listener Bob Hunt! PART TWO - 15:17 mark Scott and Paul call up Gary (with a slightly wonky phone connection) to get the lowdown on how a chance meeting at a French castle led to writing more than two dozen songs with a...

EPISODE DETAILS: PART ONE Scott and Paul announce the winner of the signed John Jorgenson CD contest. PART TWO - 2:46 mark As the lyrics say, "There'll be sad songs to make you cry." Paul and Scott each run down the top 3 songs that have made them do just that. PART THREE - 12:56 mark The immensely likeable Mary Lambert stops by Songcraft World Headquarters to talk about how Jewel inspired her to...

EPISODE DETAILS: PART ONE Scott and Paul chat about genres of music that are virtually represented by a single artist. PART TWO -  8:23 mark Find out how you can win a signed John Jorgenson CD and hear some great bloopers and outtakes from our interview! PART THREE - 10:41 mark John stops by Songcraft World Headquarters to talk about why he asked his school band teacher to assign him to the hardes...

PART ONE Scott and Paul talk about Randy Poe, Texas, and their favorite songwriters from the Lone Star State. PART TWO - 20:52 mark Robert Earl Keen comes by Songcraft World Headquarters to chat about the Marty Robbins song that set him on his path as a kid; why he wants his songs to be provocative; the book Lyle Lovett gave him that jump started his career; what Steve Earle said that convinced Ro...

IN THIS EPISODE: PART ONE Scott and Paul catch up on the latest Songcraft news and chat about some of their favorite songs about Nashville. PART TWO - 16:06 mark  Wanna learn how to be like Mark D. Sanders? You can start with Patreon. The guys tell you where to check it out. PART THREE - 18:13 mark Scott heads over to Mark's house in Nashville to get the inside scoop on how music helped him surviv...

EPISODE DETAILS: PART ONE Scott and Paul start the festivities off with a very important discussion about which artists carry their wallets on stage. PART TWO - 07:30 mark Scott and Paul call up Dennis, who reveals the major compliment he once got from Barry White; how the first song he ever co-wrote became a hit for Diana Ross; the shocking original lyrics for “Maniac” that were inspired by seria...

EPISODE DETAILS: PART ONE In celebration of Father's Day Scott and Paul discuss the influence their dads had on their musical development. Plus, you'll hear a recording of Paul's late dad, Dr. Tom Duncan, singing his only known original song! PART TWO - 09:13 mark Woody Bomar's in-depth interview SYNOPSIS Scott sits down in Nashville with his dad to get the story about how one of Roy Orbison's ban...

PART ONE Scott and Paul reveal the winner of their latest contest. Find out who's getting an autographed copy of Steve Dorff's memoir! PART TWO - 02:39 mark Is "Stutter Rock" a thing? The guys connect some dots and dig into a surprisingly pervasive trend in music history. PART THREE - 8:05 mark Scott and Paul's origin story - including a particularly disappointing night backstage at a Guess Who re...

PART ONE Scott and Paul announce the five Patreon supporters who are getting signed copies of Billy Edd Wheeler's memoir. Then they fill you in on how you can snag one of two signed Beth Nielsen Chapman CDs for yourself! PART TWO - 02:45 mark The guys talk about cover songs that have become better known than their original versions. PART THREE - 12:34 mark Scott and Paul's in-depth conversation wi...

PART ONE Scott and Paul let you in on how you can score your own autographed copy of Steve Dorff's new memoir, I Wrote That One, Too .  PART TWO - 02:45 mark Mother's Day is coming up soon! Paul counts down 5 of his favorite songs about moms before Scott lists 5 of his favorite songwriters who are also mothers.  PART THREE - 12:11 mark Scott and Paul head over to Steve Dorff's house to get the ins...

PART ONE Scott and Paul pay tribute to a Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member who recently passed away. PART TWO - 02:55 mark Like it or not, tax day is upon us! The guys each pick three of their favorite songs about money or taxes. PART THREE - 10:55 mark Scott and Paul's in-depth conversation with Bruce Sudano Bruce comes over to hang out with Scott and Paul at Songcraft world headquarters,...

PART ONE Scott and Paul have some fun talking about artists who look just like they sound - and those who don't! PART TWO - 11:23 mark The guys talk about their Patreon page, Billy Edd Wheeler's new book, and how five lucky listeners can score a free signed copy for themselves. PART THREE - 18:00 mark Scott and Paul's in-depth conversation with Nashville Songwriters Hall of Famer Billy Edd Wheeler...

