Nsai Coffee Break

This is a two-part 'sync' themed episode featuring Phillip LaRue and Meghan Kabir. Part 1 we’re featuring Nashville-based writer/artist and producer Phillip LaRue about his latest record Analog Digital Heart released earlier this year. Phillip LaRue has produced and collaborated with artists like Tyler Farr, Jon Pardi, Phil Wickham, and Dave Barnes and others. You’ve heard his music in ads for Verizon, Volkswagen, Apple, Wayfair, and shows like Vampire Diaries, Nashville and Pretty Little Liars. We chat about his creative process for the album and his experience writing for TV/Film. Phillip is currently working on a new EP titled “Summer” and you can follow him on social media to know when it is available for listening. Part 2 features LA-based songwriter/artist Meghan Kabir. Meghan has written songs for Kelly Clarkson, Selena Gomez, Cassadee Pope, and several others. We talked about her experience at ASCAP Expo this year and her transition moving back to the West Coast from Nashville. Meghan is celebrati

Billy Ray Cyrus is a prolific songwriter, artist, and actor. He started his career recording his first album, “Some Gave All” at The Music Mill, aka NSAI’s headquarters. He visited NSAI in the last month to film promo pieces for his 16th studio album out today titled "The Snake Doctor Circus." He shared his journey collaborating with long-time friend and co-writer Don Von Tress on the long-anticipated project. We talk success, writing with honesty, and the value he has found in the NSAI songwriter community. And of course we talk the global viral phenomenon, “Old Town Road” - Billy Ray shares the advice he Lil Nas X in the creative process of bringing this song to the #1 spot in the world. The viral lifeline of OTR is the most entertaining thing to watch. He and Lil Nas X premiered the official music video last week so if you haven’t seen that you should go watch it. You can watch this Coffee Break episode by visiting our Facebook page. We have it posted there and you can see the SnakeDoctor promo set that Bi

Black River recording artist Abby Anderson is a rising female in country music – she is listed in The Bobby Bones Show’s “Class of 2019,” MusicRow’s “Next Big Thing for 2019,” and Sounds Like Nashville’s “19 New Country Artists to Watch in 2019." She heads out on the road with Rob Thomas starting May 28th for his Chip Tooth Smile Tour after already playing some of the biggest festivals in the country including Tortuga and Stagecoach! We talk about many of her recent releases including a cover of GRAMMY and Oscar-winning song “Shallow” from "A Star Is Born," a collaboration with recording artist Jimmie Allen. Her latest single, “Good Lord,” is a preview to new music she has coming out soon. She shares her process of crafting a song and why Tom Douglas has been one of her greatest influences!

In this episode we chat with session musician and producer, Derek Wells! From the lens of a producer, he shares his own perspective on why a well-crafted song is so important to the creative process. We also talk about his work with Maren Morris, Dolly Parton, Steven Tyler, Josh Turner and more!

This episode features ACM, Billboard, and Grammy nominated songwriter/producer Corey Crowder. We visited Tree Vibez Musicto talk with him about his songwriting craft and advice he’s received from his mentors like Rivers Rutherford and Liz Rose. He’s worked with longtime friend and artist Chris Young of whom he celebrated his first #1 in 2015 for, “I’m Comin’ Over." Corey shares his experience producing LoCash’s sophomore album, “Brothers” as well as his projects with RaeLynn, Cale Dodds, Morgan Wallen, A Thousand Horses, Cassadee Pope and Florida Georgia Line.

Singer-Songwriter Leah Nobel spent three years on what she calls a 'hybrid creative endeavor' one that combines journalism, empathy, advocacy, and music. Her latest album, “Running In Borrowed Shoes” features 10 tracks thread together from over 100 interviews with passer-byers at the YMCA. Each song features a recurring theme of what it means to be human – joy, praise, concern, vulnerability, fear, and countless other emotions and experiences are a part of the story. The album was produced by Grammy- winning engineer/producer Pete Stewart who’s collaborated Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, TobyMac and several others. You’ve heard Nobel’s songs on Apple iPhone X, Toyota, Valspar Paint and DSW commercials, as well as Grey’s Anatomy, ABC’s Nashville and more. You’ll get to hear about those sync cuts, the creative process behind "Running In Borrowed Shoes" and other creative interests that have fueled her songwriting career. Visit leahnobel.com for videos on stories behind a few of those songs and more.

Our latest Coffee Break episode features Jeremy and A. Jay Popoff from the American rock band Lit ("My Own Worst Enemy," "Zip-Lock" and "Miserable")! In this episode we talk about their latest record "These Are The Days," a fourteen-song project produced by Lit and Corey Crowder. This is their first full-length album since "A View From The Bottom." Jeremy and A. Jay talk about collaborating with Michael Hobby (A Thousand Horses), the late Andrew Dorff, Jeffrey Steele and others for "These Are The Days."

