Brad Paisley, Emmylou Harris, Jim Lauderdale, Don Cook, Steve Bogard, Tony Martin and the late JJ Cale were officially inducted as the newest members of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame (NaSHOF) on Monday evening (Oct. 6) during a star-studded Gala at Music City Center in Nashville, Tennessee.
Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala: Inducts Seven New Members
Guests were welcomed to the Gala by a performance from the band The Garrett Boys, the evening began with remarks from the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Foundation Executive Director Mark Ford and Board Chair Rich Hallworth. “Tonight, we are gratified to welcome seven more extraordinary songwriters into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame,” Hallworth said. “Along with their families, friends and members of the music industry, we celebrate them as they join this Hall of elite songwriters.”
The seven new members were inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and presented with a Manny Award (short for Manuscript) during the 55th anniversary NaSHOF Gala, where this year’s inductees were celebrated alongside their friends, family and many esteemed members of the country music community.
Tony Martin and Steve Bogard were inducted into the songwriter category, Don Cook was recognized in the veteran songwriter category, Jim Lauderdale and Brad Paisley were inducted as a songwriter-artist, Emmylou Harris was recognized in the veteran songwriter/artist category and the late JJ Cale joined in the Legacy category.
Legacy Category: The Late JJ Cale
The first inductee of the night was the late JJ Cale, honored in the Hall’s Legacy category, which was created specifically to recognize NaSHOF-worthy songwriters who have passed away. Cale’s widow, Christine Lakeland-Cale, accepted the prestigious award from Hall of Fame member Gary Nicholson, following a tribute performance of Cale’s classic hit “After Midnight” by Americana artist John Fullbright.
Contemporary Songwriter Category: Tony Martin
To celebrate Tony Martin’s induction, his longtime friend Wendell Mobley took to the stage to perform “A Little More Summertime,” a chart-topping hit Martin wrote alongside Mobley and Jerry Flowers that was recorded by country superstar Jason Aldean. Following Mobley’s performance of the Aldean hit, Hall of Fame member Tom Shapiro then presented Tony Martin with his Manny.
“Next to being a sheriff in Mayberry,” Martin shared. “Being a songwriter is the best job in the world.”
Prior to the event, Tony Martin opened up about the moment he found out he was going to be inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
“You couldn’t do anything nicer to me,” Martin shared. “I love songs. Like I say, I grew up here, I grew up among all these old legends in the current greats and to be called a songwriter and then called Nashville where I grew up. You couldn’t put a nicer tag on me.”
Martin is best known for writing massive hit songs such as “A Little More Summertime” by Jason Aldean, “I’ll Think of a Reason Later” by Lee Ann Womack, “Just to See You Smile” by Tim McGraw, “Living and Living Well” and “Go On” by George Strait, “No Place That Far” by Sara Evans, “Settle for a Slowdown” by Dierks Bentley, “Third Rock from the Sun” by Joe Diffie, and “You Look Good in My Shirt” by Keith Urban.
Contemporary Songwriter-Artist Category: Jim Lauderdale
Lee Ann Womack then made her way to the stage to honor Jim Lauderdale with a performance of his signature hit, “The King of Broken Hearts,” before Gretchen Peters presented Lauderdale with the coveted Manny award.
Lauderdale also opened up about the surreal moment ahead of the ceremony. “In this business, there’s so many ups and downs and more downs than ups and struggle. I think all writers and all recording artists, we’ve really got to keep at it. And so when something good comes along, it’s just very, it’s overwhelming,” he shared with Music Mayhem ahead of the event.
Jim Lauderdale shared, “I will cherish this night for the rest of my life.”
Lauderdale has songwriting credits on several notable tracks, including Mark Chesnutt’s “Gonna Get a Life,” Patty Loveless’ “Halfway Down,” and the duet “You Don’t Seem to Miss Me” by Loveless and George Jones. George Strait also took Lauderdale’s songs “We Really Shouldn’t Be Doing This” and “What Do You Say to That” to the Top 5.
Contemporary Songwriter-Artist: Brad Paisley
Hall of Fame members and fellow Grand Ole Opry members Bill Anderson and Steve Wariner joined forces to celebrate Brad Paisley’s induction. Anderson presented Paisley with the honor after Wariner performed Paisley’s 2000 hit, “We Danced.”
Brad Paisley, wearing his signature straw cowboy hat and a royal blue suit jacket over an all black ensemble,
“I came to this town and I wanted to be you,” Paisley shared, acknowledging the songwriters in the room. “I have spent my entire time living here, copying the songwriters that I love. I go back to Steve Wariner, I was a teenager, I wanted to be him… I went through my Bill Anderson phase and no one could hear a word I say for about six months. I moved here really wanting to be a songwriter because I knew that’s the community. That’s the thing that makes this town so unique. And little did I know though when I got here that the best friends in my life, and I think I speak for all of us when I say this are songwriters, they became my family. They became my brothers and sisters, and there’s nothing like being accepted in this community, even as an imposter.”
He went on to express gratitude to his longtime collaborators, joking that he was still amazed by “some of the things we’ve gotten to get away with as writers” during his many years in town.
Paisley has written songs recorded by artists like David Kersh, David Ball, and Tracy Byrd before he signed with Arista Nashville and began recording his own music. As an artist, he has charted 33 self-penned singles on Billboard’s Top 20, including 15 No. 1 hits and 14 additional Top 10 songs. Notable tracks from his catalog include “He Didn’t Have To Be,” “Alcohol,” “I’m Gonna Miss Her (The Fishin’ Song),” “Celebrity,” “Ticks,” “Letter to Me,” “Then,” “This Is Country Music,” “Water,” and the duet with Carrie Underwood, “Remind Me.”
Veteran Songwriter: Don Cook
Hall of Fame member Kix Brooks reflected on his longtime friendship with Don Cook, sharing stories from their early days in the industry before reuniting with Ronnie Dunn for a surprise tribute performance. Brooks & Dunn performed their chart-topping debut single, “Brand New Man,” the fan-favorite hit that launched their career and was co-written by Cook, Brooks, and Dunn.
Don Cook was beaming before his big moment. While backstage, he described the recognition as an “honor of a lifetime” and later looked back on his time with Brooks & Dunn, saying it was “one of the most incredibly important things in my career and life.”
“For guys like me, it’s like somebody calling you and telling you you’re getting the Academy Award for the best actor. I mean, it’s that big for me. These are my friends and my heroes that I look up to the most,” he added.
Cook’s songwriting career took off with hits like “Cryin’ Again” by The Oak Ridge Boys and his first No. 1, “Lady Lay Down” by John Conlee. He also penned “Julia” (Conway Twitty), “I Wish That I Could Hurt That Way Again” (T. Graham Brown), “Small Town Girl” (Steve Wariner), and “Somebody’s Gonna Love You” (Lee Greenwood). In the early ’90s, he co-wrote Brooks & Dunn’s “Brand New Man” and went on to produce the duo, contributing to hits like “My Next Broken Heart,” “Only in America,” and “You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone.”
Contemporary Songwriter: Steve Bogard
Steve Bogard was up next to be honored and inducted. Country superstar Dierks Bentley was on hand to pay tribute to Bogard with a rendition of their co-written Grammy-nominated hit “Every Mile A Memory.”
Presented by Rory Bourke, Steve Bogard then took to the stage to accept his Manny and called the induction “incredible” and a “life achievement.”
“The remarkable thing about being inducted into the Nashville Songwriter Hall thing, it’s not the fame part, it’s the Nashville part, because the pay it forward humanity of our music community is like no one nowhere else on earth. It’s at the heart of why so many great songs come from here…” Bogard said. “
Reba McEntire’s “New Fool at an Old Game,” George Strait’s “Carried Away” and “Carrying Your Love With Me,” Jack Ingram’s “Wherever You Are,” Dustin Lynch’s “Seein’ Red,” Rascal Flatts’ “Prayin’ For Daylight” and more.
