Aussie and American Songwriters Partnered For Weeklong Retreat
Talented songwriters hailing from Australia were recently partnered with some of Nashville’s music elite as part of the APRA AMCOS program, SongHubs.
SongHubs is an intensive, commercially-focused songwriting residency that provides unique collaborative opportunities for both published and unpublished songwriters. Australian writers, producers, and artists were paired with Nashville songwriters for creative partnership and heightening their craft. Phil Barton, a native Aussie who came to Nashville eight years ago and has written hits for country superstars like Lee Brice, Sara Evans, Dustin Lynch, and more, served as curator for the retreat.
A limited number of artists were hand selected to participate in the event, co-presented by Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), which took place at NSAI HQ from Monday, June 13 to Friday, June 17. This year’s fully funded APRA AMCOS members were No.1 Billboard songwriter, producer and The Potbelleez band member, Ilan Kidron, and award-winning songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist and engineer Pip Norman. Joining them were Nashville resident APRA AMCOS members Alex Lloyd, Caitlyn Shadbolt, Danielle Blakey, Joel Chapman, Lindsey Jackson, Missy Lancaster, Morgan Evans, Nat Dunn, O’Shea, Nikita King and Kaylee Bell.
Other artists representing Australia included APRA AMCOS Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year (2014) Kylie Sackley, known for co-writing the LeAnn Rimes smash, “Nothin’ ‘bout Love Makes Sense” along with songs for Thompson Square, John Rich, and Jo Dee Messina; producer and musician Lindsay Rimes, who recently produced the No. 2 Billboard hit “I Love This Life” by LOCASH; and Christian musician Mia Fieldes, who is responsible for hit collaborations with Michael W. Smith, King & Country and more.
Paired with the Australian acts were UK-based songwriter and producer Adam Argyle; Jim Beavers (songwriting credits include Luke Bryan’s “Drink A Beer,” Dierks Bentley’s “5-1-5-0” and “Am I the Only One,” as well as Toby Keith’s “Red Solo Cup” and countless others); multi-instrumentalist Seth Ennis; singer, songwriter and artist, Ashley Gearing; Better Than Ezra front man Kevin Griffin (songwriting credits include No.1 hits like Howie Day’s “Collide”, Sugarland’s “Stuck Like Glue” and Missy Higgins’ “Scar”); Lee Groves (known for his work with Mark “Spike” Stent for Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani, Goldfrapp and Elbow); Jason Matthews (songwriting credits include Billy Currington’s “Must Be Doin’ Somethin’ Right”, Luke Bryan’s “Country Man” and “Muckalee Creek Water”, and Chris Young’s “Lonely Eyes”); American Music Award recipient, two-time BMI Pop songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist and artist from the band Hot Chelle Rae, Nash Overstreet; Liz Rose (known for her work with Taylor Swift including “You Belong with Me,” which won a Grammy Award in 2010); and Emily Shackelton (maintains songwriting credits for Reba McEntire, Sara Evans, Jana Kramer, Mickey Guyton, David Cook, and more).
Supported by the Australian Government, the purpose behind SongHubs is to spread creative energy amongst talent while establishing partnerships with the emerging international market. To be an eligible participant the mixer, songwriters and composers should have demonstrated commercial success within the past two years, practice a keenness to collaborate, have material scheduled to release within twelve months of attending SongHubs as/with a performing artist.
About APRA AMCOS: APRA AMCOS stands for the Australasian Performing Right Association Ltd and the Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society Ltd, who together are responsible for the non-profit collection and distribution of songwriting royalties to approximately 87,000 songwriter, composer and music publisher members, and around 3,000,000 copyright owners worldwide. APRA AMCOS is the music creator’s key business partner globally, with offices in Australia, New Zealand, USA (Nashville & Los Angeles) and the UK. apraamcos.com.au
About SongHubs: Established in 2013 as an APRA AMCOS initiative, with co-funding from the Australian Federal Government, SongHubs gives Australian songwriters the opportunity to collaborate and write music with some of the world’s best songwriters and producers. With SongHubs camps traveling from Sydney to Stockholm, London, Mumbai, Bali, Toronto, LA and Nashville, APRA AMCOS is opening up access to the world market for Australian songwriters
Pictured above (L to R): Front – Lindsay Rimes, Phil Barton, Pip Norman, Danielle Blakey, Jay O’Shea, Mia Fields, IIan Kidron, Joel Chapman ; Back – Mark Moffatt, Alex Lloyd, Mark O’Shea, Lee Groves, Nash Overstreet, Adam Argyle, Ashley Gearing, Kylie Sickly, Caitlyn Shadbolt, Kaylee Bell, Lindsey Jackson – Group Photo
