Stories Behind the Songs

Davis Loose joins us today and man I have loved getting to know him these past couple years. I met Davis when he was just 16 at the St Augustine’s songwriter’s festival. I host this festival every year out in Florida and the year I met Davis I was genuinely surprised by how talented he was. He is a fantastic songwriter and performer so when I heard he was thinking about making the move to Nashville, I told him he'd have a job a...

Well this week took a turn! As I was sitting down ready to interview Davis Loose (who I did end up interviewing and his episode comes out next week!) my staff had tricked me and he took over the interview! It was a surprise and I wasn't sure how it would go, but we had a lot of fun. So on this episode, you get to hear more about me...Chris Blair. You'll hear how I got into music, what moved me to Nashville and how I ended ...

Jordan Dozzi joins us this week on Stories Behind the Songs! Jordan landed his very first number one on the charts ~ just this week actually ~ with Morgan Wallen! “Man Made A Bar” - written by Jordan Dozzi, Larry Fleet, Rocky Block, and Brett Tyler - was originally meant to be released by Larry Fleet. In this episode, we learn how Morgan heard it, loved it, and RELEASED it himself - sending it up the charts to number 1. Jordan’s ca...

Jenn Schott joins us today on the Listening Room stage for this week's episode of Stories Behind the Songs!

Jenn is a true TLR OG, she's been playing our stage since the Franklin and 2nd Avenue days. 

She’s a seasoned songwriter here in Nashville, and it was so cool to hear more about her journey to where she is now and her many incredible accomplishments - cuts with Tim McGraw and Mickey Guyton, playing the Ryman stage, an...

Justin Ebach is this week’s guest on Stories Behind the Songs. Justin has done so much so far in his songwriting career – he was named SESAC songwriter of the year TWICE and won the CMA Triple Play Award in 2019. If you’re not sure what that is, a CMA Triple Play Award is given to songwriters who have secured three #1 hits within a 12-month period. This is insanely impressive and not easy to accomplish. We are going to dive into th...

This week we’ve got Michael Lotten with us on Stories Behind the Songs. Michael moved to Nashville when he was around 22 from Missouri and started off working in restaurants and playing in cover bands.

He’s going to talk about the song that got him his first publishing deal in town “Alcohol You Later” by Mitchel Tenpenny, writing with Tenpenny before either of them had deals, and the many cuts that followed.

You’ll hear the stori...

We’ve got UK artist Twinnie with us this week on the podcast! Twinnie is from England and made the move to Nashville just last year to pursue a career in country music. She comes from a long background of performing from growing up on stages in musical theatre to acting in movies and backup dancing for iconic artists like Robin Thicke and Pharell Williams.  

Twinnie is going to dive into how she started her career in Nashville, mak...

We’ve got Josh Phililips with us on the Listening Room stage for this week’s brand new episode of Stories Behind the Songs.

Josh's journey began listening to the artists that he now has regular cuts with including Jason Aldean and Brantley Gilbert. His career began singing at biker bars in North Carolina until he landed a spot playing local gigs with Luke Combs. What would soon become a collaborative duo, Josh and Luke started...

Hey friends! We are back with another episode of Stories Behind the Songs and this week we sit down with Chris DeStefano! Chris has written songs for so many amazing artists like Luke Bryan, Chase Rice, Dan and Shay, Carrie Underwood, Chris Young, Morgan Evans, Miranda Lambert, Jason Aldean, Rascal Flatts, Jake Owen, Thomas Rhett, Jason Mraz – JUST to name a few... I mean the list goes on and on. Chris is not only an incredible wri...

Here we are with another episode of Stories Behind the Songs and we are sitting down with my good buddy Josh Melton this week! Josh has an incredible story that is extremely inspiring. If you are an aspiring musician or songwriter thinking about moving to Nashville, this episode is for you. He shares some truly wild stories about his initial arrival in Nashville and all the hardships he had to through chasing the dream.

Originally...

This week we have Gina Venier with us! Gina is actually our January 2024 Listening Room Unsigned Artist of the Month and we are so excited we get to spotlight her this week and dive deeper into her career and stories.

Gina moved to Nashville about 10 years ago and from the start has been putting in the work networking, co-writing, and building her community. You’re going to hear the story behind her most recent release “Nora Jane”...

Hey Guys - Chris Blair here and I am SO excited for this episode because today marks one year of Stories Behind the Songs! We have loved getting to sit down with so many incredible songwriters, artists, and industry icons. We can't wait to see what this next year holds... Today, to help celebrate our 1 year anniversary, we’ve got Hannah Ellis with us!

Hannah started songwriting after she listened to Taylor Swift, looked up the...

Alright everyone, here's another episode of Stories Behind the Songs and this week Chris Blair sits down with singer/songwriter Ben Williams! Ben has played at The Listening Room in Nashville, TN quite a bit in the last couple months where he has shared some of the stories behind his songs, but today we are going to dive even deeper into those stories – taking a look at some of his hits for Megan Moroney and Avery Anna.

Ben st...

We’ve got Julia Cole on the podcast this week! From singing for sports events growing up in Houston and winning singing competitions to moving to Nashville cutting demos and learning how to write music, Julia takes us through the highs and lows of her music career.

We’re going to talk about her Grand Ole Opry debut, navigating a breakup publicly, and how she was able to transform those feelings and emotions into an amazing project...

On this week's episode of Stories Behind the Songs, we have the incredibly talented songwriter, Marla Cannon-Goodman. Marla is more than a seasoned songwriter as she has had a very productive career that began with her first cut for Sammy Kershaw in 1996. She grew up in the industry, writing poems since she was young, and learning from her dad - Buddy Cannon - who is also an iconic songwriter/producer. She’s written “The Fool”,...

Welcome to another episode of Stories Behind the Songs. This week, we're joined by Adam James. Adam has been in Nashville since 2009 and shares some of his experiences in the industry with us, including co-writing Kenny Chesney's #1 hit "Knowing You" with Brett James and Kat Higgins. Adam takes us into the writing room, discusses the process of coming up with the concept, and reflects on everything that unfolded a...

Welcome to another episode of Stories Behind the Songs with Chris Blair! This week we are sitting down with Blake Pendergrass. From North Carolina, Blake has been in Nashville since 2013 with a very productive 10 years of experience built up. Blake talks about his first connections here in Nashville leading to him getting his first cut in town for Morgan Wallen...

His breakthrough came with “865”, track 5 on Morgan Wallen's “D...

Happy new year everyone! And welcome to another episode of Stories Behind the Songs. We are really excited to kick off 2024 with Mae Estes!

Mae was one of our Listening Room Unsigned Artists of the Month and since that time just several months ago, she’s now got a record deal with Big Machine. You’re gonna hear the full story of Mae’s journey in Nashville and how she went from writing with her first crew of songwriters to getting s...