Songwriter/Artist Andrew Ripp is joining us for NSAI Coffee Break to chat about his latest collaboration project with Chris Rice, "Songs We Wrote On Tuesdays"! The new album is the outcome of the inevitable creativity when two artist (friends) put music to discussions of life, struggle, faith, and love - written over an 8 year period. Andrew has opened for Sara Bareilles, Andy Grammer, Needtobreathe, Jon Foreman, and the Plain White T’s. He has performed on high-profile TV shows including ABC’s "Bachelor in Paradise" and "Entertainment Tonight" and his songs have been featured on "American Idol," "House of Lies," "One Tree Hill," and "Vampire Diaries." Andrew shares stories behind songs on his two-part album, "The Heart & Soul," his personal connection to music, co-writing advice and more!

David Hodges is currently celebrating a Grammy nomination for “Dear Hate,” written with Tom Douglas and Maren Morris! In this episode you’ll hear about the inspiration behind balled recorded by Maren and featuring Vince Gill. David has written of some the biggest singles in pop music including “Because of You” for Kelly Clarkson, “Brand New” for Ben Rector, “A 1,000 Years” for Christina Perri featured in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 and many more. David was a band member of Evanescance –debut album Fallen has sold over 15 million copies worldwide and includes the hit, “Bring Me To Life”. We discuss almost everything he’s learned in his career thus far, advice for writers knowing the room when they collaborate with peers and more.

To kick off the new year, we are featuring an interview with Grammy nominated songwriter, producer, publisher, author and entrepreneur Kara DioGuardi! You know Kara from songs like “Sober” for P!nk, "UnDo It" for Carrie Underwood, "Heartbeat Song" for Kelly Clarkson, "Rich Girl" for Gwen Stefani and more. She was a judge on seasons 8 and 9 of "American Idol" and has mentored artists like Charlie Puth, Jason Derulo and Jon Bellion who is a phenomenal writer at her publishing company Arthouse Entertainment. She is the co-founder of Inspired Nation, a non-profit organization that aims to build a bridge between the talent and dreams of our youth and their hope for a better, more inspired world. And she even co-owns a restaurant in the northeast called, Walkers Maine. What you’ll pick up on quickly in this episode is that Kara loves collaboration, mentoring and giving young talent the resources grow and continue learning. She shares why feedback and advice is meant to create habit in work ethic and why we should

Singer/Songwriter Adam Hood knows the dual life of living in small town America while traveling as a singer/songwriter. “Somewhere In Between” is an ode to the people, the pace and what it means to leave a small town for a different life than what you know. The Alabama native’s album was recorded at Nashville's Sound Emporium Studios and was produced by Oran Thornton who also produced Miranda Lambert 'Revolution,' Eric Church 'Caught In The Act: Live,' and Angaleena Presley 'Wrangled’. Hood is most known for co-writing songs like Brent Cobb’s “King of Alabama,” Anderson East’'s “”Surrender"” and album cuts recorded by Miranda Lambert, Little Big Town and Lee Ann Womack. The album’s latest track “Easy Way,” is co-written with Pat McLaughlin and premiered on Billboard. The video for the “loose country rocker” (Rolling Stone Country) “She Don’t Love Me” is also on CMT and features fellow songwriter Brent Cobb. We chat about the song “The Heart of A Queen,” “Alabama Moon” and others. Adam does spend his time so

Laura Veltz was an artist first and found songwriting to be the real enjoyment of her place in the industry. She penned three chart-topping hits: Maren Morris’ “I Could Use A Love Song,” which was also a 2018 NSAI 10 Songs I wish I’d Written, Chris Young’s “Lonely Eyes” and Eli Young Band’s “Drunk Last Night.” She also a writer on the song, “Rich” for Maren Morris which is #2 on the charts and Ryan Hurd’s (“Diamonds or Twine” & “To A T”). Veltz’s extensive catalog includes cuts by Reba McEntire, Little Big Town, Carly Pearce, The Cadillac Three, Cassadee Pope, Devin Dawson, RaeLynn, Lindsey Ell and more. We talk about the stories behind songs she’s written and her love for the great outdoors.

Trent Dabbs has written several songs you know like “Girls Chase Boys” for Ingrid Michaelson, “High Horse,” for Kacey Musgraves’ CMA award winning album, Golden Hour, “Growing Pains” for COIN, “Deep Water,” by American Authors, he even wrote a couple songs for Natalie Hemby’s 2017 album release, "Puxico." He just released his 11th solo album "Positano" which features a collection of songs he’s written throughout his artist career including the ballad “Come Home Safe” released a year ago this weekend. We talk all about the album, his favorite 70s bands, and what it means to make it in this crazy business we call the music industry. He is also one/half of Sugar and the The High Lows with Amy Stroup who has also been on this series before, Episode 13.

Our latest NSAI Coffee Break guest has placed almost every "Artists to Watch" list, made her late-night television debut earlier this year with a performance of “Reasons” on NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers. This past fall she released a followup to her 2017 EP release “Side A” with six-track EP, “Side B.” Songwriter/Artist, Jillian Jacqueline is one of those artists that can perform in almost any genre. We talk about her pop and country collaborations (Mat Kearney and Vince Gill to name a few) as well as her experience opening for Ryan Adams. Songwriter Lori McKenna, artist Keith Urban and producer Tofer Brown are among the many that have contributed to "Side A" and "Side B" projects. "Reasons," "God Bless This Mess," "Sad Girls," "Somebody," "If I Were You," are all so well written and true to the unique storyteller herself. Follow Jillian on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Visit jillianjacqueline.com for tour dates, news and of course really cool merch.

Our next guest celebrating her first #1 for Break Up In the End for Cole Swindell, written with Jon Nite and Chase McGill. She received a 2017 AIMP Publisher’s Pick Award for penning “Rich” alongside Maren Morris and Laura Veltz and is also celebrating the song reaching the top 10 on the charts. I recently visited Big Machine to chat with songwriter Jessie Jo Dillon about writing retreats, stories behind a few of her cuts, why English class inspired our future creative jobs and so much more. Jessie Jo also earned a GRAMMY® Awards Best Country Song nomination for co-penning George Strait’s “The Breath You Take”. She’s had cuts by Luke Bryan, Jennifer Nettles, Brandy Clark, Chase Rice, Parmalee, Jerrod Niemann, and more.

Today's new episode features songwriter/artist Ryan Hurd! Ryan recently celebrated a #1 with Luke Bryan for “Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset,” in addition to his first No. 1 single as a songwriter with the GRAMMY & CMA-nominated duet “Lonely Tonight,” recorded by Blake Shelton and Ashley Monroe. He’s written songs for Dierks Bentley, Jake Owen, Brothers Osborne, Tim McGraw, Florida Georgia Line, Rascal Flatts and of course his wife and country star Maren Morris. In this episode he shares the story behind his latest single,“To A T” a preview of his upcoming album! Be sure to visit ryanhurd.com for upcoming tour dates and new music releases.

In this episode we talk songwriting and the production process with cinematic producer, composer and songwriter, Tommee Profitt. Originally from Michigan, Tommee started his music career early on as an artist and came into his own as a producer, gaining several sync placements in shows like the Good Doctor, The Handmaid’s Tale, Quantico, NCIS, as well as several movie trailers, video games and NFL sports advertisements. Tommee made the move to Franklin, TN, with this family a little over a year ago and within that timeframe he has already received a #1 with his friend and hip hop artist, NF. “Let You Down” off of NF’s Perception, topped the Billboard Pop charts in 2017 and is one of the many songs Tommee has been a part of in NF’s career thus far. Tommee also produced a couple songs including the title track for TobyMac’s latest album, “The Elements,” that project was released today and you can go pick up wherever you listen to music. We discuss writing songs with a cinematic feel, working in multiple genre

Songwriter/artist Adam Hambrick has written several songs for recording artists like Miranda Lambert and Eli Young Band. He celebrated two number 1’s in 2017, “How Not To” (Dan & Shay) and “Somebody Else Will” (Justin Moore). He has shared the stage with a diverse group of artists including LANCO, Josh Abbott Band, Steve Moakler, Chris Lane, Carly Pearce and others. Today we’ll be talking about his upcoming solo album set to be released soon. He released a brand new single, “Rockin’ All Night Long,” is the perfect track as we head into the weekend and it’s available now wherever you listen to music. Adam will be his sharing his songwriting process and the early musical influences he was exposed to in his hometown of Conway, Arkansas. Find upcoming tour dates, news and more at adamhambrick.com.

If you’ve ever seen ­­­­shows like Parenthood, This Is Us, and Grey’s Anatomy, you have likely heard music written and performed by our guest today. Songwriter/Recording Artist, Amy Stroup has had several sync placements in TV, film and advertising. Outside her work in sync she is one half of the duo Sugar and the Hi Lows, in which she partners with prolific songwriter Trent Dabbs. Amy’s latest solo project “Helen of Memphis,” is her third studio album inspired by empowerment, confidence and the magic in us all. Helen of Memphis is both a state mind and tribute to her grandmother Jo whom passed away in 2015. In our interview we discuss the album from front to back and the Nashville and LA writers she worked with to make this bright, dreamy and beat driven album come to life. We also chat about Milkglass Creative an indie label she co-operates with business partner and co-writer, Mary Hooper. They designed the visual elements of the album. Be sure to catch her on the road this fall and pick up "Helen of Memphi

Today’s guests are known for their harmony and blend of country and rock influences. Trey Smith and Jennifer Fielder of country duo Smithfield, share their long road to discovering their place in the industry and how that’s influenced the message in their music. They released their single, "Hey Whiskey" this past summer and it has already reached over 1 million digital streams and made it in the top 10 on Sirius XM The Highway’s Weekend Countdown. They share the story behind that one and all the advice they have for writing authentic songs, keeping up their stamina on radio tour and more! But before we get to the interivew, be sure to check out their new single “Our World” released today. You can find out where to listen and more at smithfieldmusic.com. If you’re interested in watching this interview, you can find the link at nashvillesongwriters.com/nsaicoffeebreak as well as an archive of past guests.