Tin Pan South Adds Texas Songwriter Showcase
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Putting a showcase together for Tin Pan South of Texas songwriters makes perfect sense considering the number of writers who have contributed to the success of Country Music, said genre-busting Michael Martin Murphey.
Murphey joins 2011 Texas Songwriter Hall of Fame Inductees Bruce Channel, Gary Nicholson & Lee Roy Parnell Wednesday, March 30 at 9:00 p.m. ($15) at Nashville’s Hard Rock Cafe.
“I’m thrilled to perform on Nashville’s Tin Pan South showcase of Texas Heritage Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees,” said Murphey. “For 175 years, Texas has been a bright torch of light for Freedom of Expression and Liberty – cherished values which always promulgate excellence in artistic endeavor. It makes sense that Tennessee would honor Texas songwriters because our Texas Founding Fathers were freedom-loving Tennesseans – Sam Houston, William Travis and Davy Crockett!”
Other 2011 inductees include Delbert McClinton and Cindy Walker. Previous honorees include Kris Kristofferson, Clint Black,Mac Davis, Whitey Shafer, Willie Nelson, Guy Clark, Allen Shamblin, Rodney Crowell, Hayden Nichols, Bruce Robison, Red Steagall, Aaron Barker, Billy Joe Shaver, Larry Gatlin, Freddy Powers, Sonny Throckmorton and Sammy Allred.
“I’m from Texas and Texans like to brag, but just look at the facts,” laughs Gary Nicholson. “If you pull the Texans who have contributed to country music off the list then you don’t have much of a list.”
For more information about the Texas Heritage Songwriters Association, visit: http://texasheritagesongwriters.com
Bruce Channel’s first hit, “Hey! Baby”, topped the pop charts and led to his headlining a show in Europe in the 60s featuring a relatively unknown band known as The Beatles. Among his successes as a writer include number one records for T. G. Shepherd (“Party Time”), Janie Fricke (“Don’t Worry About Me Baby”), John Conlee, (“As Long As I’m Rockin’ With You”), Anne Murray (a re-make of “Hey! Baby”) and Mel McDaniels’s smash – “Stand Up.” Additionally, his songs have been cut by Alabama, the Oak Ridge Boys, Jerry Lee Lewis and Tom Jones.
Gary Nicholson is a #1 hit songwriter, two-time Grammy winning producer, world-
traveling performer, recording artist and session guitarist with over five hundred
recordings of his songs in various genres – including country, rock, blues, folk,
bluegrass and pop – by such diverse artists as BB King, Garth Brooks, Bonnie
Raitt, Ringo Starr, Willie Nelson, John Prine, Buddy Guy, Etta James, George
Strait, George Jones, Waylon Jennings, Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks, Dixie
Chicks, Emmylou Harris, Don Williams, Keb Mo, Del McCoury, Neville Brothers,
Trisha Yearwood, Reba McEntire, Guy Clark, and the list goes on.
Lee Roy Parnell’s music runs the gamut of diversity: blue-eyed soul, Delta blues, road house rock, Southern boogie, Texas swing, and gospel, defying conventional classification. Parnell spent over a decade playing clubs in Austin, Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth and New York while honing his style and songwriting. As an artist, Parnell has landed multiple times at the top of the country charts in the since the 1990s with songs like “What Kind of Fool Do You Think I Am,” “Tender Moment,” “Take These Chains From My Heart” and “A Little Bit Of You,” among others.
Michael Martin Murphey, a 2009 honoree, has spent the past four decades making
his own unique mark on the American Musical landscape. His introduction as a
writer, “What Am I Doing Hangin’ Around,” was a hit for The Monkees. As an
artist, he hit the top of the pop charts with such massive hits as “Wildfire” and “
Carolina In The Pines.” In the 80s, he topped the country charts repeatedly with
songs “Cowboy Logic” and “Long Line of Love,” before he turned his attention to
American Cowboy Music. He has since become the biggest selling singer /
songwriter in the genre. His 2009 release, Buckaroo Blue Grass, earned Murphey a Grammy nomination for Best Bluegrass Album.