Grammy winner Tony Banks is the co-founder and keyboardist of Genesis, which helped define prog rock in the ‘70s with lead singer Peter Gabriel and emerged as a pop powerhouse in the ‘80s after drummer Phil Collins took over the lead vocalist role. Banks and Mike Rutherford were the only two musicians who were members of the band throughout Genesis’ entire history from the late 1960s through the e...

Best known as the writer and performer of “American Pie,” Don McLean and his songs have hit the Billboard pop, country, and adult contemporary charts nearly twenty times. Staples of his catalog include “Vincent (Starry Starry Night),” which hit #12 in the US and landed at the top of the UK chart; “Castles in the Air,” which charted twice with different versions in 1971 and 1981; and “And I Love Yo...

Bob DiPiero has written 15 #1 hits, including “Southern Voice” for Tim McGraw, “If You Ever Stop Loving Me” for Montgomery Gentry, “Blue Clear Sky” for George Strait, “Daddy’s Money” for Ricochet, “The Church on Cumberland Road” for Shenandoah, “Money in the Bank” for John Anderson, “Little Rock” for Reba McEntire, and “American Made” for The Oak Ridge Boys. Neal McCoy’s recording of his song “Win...

Four-time Grammy nominee Matthew West’s major label debut album,  Happy , brought him to national attention in 2004, earning him five Dove award nominations , including Pop/Contemporary  Album of the Year, Song of the Year for the single “More,” and New Artist of the Year. He has gone on to score nearly twenty Top 10 hits on Billboard’s US Christian chart, including Dove award Song of the Year nom...

Though he is now a Nashville Songwriters Hall of Famer, the British-born Roger Cook began his career in the UK, first making a splash on the US charts with The Fortunes’ Top 10 hit recording of “You’ve Got Your Troubles.” Additional US singles in that era included the Top 10 hits “Green Grass” by Gary Lewis & The Playboys, “I Was Kaiser Bill’s Batman,” by Whistling Jack Smith, and “Here Comes That...

A legendary recording artist and songwriter for the Memphis–based Stax label, William Bell first found success with his own recording of “You Don’t Miss Your Water,” a song that would go on to be covered by Otis Redding, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Byrds, and others. He found chart success in the ‘60s and ‘70s with additional self-penned singles, such as the Top 20 hits “Everybody Loves a Winner,” “A Tri...

Launching her career with the Front Porch String Band in the 1970s, Claire Lynch went on to release solo material before ultimately assembling her own Claire Lynch Band. Dolly Parton calls Claire “one of the sweetest, purest and best lead voices in the music business today.” She has received over twenty nominations from the International Bluegrass Music Association, winning a half dozen of their a...

Paul and Scott catch up with Jose Feliciano to find out why "Feliz Navidad" was written in July; chat with "Santa Baby" composer Phil Springer to hear the reason he was hesitant to write the world's first "sexy Christmas song;" get the scoop from Mike Stoller about Elvis recording "Santa Claus is Back in Town" when the song was less than an hour old; find out from former Ray Charles backup singer...

Mississippi native Joshie Jo Armstead began her professional career as a vocalist, touring and recording as one of the original Ikettes behind Ike and Tina Turner. She later settled in New York City where she began working with the legendary duo of Ashford and Simpson, who first found major success as the songwriting  trio  of Ashford, Simpson and Armstead when Ray Charles’ recording of “Let’s Go...

As an artist, Mel Tillis scored 36 Top 10 country hits between 1968 and 1984, including six #1s. But Tillis was writing hit songs long before he found success as an artist  As a songwriter he hit the Top 20 an astounding 49 times, most often as the creator behind songs made famous by iconic artists such as Carl Smith, Kitty Wells, Ernest Tubb, Brenda Lee, Faron Young, Ricky Skaggs, and many others...

After establishing himself as a college football star in Mississippi, Jim Weatherly moved to Los Angeles to pursue a music career. He eventually found success as a songwriter, and is best known for penning “Midnight Train to Georgia,” a #1 pop and R&B hit for Gladys Knight and the Pips that would go on to be named one of Rolling Stone magazine’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and earn induction in...

Before he retired in the early 2000s, Bob McDill landed 152 hits on the  Billboard  country chart, more than any other songwriter in history. He hit the Billboard  Top 10 an astounding 55 times, and 23 of those singles climbed all the way to #1. Many artists returned to the McDill songbook repeatedly, including Don Williams, who scored with the #1 hits “(Turn Out the Light And) Love Me Tonight,” “...