Music City Comes To Madison; a Nashville In the Round Singer-Songwriter Series: ROUND #2; September 17th, 2021
The Madison-Morgan Cultural Center proudly presents, Music City Comes to Madison, a Nashville In the Round Singer-Songwriter Series. The series includes 4 concerts throughout the year in the style of Nashville’s Writers In the Round events.
What is Writers In the Round?
“The classic format of a round has four songwriters on stage. One performs a song, followed by the next writer, and the next, and so on. Each songwriter can join in with the others, add harmonies, contribute a guitar riff, or just listen. Writers talk about how and why they wrote the songs, and there are always lively stories and interaction between the writers.
Audiences enjoy these performances not only for the hit songs they recognize but also because they know they might be hearing a song that will become the next big thing!” - www.writers-round.com
Songwriters In the Round:
Following a phenomenal sold-out first round performance in June, the Madison-Morgan Cultural Center proudly presents, Music City Comes To Madison, Round #2 on September 17th in MMCC’s historic auditorium in Madison, GA. Local favorite and Nashville recording artist Eric Dodd returns bringing with him award-winning songwriters from Nashville including: Clay Mills, Kalie Shorr and Chuck Cannon.
Eric Dodd grew up in Greensboro, Georgia chasing two things: golf balls and songs. He had a passion and natural gift for both. He earned a golf scholarship to Georgia College and State University, where he majored in business. When he wasn't touring the southeast playing in golf tournaments, he was playing in frat houses and venues with his band. He eventually transferred to the University of Georgia to pursue a music business degree and immerse himself in the fertile Athens, Georgia music scene.
Since moving to Nashville in 2014, Dodd has shared the stage with Sam Hunt, Old Dominion, Jake Owen, Corey Smith, Cole Swindell, Rodney Atkins and recently for Sister Hazel, which was especially meaningful. "Opening up for Sister Hazel's sold out show at the Georgia Theatre in Athens (Georgia) has to be one of my favorite nights onstage," Dodd offered. "I earned my music business degree from U.G.A. and cut my teeth performing in so many venues downtown, so it was one of those full circle moments."
When Dodd is not writing songs for himself, he is writing for other artists and has written songs for Colt Ford, Kalie Shorr, Allie Colleen, Spencer Crandall, Chanice Neal, and many others.
Clay Mills, a 16-time ASCAP hit songwriter and two-time Grammy nominee, grew up surrounded by music in the Blues-rich Mississippi Delta.
Since moving to Nashville, Clay has had over 160 major artist cuts, including: six Number 1 hits across multiple genres, six Top 5 singles, and 12 Top 40 singles.
Over the course of his songwriting career, Clay has penned #1 hits for Darius Rucker (“Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It”), Diamond Rio (“Beautiful Mess”), and Kimberley Locke (“Fall”). More hit singles soon followed by Darius Rucker with “History in the Making” and “I Got Nothin’.” Over 80 of Mills’ songs have been recorded by artists, such as Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, Clay Walker, Reba McEntire, Easton Corbin, and Andy Griggs.
Mills believes strongly in songwriters and their value to world. He’s lobbied congress on behalf of songwriter’s rights to fair compensation. And along with Marty Dodson, co-founded SongTown.com, a world-wide online community of songwriters.
According to The New York Times, Kalie Shorr’s debut album - Open Book - was the #7 Best Album of 2019 alongside Taylor Swift, Lana Del Ray and Ariana Grande. Along with a long list of other accolades, Variety called Open Book “2019’s best freshman country effort,” and Stereogum said “country music needs this kind of fire.”
Shorr burst onto the Nashville music scene in 2016 with her self-penned hit “Fight Like A Girl” and shortly after, the Portland, Maine singer-songwriter became a SiriusXM “Highway Find” and was spotlighted by Apple Music, Spotify, CMT, Pandora, Taste of Country and Billboard magazine. She was named a “CMT Next Women of Country,” “The New Nashville” by Teen Vogue and a “Top 10 Country Artists To Watch In 2018” by the Huffington Post.
