Why the Relationship Between Country Artists and Songwriters Is More Symbiotic Than Ever

When the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inducted seven new members on Monday (Oct. 6), it honored a diverse group that included four artist-writers and three dedicated composers.

That blend is appropriate — in modern-day country, the majority of hits come from getting an artist in a room with people who make a living strictly by writing.

It’s a different world since the turn of the century, when the two worlds combined less often. Songs were primarily developed by professional songwriters, and the artist’s job was often to find the material that best fit their specific voice and beliefs. 

The entrants this year include artists Emmylou Harris, Jim Lauderdale and Brad Paisley, who is receiving his 2024 induction after requesting a deferment. The late J.J. Cale — best known for penning Eric Clapton’s “After Midnight” — is the fourth artist who will be honored, selected as a legacy submission.

The full-time writers include Steve Bogard (“Carrying Your Love With Me,” “Praying for Daylight”), Don Cook (“Brand New Man,” “Lady Lay Down”) and Tony Martin (“Just To See You Smile,” “Baby’s Gotten Good at Goodbye”), who says no matter what artistic talents people bring to the process, everyone is a writer when the words are paired to music.

“Once you’re in the little square room, you’re just trying to come up with the best song,” Martin notes. “Even the artists will become [full-time writers], too.”

Still, artists are more involved than ever in that process. On Billboard’s Country Airplay chart dated Sept. 26, 16 of the top 20 songs featured both an artist and full-time writers among the credits. Three titles were created strictly by writers, and one song, Riley Green’s “Don’t Mind If I Do,” was authored by an artist working alone.

Those numbers were significantly different 25 years ago. On the chart  dated Sept. 30, 2000, artists and full-time writers co-composed just six of the top 20 tracks. Eleven were fashioned exclusively by full-time writers, while three songs — Toby Keith’s “Country Comes to Town,” Travis Tritt’s “Best of Intentions” and Vince Gill’s “Feels Like Love” —were the result of an artist writing in seclusion. 

There are several reasons for that change in authorship. The most obvious is financial: Songwriting provides an additional revenue stream for artists, many of whom operate at a loss before they reach headline status. But artists seem to increasingly want their songs to reflect their real lives. Barbara Mandrell and Crystal Gayle — classic country artists who never wrote any of their own hits — were known to tell interviewers that they were simply playing a part when they sang about cheating or heartbreak. Current country artists —  who interact more frequently, and less formally, with their fan base through social media — are more intent on releasing music that fits their realities.

“I’ve written with a couple of artists that really weren’t writers, but I would get their ongoing approval as we went along,” Cook says. “That kind of helped form the song — ‘Yeah, I’ll sing that,’ ‘That sounds like me,’ ‘That doesn’t sound like me.’ That’s, to me, as good as co-writing. I mean, you’re leading me to where you need to go with the song. And that’s fine.”

The presence of an artist can also shape the musical components of a song. An appointment with Carrie Underwood is more likely to yield a piece with an expansive melodic range that builds to a crescendo during the final 30-60 seconds. A write with Morgan Wallen will probably result in a more linear melody and conversational phrasing. 

Full-time writers have their own financial realities in mind as they navigate careers that are unpredictable and insecure — they’re more than happy to follow an artist who’s decisive about their brand.

“After you’ve written a lot of your songs — the songs that you want to write from your heart — then it ends up sometimes you just got a toolbox,” Bogard says, “and you want to make the other person’s songs the best songs they can be: the most commercial, the most heavy, the most heartwarming.”

Some relationships between a writer and a specific artist are crucial. Mike Reid, a 2005 inductee in the Nashville Songwriters Hall, racked up 11 Ronnie Milsap hits during the 1980s, including “Stranger in My House,” “Inside” and “Lost in the Fifties Tonight (In the Still of the Night).” Bob McDill, a 1985 Hall inductee, landed 14 Don Williams hits, exemplified by “It Must Be Love,” “If Hollywood Don’t Need You” and “Good Ole Boys Like Me.” Dean Dillon, who entered the Hall in 2002, has logged 16 George Strait hits.

Cook amassed 10 Brooks & Dunn hits, though he wasn’t simply adapting his skill set to the duo’s brand. The initial writing, he argues, established their sound and identity.

“Brooks & Dunn were not Brooks & Dunn until we wrote eight songs for their first album,” Cook recalls. “And the reason we wrote them is we couldn’t get anybody to play us their best songs because they didn’t know who Brooks & Dunn was. So it was a blessing that we had to sit down and figure it out.”

Artist co-writes tend to be hit-and-miss. If the song is tailored to one particular act who ultimately passes, it may not connect with a different artist. By the same token, fitting a song around an artist’s life gives it a greater chance.

“We had a song with Dierks [Bentley]called ‘Long Trip Alone,’ and it had a line that he knew his wife would go crazy [over], ‘Rest beneath your smile,’ ” Bogard recounts. “So that song was a lock instantly because he said, ‘Cassidy is going to love that line, and we’ve got to finish this song.’ Every day is different.”

Ultimately, this year’s Songwriters Hall mix of artist-writers and full-time writers reflects a mutual need that’s developed in the creative community. Artists’ schedules are jammed — they can use every bit of help they can get. Writers, in the digital era, need hits more than ever since album cuts don’t generate income. Crafting the song to an artist’s abilities is advantageous.

“You like to think that you’re in the room because they like something that you do,” Martin says. “I’ve written with a lot of really good writers who are great singers but don’t necessarily have record deals, and the artist loves their singing, loves their melodic instincts, and so they’re there for that reason. You’re just looking for those creative wins that bring something new.”