Some of my favorite moments as a tour leader are watching the expressions of our travelers as they first encounter some of these wonders. There is a particular corner where I like to skip ahead just a little so I can savor the expressions as the group rounds the corner and sees the magnificent Eiffel Tower towering above them in all its glory.
Most people assume it was country music that gave Nashville its nickname, Music City. But you have to go back to the year 1871, when George L. White, music professor at the five-year-old Fisk School in Nashville, started a 9-member choral ensemble at the fledgling Fisk School.
As a part of our series on subcultures in the United States, we take an interesting turn this week and visit a unique breed of human: the Nashville songwriter. You might argue that songwriters the world over are a different breed — and I wouldn’t argue with you. But Nashville is almost without question home to the highest concentration of songwriters per capita of any city in the world. As you’ll hear in our conversation, it’s to the point where you can generally assume that the person who served you your food or drink is an aspiring songwriter — or certainly a creative of some stripe.
I sat down with three gifted songwriters to hear their perspective on being a songwriter in Nashville, and our conversation also led to different aspects of the creative process that I think you’ll find both interesting and encouraging — especially if you’re a creator yourself. I’d like you to meet Matthew Perryman Jones, Fred Wilhelm, and Reuben Bidez.
For you songwriters and creatives in general, Matthew mentioned a couple of resources (one on air and one off air) that might be of interest to you:
