Nashville Hitmakers Sing Big Songs They Wrote
September 13, 2017 at 6:57 p.m.
Nashville Hitmakers Sing Big Songs They Wrote
By David [email protected]
Nashville Hitmakers is a group of songwriters, led by Even Stevens, who perform songs in concert they wrote for other artists, such as Eddie Rabbit, Toby Keith and Kenny Rogers to name a few.
“It’s a little different than most concerts. We talk about how our songs were written and how we got the artists to record them,” Stevens said in a telephone interview Sept. 7.
About 90 to 95 percent of the songs the Nashville Hitmakers perform in concert are hit numbers the writers penned for some of Nashville’s biggest artists, he said.
Nashville Hitmakers perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts. For tickets, call 574-267-8041 or visit the website at wagonwheelcenter.org.
He said the lineup for Nashville Hitmakers changes all the time. He often does corporate shows by himself. Sometimes a show features six songwriters, with three songwriters singing for each of the two segments. The show will depend on what the people want and how much money they’re looking to spend.
Stevens said he has 15 to 18 songwriters that he relies on to perform with him.
With Stevens at the Warsaw show will be Paul Overstreet, songwriter for Kenny Chesney’s “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy”; and Scotty Emerick, songwriter for Toby Keith’s “I Can’t Take You Anywhere.”
Stevens said Emerick wrote 70 songs on five albums for Keith, while Overstreet is a five-time artist of the year.
“We’ll do our big hits (at Warsaw) for sure,” Stevens said.
Some of the artists who have recorded Stevens’ songs include Joe Cocker, Tim McGraw, Engelbert Humperdinck, Kenny Chesney, Martina McBride, Trace Adkins, Mac Davis, Roger Miller, George Jones, Elvis Costello, Ronnie Milsap, Dolly Parton, Sammi Smith, Conway Twitty, Brenda Lee, J.D. Souther, Stonewall Jackson, Marylin McCoo, Blake Shelton, Steel Pulse, Tom Jones, Roger Whittaker, Lacy J. Dalton, Stella Parton, The Oak Ridge Boys, Mickey Gilley, Kenny Rogers, Marie Osmond, Crystal Gayle, Glen Campbell, Alabama, Pam Tillis, Bobby Bare, Barbara Mandrell, Eddie Rabbitt, Dr. Hook, Kim Carnes, The London Symphony, Julio Iglesias and even The Chipmunks.
It was Sammi Smith who gave Stevens a boost in his songwriting career. After she won a Grammy Award, she started recording some of Stevens’ songs.
“She recorded 13 of my songs. I opened for her when I was trying to be a recording artist. It was a big step for me because she just won a Grammy Award and it gave me credentials as a songwriter,” Stevens recalled.
Smith passed away 10 years ago from lupus.
Stevens said when a songwriter gives a recording artist a song, “we hope they’d do it the way we sent it.” Usually the bigger artists keep the song the same as they received it, he said, but artists who change the melody usually did so because they didn’t learn the song correctly.
Songwriters do get jealous of each other he said, but those in Nashville are a pretty tight bunch.
“My goal going to Nashville was to be a professional songwriter and get my songs recorded by other people,” he said.
Once he became a recording artist, Stevens realized he didn’t like the life – didn’t like being on the road or being in a certain place at a certain time. Being a songwriter allowed him to be much more independent.
Now when Stevens sees an artist singing one of his songs live and audiences reacting to it, he said it’s a kick. And if the song was a hit for the artist, all the better.
“We like when people sing along. There’s a lot of audience participation in our shows. It’s very fun,”?he said.
For more on the Nashville Hitmakers, visit the website at www.nashvillehitmakers.com.
Nashville Hitmakers is a group of songwriters, led by Even Stevens, who perform songs in concert they wrote for other artists, such as Eddie Rabbit, Toby Keith and Kenny Rogers to name a few.
“It’s a little different than most concerts. We talk about how our songs were written and how we got the artists to record them,” Stevens said in a telephone interview Sept. 7.
About 90 to 95 percent of the songs the Nashville Hitmakers perform in concert are hit numbers the writers penned for some of Nashville’s biggest artists, he said.
Nashville Hitmakers perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts. For tickets, call 574-267-8041 or visit the website at wagonwheelcenter.org.
He said the lineup for Nashville Hitmakers changes all the time. He often does corporate shows by himself. Sometimes a show features six songwriters, with three songwriters singing for each of the two segments. The show will depend on what the people want and how much money they’re looking to spend.
Stevens said he has 15 to 18 songwriters that he relies on to perform with him.
With Stevens at the Warsaw show will be Paul Overstreet, songwriter for Kenny Chesney’s “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy”; and Scotty Emerick, songwriter for Toby Keith’s “I Can’t Take You Anywhere.”
Stevens said Emerick wrote 70 songs on five albums for Keith, while Overstreet is a five-time artist of the year.
“We’ll do our big hits (at Warsaw) for sure,” Stevens said.
Some of the artists who have recorded Stevens’ songs include Joe Cocker, Tim McGraw, Engelbert Humperdinck, Kenny Chesney, Martina McBride, Trace Adkins, Mac Davis, Roger Miller, George Jones, Elvis Costello, Ronnie Milsap, Dolly Parton, Sammi Smith, Conway Twitty, Brenda Lee, J.D. Souther, Stonewall Jackson, Marylin McCoo, Blake Shelton, Steel Pulse, Tom Jones, Roger Whittaker, Lacy J. Dalton, Stella Parton, The Oak Ridge Boys, Mickey Gilley, Kenny Rogers, Marie Osmond, Crystal Gayle, Glen Campbell, Alabama, Pam Tillis, Bobby Bare, Barbara Mandrell, Eddie Rabbitt, Dr. Hook, Kim Carnes, The London Symphony, Julio Iglesias and even The Chipmunks.
It was Sammi Smith who gave Stevens a boost in his songwriting career. After she won a Grammy Award, she started recording some of Stevens’ songs.
“She recorded 13 of my songs. I opened for her when I was trying to be a recording artist. It was a big step for me because she just won a Grammy Award and it gave me credentials as a songwriter,” Stevens recalled.
Smith passed away 10 years ago from lupus.
Stevens said when a songwriter gives a recording artist a song, “we hope they’d do it the way we sent it.” Usually the bigger artists keep the song the same as they received it, he said, but artists who change the melody usually did so because they didn’t learn the song correctly.
Songwriters do get jealous of each other he said, but those in Nashville are a pretty tight bunch.
“My goal going to Nashville was to be a professional songwriter and get my songs recorded by other people,” he said.
Once he became a recording artist, Stevens realized he didn’t like the life – didn’t like being on the road or being in a certain place at a certain time. Being a songwriter allowed him to be much more independent.
Now when Stevens sees an artist singing one of his songs live and audiences reacting to it, he said it’s a kick. And if the song was a hit for the artist, all the better.
“We like when people sing along. There’s a lot of audience participation in our shows. It’s very fun,”?he said.
For more on the Nashville Hitmakers, visit the website at www.nashvillehitmakers.com.
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