Veteran Songwriter/Artist: Emmylou Harris
To close out the evening, Hall of Fame member Vince Gill paid tribute to Emmylou Harris with a heartfelt performance of her country-folk classic, “Boulder to Birmingham.” Fellow Hall of Fame member Rodney Crowell had the honor of presenting Harris with her Manny.
Emmylou Harris took to the stage inside of Music City Center to accept the coveted Manny trophy with a heartfelt speech.
“I stand here as someone who is grateful that I’ve been able to write songs. It’s a wonderful feeling too, and you get that idea, you finally get it out, but I stand here as a champion of a songwriter, all of you here, who put in the work day in, day out, year after year as someone who lives off the song and appreciates the work, the hard work, and the artistry that goes into a writing a song. I’m so grateful for your work, and please don’t stop because the world needs songs. We need someone to express what is inside our hearts, which is inside our soul, and nothing touches us more than a song that speaks to our humanity,” Harris continued.
Though some of her songs have been recorded by others, most notably Gram Parsons’ version of “In My Hour Of Darkness”—Harris is primarily recognized for her dual role as a songwriter and artist. She wrote many of her own standout tracks, including “A River For Him,” “Amarillo,” “Red Dirt Girl,” “The Pearl,” and “Woman Walk the Line.”
In Memoriam: Kenny Chesney Pays Tribute To Brett James
The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala featured an emotional “In Memoriam” segment, paying tribute to Hall of Fame members Troy Seals, Sonny Curtis, and Brett James, who have all died since last year’s event. Kenny Chesney, a Country Music Hall of Fame Inductee, was on hand to honor his longtime friend and frequent collaborator Brett James. He performed “When The Sun Goes Down,” a hit they co-wrote together. Chesney, donning a black cowboy hat and blue collared shirt, delivered a heartfelt message before the tribute performance.
“I’m here tonight to talk about my friend Brett James. It’s still an open wound for me, and I know for a fact a lot of people in this room, in this town. But tonight I’ve decided that I am going to sit up here with a lot of gratitude instead of being sad, you know, because Brett and I, we had so much life fun together. We wrote a lot of songs together,” Chesney said. “He was just a great friend. And like I said, instead of being sad tonight, I’m just very grateful that my life path crossed with Brett’s. And I know a lot of people in this room feel the exact same way. He was an unbelievable creative soul and one that made me very happy.”
He also recalled writing “Out Last Night” and “Reality” with James one day after Christmas in the Virgin Islands, and reminisced on their friendship. Chesney then went on to perform the title track to his eighth studio album, When The Sun Goes Down.
“‘Cause when the sun goes down, we’ll be grooving/ When the sun goes down, we’ll be feeling all right/ When the sun sinks down over the water/ Everything gets hotter when the sun goes down,” Chesney sang.
“Love you forever, Brett James,” Chesney said as he closed out his performance.
What Is The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame?
Induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame is considered one of the most prestigious honors a songwriter can receive. Since its founding in 1970, the Hall has recognized 247 of the most influential songwriters across all genres who have shaped the sound of Music City. Its esteemed members include legends such as Bill Anderson, Bobby Braddock, Garth Brooks, Felice & Boudleaux Bryant, Johnny Cash, Don & Phil Everly, Vince Gill, Amy Grant, Tom T. Hall, Harlan Howard, Alan Jackson, Kris Kristofferson, Loretta Lynn, Bob McDill, Bill Monroe, Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison, Paul Overstreet, Dolly Parton, Dottie Rambo, Jimmie Rodgers, Fred Rose, Don Schlitz, Ray Stevens, Cindy Walker, and Hank Williams.
Operated by the nonprofit Nashville Songwriters Foundation, the Hall of Fame is committed to preserving, celebrating, and educating the public about Nashville’s rich songwriting legacy. Learn more at www.nashvillesongwritersfoundation.com.
