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Community Corner

Eddie Owen Presents Summer Songwriter Series featuring Jim McBride & Gary Nicholson

Live at Red Clay Theatre in downtown Duluth
JIM MCBRIDE is a CMA Award Winning, Grammy nominated songwriter and former President of the Nashville Songwriters Association International. His writing career spans over 30 years and includes over 100 album cuts, 18 top 40 singles, 10 top ten singles and 6 number ones.

Originally from Huntsville, AL, Jim grew up in a house filled with music from his mother’s radio. He absorbed every note of every country song he heard and began writing songs at an early age. He had been urged to move from Huntsville to Nashville to be part of the country music scene but was reluctant to give up his steady job at the United States Post Office to pursue his dream. Jim told himself that if he ever had a song to reach the top ten, he would move his family to Nashville and in 1981 that is exactly what happened when Conway Twitty’s release of A Bridge That Just Won’t Burn reached #2 on the Billboard charts. That was shortly followed by his first number one song, Johnny Lee’s You Can Bet Your Heart On Me.

In the early nineties, he met a young singer looking for a record deal named Alan Jackson and an instant writing friendship was born. The two collaborated on a number of hit songs including Chasing That Neon Rainbow, Someday and Who Says You Can’t Have It All. Their biggest hit came in 1993 with the smash hit Chattahoochee. The song received the honor of Song of the Year from The Country Music Association, ASCAP, American Songwriter Magazine, British Country Music Association, Canadian Country Music Association as well as Billboard Magazine’s most performed song of the year.

Other notable achievements include his Creator Award from the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in recognition of his contributions to the musical heritage of his home state as well as an Academy of Country Music Song of the Year nomination for Angels In Waiting by Tammy Cochran.

In all his songs have been recorded by more than 80 major label artist including George Jones, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Travis Tritt, Reba McEntire, Alan Jackson, Johnny Paycheck, Randy Travis, Alabama, Trace Adkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Crystal Gayle, Diamond Rio, Lonestar and many others. He has continued to write and have success over the years and has stayed active in the songwriter community, serving several years on the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Board.

GARY NICHOLSON is a #1 hit songwriter, two time Grammy winning producer, recording artist, world traveling performer, and session guitarist.

In 2006 he was nominated to the Nashville Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, in 2011 he was inducted into the Texas Songwriter’s Hall of Fame. There are 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, George Strait, Fleetwood Mac, Willie Nelson, Vince Gill, Etta James, John Prine, Dixie Chicks, Don Williams, Stevie Nicks, Buddy Guy, Emmylou Harris, Keb Mo, Ringo Starr, George Jones, The Neville Brothers, Reba McEntire, Robert Plant, Waylon Jennings, Patty Loveless, Kenny Chesney, Guy Clark and the list goes on.

In addition to his Grammy winning records with Delbert McClinton, who has recorded over fifty of his songs, he has produced records for The Judds, Wynonna, Pam Tillis, Billy Joe Shaver, T Graham Brown, Chris Knight, Taylor Hicks, Seth Walker and others. His work has been included in many major motion pictures and television, the song “Falling and Flying “ is featured in the Oscar winning film “Crazy Heart” performed by Jeff Bridges. ”Peace Dream” recorded by Ringo Starr was co-written by Gary, Ringo, and Gary Wright and features Paul McCartney on bass. Current songwriting credits include a song on the recent Grammy winning release by Bonnie Raitt, another co-written song with Ringo Starr for his new cd, and new recordings by George Strait, Dierks Bentley, The Mavericks, and a BB King/Buddy Guy duet. Whether you are looking for a hit song, a cool guitar groove, a great record production or a top entertainer, Gary Nicholson is your “go-to” guy in Music City, U.S.A.

A 2006 nominee for the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, Nicholson has had more than 350 of his songs recorded, has won 26 ASCAP songwriting awards and is responsible for more than a dozen major hits. Unlike most tunesmiths, he is not bound by musical genre. His songs routinely top the country hit parade. But rock bands, blues artists, folk stars and bluegrass acts have also embraced him as a songwriter.

As a guitarist, Gary Nicholson has brightened recording sessions and/or concert stages with the likes of Guy Clark, Billy Joe Shaver, Bobby Bare, Delbert McClinton and Tracy Nelson. During his long career, he has also played lead guitar in at least 10 of his own bands.