She made her Grand Ole Opry debut in 2018 and has gone on to play that heralded stage 18 times so far. From her work with the all-female, singer-songwriter collective Song Suffragettes, Shorr has been featured on PBS NewsHour, NPR’s “Morning Edition” and “On Point” as well as in ELLE Magazine. She rang in 2020 performing for over 200,000 people at Nashville’s largest-ever New Year’s Eve show with Keith Urban, Stevie Nicks, Jason Isbell, The Struts and more.
With wide praise for her debut album current album coming from diverse outlets like NPR, Slate, People, No Depression, Rolling Stone and more, Shorr’s 2020 lit up with The Guardian (UK) and The Tennessean calling her an artist to watch. She is the most recent signee to New York-based TMWRK Records who released the expanded album Open Book: Unabridged late last year. In January, an acoustic, unreleased Kalie song called “Amy” exploded on TikTok with over 3 million streams after which esteemed producer Butch Walker jumped in to produce that track with more coming later in 2021.
Kalie released her quarantine-recorded recent EP 3X3, Vol. 1: The Chicks as a nod to one of her all-time favorite bands and albums. In addition, Kalie continues to create a weekly podcast called “Too Much to Say with Kalie Shorr” produced by Bobby Bones and distributed by iHeartMedia.
Chuck Cannon grew up in the South Carolina Low Country. He’s a Southern boy whose music echoes the R&B, Rock & Roll, Country and Gospel music he grew up on. Chuck’s songs have been recorded by an incredibly diverse array of recording artists from around the world and have logged over 25 million radio airplays. One of Cannon's first notable compositions was "I Love the Way You Love Me", a Number One hit for John Michael Montgomery in 1993. This song also won the Song of the Year award at the Academy of Country Music awards, which is awarded to songwriters.
Cannon then began writing primarily for Toby Keith, including "Me Too", "Dream Walkin'", "We Were in Love", "Getcha Some", "If a Man Answers" and "When Love Fades" in the late 1990s, "How Do You Like Me Now?!" in 2000, and "American Soldier" in 2003-2004. "How Do You Like Me Now?!" was also the Number One country song of the year according to the Billboard Year-End charts. Both it and "I Love the Way You Love Me" earned Eight-Million-Air awards from Broadcast Music Incorporated for receiving eight million spins at radio.
As a recording artist, his critically acclaimed solo projects; GOD SHAPED HOLE, LOVE & MONEY and SYMPHONY OF SCARS deliver songs that are quite simply, stunning. He is also a published author and his spoken word recording, TRUE STORIES AND OTHER LIES: VOLUME ONE explores yet another aspect of his creative voice. His 2017 release, MACHINE, takes the listener on a wild song ride down back roads where the houses still have tin roofs, screen doors and front porches… Where rivers run with memories of where we can never go again… Then walking the streets and sidewalks of the soulless grey city where dreams are swallowed whole by cold clanging contraptions of our own making… His wry humor makes for social and political commentary which takes no sides, save that of the common folk who work hard, laugh loud and know only one thing for sure; we are lost without love. His live performances are riveting and always leave you wanting more.
Take advantage of the “Buy Now Special” where general admission tickets are only $50 (general admission ticket prices go up to $70 on August 31st). Limited “VIP Experience” tickets are available for $100 and include: general admission, reserved on-site parking (one parking pass per transaction), and meet & greet cocktail party with the songwriters (following concert). Tickets on sale now!
This is a Madison-Morgan Cultural Center fundraising event. All proceeds benefit the Center’s mission to enrich the lives of the residents of its immediate community and the broader region by presenting high-quality programming and educational opportunities in the fields of visual and performing arts, history, and other humanities. MMCC will preserve and interpret its historic buildings and will cooperate with other organizations that have mission-compatible goals.
Sponsors:
