Photo credit: Jason Matthews Songwriter Facebook Page
Jason Matthews first moved to Nashville 1995 with his heart and his pen to follow his pursuit of songwriting and for one, I am glad he made that decision. Jason is a full time writer, penning a ton of top hits for some of country music's biggest names. When you listen to songs he's written, you can hear the quality and the time he pours into every story. Jason's not only a great writer, he's also a wonderful artist, performing his own music and releasing it on iTunes. He's also one of the kindest people you'll ever meet, grateful to every ear that listens and thankful for every word that makes it from his thoughts to paper. Jason was awarded the 2006 Music Row Breakout Songwriter of the Year Award.
Thank you Jason for sharing your talent, your words, your heart with country music. We appreciate your sweat and your tears, your letting us into your world through your music.
Notable Cuts (Writer or Composer) "The Ball" - James Otto "That's Just Jesse" - Kevin Denney "Life Happened" - Tammy Cochran "Break Down Here" - Julie Roberts (Also cut by Trace Adkins) "Must Be Doin' Something Right" - Billy Currington "Easy Does It" - Jake Owen "Country Man" - Luke Bryan "Like We Ain't Ever" - Luke Bryan "When I Get It" - Craig Campbell "Never Regret" - Craig Campbell "That Thing We Do" - Blake Shelton "Lonely Eyes" - Chris Young "Amnesia" - George Ducas
Travis Meadows may not be a name you immediately recognize in conversation, but his is a very recognizable name when it comes to the music you listen to. Travis is more than a songwriter, he's a walking talking story. His music tells the story of his dedication to his family, his deep struggle with religion and it's a story about overcoming addiction and learning to survive and get through life with a sense of self-confidence and how to break freed from the demons we all struggle with. His music comes from a very personal place and he shares that place with listeners in every song he writes. You want music that comes from a real place, a place that matters? Travis is musical reality, as honest and raw as it comes.
His background is extensive. From a 2001 ASCAP Christian Music Award with 8 top 20 singles in the Contemporary Christian genre to a 2005 staff writer deal at Universal Music Publishing Group. He has written with songwriters worldwide and has added cuts by such artists as Ronnie Dunn, Blackberry Smoke, Lee Ann Womack, Levi Lowrey, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and his most recent cuts "Riser" by Dierks Bentley, "Dark Side" by Eric Church on his highly acclaimed CD "The Outsiders" and Jake Owen's lastest, and sure to be next #1 hit, "What We Ain't Got". On the international front, he's written several #1 singles and scored 5 RIAA Gold Records with Australian artist Adam Brand.
Travis is also one hell of an artist on his own aside from the writing, releasing his own albums - My Life 101, Killin' Uncle Buzzy, Old Ghosts & Unfinished Business, which was released in May 2013. His music can be found on iTunes and his "story" is well worth a dedicated, uninterrupted listen. You can find his music on iTunes. If you should download, please remember to leave a review. Every good artist needs this feedback.
Jessi Alexander is an American country music artist. Her songs have been recorded by Patty Loveless, Trisha Yearwood, Reba, Eric Paslay, Blake Shelton and Lee Brice. She launched her own recording career in 2004. Two of her songs charted on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart, and Columbia Records released her debut album, Honeysuckle Sweet, on March 1, 2005. In 2006, the label made the unfortunately decision to drop her.
Alexander co-wrote Miley Cyrus' single "The Climb," for the 2009 film Hannah Montana: The Movie which earned her #1 spot for 15 weeks on Billboard’s AC chart, #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Best Song from a Movie at the 2009 MTV Music Awards. She also co-wrote Lee Brice's 2012 smash single "I Drive Your Truck" with Connie Harrington and Jimmy Yeary. The single was awarded Song of the Year honors at the 47th annual Country Music Association Awards, as well as Song of the Year at the 49th annual Academy of Country Music Awards. Other hit songs that originated from her pen are:
Blake Shelton's "Drink on It" which charted at #1 on the Billboard US Hot Country Songs chart and "Mine Would Be You" which charted at #1 on the Billboard US Country Airplay chart.
Eric Paslay's latest single "Song About a Girl" which charted at #12 on the Billboard US Country Airplay chart and at #18 on the Billboard US Hot Country Songs chart.
Reba McEntire's hit "When Love Gets A Hold Of You" which peaked at #40 on the Billboard US Hot Country Songs chart.
Jessi is currently married to songwriter Jon Randall and is signed to Kobalt Music Publishing. She has been involved with NSAI's legislative efforts and has performed on NSAI benefit shows.
Connect with Jessi online via Twitter at @JessiLAlexander and thank her for her contributions to country music.
Pick up her latest cd, "Down Home"on iTunes. It includes her versions of "Mine Would Be You" featuring Dierks Bentley, "I Drive Your Truck" featuring Jon Randall, "Drink on It" which features Charlie Worsham, and "The Climb" featuring Chris Stapleton. This is one of the best "unheard" cds out there. What a fantastic collection of hits and collaborations done the songwriter way. We love it.
It's "Thank A SongwriterDay" here on Lovin' Lyrics. You may not know their names, but you either already know their music or will be hearing it soon. They are often in the background, just a name in a cd's liner notes or "that guy or girl" you saw playing at a local bar, but the music playing from your speakers are their thoughts, their words and their compositions. Thank you to the songwriters for sharing their inner most thoughts, their creativity and their talent with all of us. Without them, we would have no music and our days would be just a little darker.
We will be saying a heartfelt "Thank You" to specific songwriters throughout the day today, spotlighting their background, their bio, some of their lyrics, and a sample of their music. They may or may not be big names, but they all have big talent. Take a minute to find out more about these people and realize just how much their contributions mean to the world of music and to each of our lives. We appreciate them.
Now surely you knew we weren't gonna get through "Thank a Songwriter Day" without recognizing one of the most prolific and one of country's favorite songwriters did you? Yep, that's right, it's time to say thank you to Randy Houser.
Randy's one of the industry's best and we are willing to stake our reputation and guarantee his name will go down in the country music history books as just that. If you're a fan of country songwriters, then you're familiar with his name and his own kick ass music but for those who aren't familiar, just look in the liner cover of any Trace Adkin's cd that features his hit "Honkytonk Badonkadonk" or the next time you're shakin' your thang to Justin Moore's 2008 debut single, "Back that Thang Up" - yep, Randy wrote 'em.
Now in our opinion, even though Randy's received nominations for a few awards (2009 CMA New Artist of the Year and Video of the Year for "Boots On", 2010 ACM Video of the Year for "Boots On", 2010 CMT's Breakthrough Video of the Year for "Boots On" and the 2011 ACM Top New Vocalist), he's sorely overlooked and talent like this doesn't just come along every day, hell it doesn't even come along every decade. Randy IS country music, his songs reflect the person he is, the way he was raised and what he stands for and in today's country, that's a rare combination to come by.
His cd, "Anything Goes", is probably one of our top favorite cds of all time. His follow up cd, "They Call Me Cadillac" rocks and he released a non-album single, "In God's Time" that should have been destined for greatness, he even received a standing ovation the night he debuted it at the Ryman Auditorium and yet for some reason, it just didn't catch on. The song will make you reflect, make you realize and make you understand that EVERYTHING is truly done in God's time. Maybe that's what's going on here, maybe God hasn't decided that it's the right time for the world to truly stand up and take notice of the amazing talent that Randy has. Maybe He's preparing Randy for something so much bigger, something that's gonna tell the naysayers, "Y'all should've paid attention". Personally, we can't wait for that moment and we can guarantee you without a doubt that it is coming and when it hits, it's gonna hit big.
We love you Randy and we appreciate every note you sing, every word you write and every melody you compose. We'll continue to support you until you decide that music isn't for you. Exactly, you won't see that day and you won't see the day we don't support Randy and his music. Randy's music is available online at the links below and at most music outlets.
As part of our "Thank a Songwriter Day", we're casting the spotlight over one of the first songwriters to ever really catch our attention, wow about 3 years ago now, Mason Douglas. Mason's upbeat personality, great sense of humor and love of what he does carries over into his music and his confidence is evident in every song he writes and performs. Audiences love him and with good reason, he engages them throughout the show, has them laughing and singing along (most of them very off key I might add.) His songs are top shelf quality and his lyrics will move you to laughter, tears or somewhere in between. Mason can be found touring the country performing house concerts, local bars and main live music venues in Nashville. If you're in the area where he happens to be playing, we highly recommend attending a live show to see the entire package that is Mason. We love all of his music, but our personal picks for best songs are "People Fall in Love", "Anything Can Happen", "Staying Away", "The Moon, Merlot and Me" and "The Blues Never Looked Good on You". Go to his website and take a listen. His music is available for purchase on iTunesand Amazon.
Today is our "Thank a Songwriter" Day and we're gonna kick off the gratitude by shifting the spotlight to one of my favorite people and great songwriter, Lee Gibson. Lee's one of the craziest people I've ever met yet can balance that craziness with a wonderfully serious songwriting talent. Gibson is charismatic, charming and one of the best natural country voices I’ve heard come across my speakers in awhile. Signed with Century Music Group, Lee has a proven track record of a successful songwriter with major label cuts as notches on his songwriting belt. His cd, “Somewhere Other Than Here” proves that Lee Gibson has what it takes to also make it as a performer. His vocals are well blended, effortless and polished.