His musicianship led him into a career as a record producer. Gary Nicholson has produced two Grammy Award winning albums for Delbert McClinton. He has also guided projects by artists as diverse as “blue-eyed soul” singer Wynonna, Americana singer-songwriter Chris Knight, blues rocker Jimmy Thackery and Grand Ole Opry star Pam Tillis.

In 1973, Gary Nicholson married his college sweetheart Barbara and moved back to the Lone Star State. He joined Delbert McClinton’s band and also formed his own group, Hot Sauce. During the next several years both bands occupied him as a live musician. But he continued to write songs as well.

To make money on the side, he continued taking road jobs. Guy Clark hired him as a guitar player on tour, then took him into the studio for the sessions that became the 1983 album Better Days. At his first Nashville recording session, Gary Nicholson played alongside such stellar players as Vince Gill, Hank DeVito, Tony Brown, Emory Gordy, Johnny Gimble and Rodney Crowell.

Out on the road with Billy Joe Shaver, Gary Nicholson became an eager pupil as the hit songwriter went over his lyrics with a red pencil in hand, grading them like a schoolteacher. Gail Davies also hired the guitarist for her road band. But country star Bobby Bare put an end to Nicholson’s touring days.

Gary Nicholson signed with the powerful Sony-ATV Tree publishing firm and adopted a strict work ethic that he maintains to this day. He came to the office daily, prepared to work with a variety of songwriting collaborators. “The Power of Love” (Charley Pride, 1984), “Break Away” (Gail Davies, 1985), “Working Without a Net” (Waylon Jennings, 1986) and “Brilliant Conversationalist” (T. Graham Brown, 1987) began a string of songwriting hits that has continued to the present.

Songs like “One More Last Chance” (Vince Gill, 1993), “The Trouble with the Truth” (Patty Loveless, 1997) and “She Couldn’t Change Me” (Montgomery Gentry, 2001) brought Gary Nicholson to the front ranks of Nashville’s songwriting army. After 14 years at Sony-Tree, he formed his own company, Gary Nicholson Music, in 1997.

His diversity as a songwriter is both unusual and impressive. Nicholson’s songs have been sung by country superstars such as George Jones, Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, George Strait, the Dixie Chicks, Anne Murray and Willie Nelson. But he has also provided much material to the r&b community, with recordings of his tunes by B.B. King, The Neville Brothers, Etta James, Clarence Gatemouth Brown, Irma Thomas, Keb’ Mo,’ Junior Wells and more.

Nicholson’s songwriting talents have come to the attention of such pop/rock artists as Bonnie Raitt, Neil Diamond, Fleetwood Mac, String Cheese Incident, Ringo Starr, Los Lonely Boys, NRBQ, Robert Plant, Mountain and Gregg Allman. In the folk field, his songs have been recorded by the likes of John Prine, David Wilcox, Patty Griffin, John Sebastian, Paul Brady and Dave Olney. Even bluegrass artists have come to him for material – Doug Dillard, Vassar Clements, Del McCoury, Tim O’Brien, New Grass Revival and Peter Rowan among them.

JOHN JARRARD FOUNDATION
Live The Song, Love The Music, Lead The Cause.

Over the past 10 years, the John Jarrard Foundation has grown from an annual concert to a regionally-recognized organization supporting songwriters and a number of great causes. Beginning in 2000, the John Jarrard Foundation was established in the memory of our dear friend, and Georgia Music Hall of Fame member, John Jarrard.

The John Jarrard Foundation, originally known as the Bruce Burch & Friends Honor John Jarrard Concert, was established as an annual event to raise money for charities local to North Georgia. Over the course of time, this event has grown to become one of the premier songwriting events in the state of Georgia and furthermore, the Foundation has grown from one concert to multiple events throughout the year. From First Verse, a songwriting education program for students in the state of Georgia, to songwriting concerts throughout the Southeast and financial support to the charities closest to John’s heart, the John Jarrard Foundation is built on music and love.
The John Jarrard Foundation is a non-profit organization with proceeds going to a permanent endowment fund in John’s name established at the North Georgia Community Foundation. Proceeds benefit local charities, including the Good News Clinics, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Hall County, Georgia Mountain Food Bank Fund and one of John’s favorite causes, Good News at Noon Shelter.

The John Jarrard Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

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