The great songwriter rounds just kept on comin’ at this year’s Tin Pan South!
Case in point: this super show at Station Inn, Saturday, April 7, with Scott Reeves, Pete Sallis, Rory Bourke and Greg Friia.
He also played a brand-new song that he wrote with James LeBlanc and Mark Narmore. As Scott sang the song in a James LeBlanc-style, he was definitely getting in tune with his ‘Swampy Side.’ As the round made full circle, Scott sang a song he wrote with Toby Keith and Bobby Pinson, called ‘Made In America’ that was a number one for Toby in 2011. His final song was one he co-wrote with Riley Weston for his beautiful wife, ‘I’m Going to Love You Through This Life.’ A wonderful way to end his part.
Pete Sallis: Pete kicked it off with a song he co-wrote with Aaron Scherz and Maddie & Tae, ‘Shut Up and Fish.’ It’s a song that critics praised for the role-reversal of typical gender characters in country music songs. At the next pass around, Pete sang a song about a stupid boy called ‘Colorblind’ that had us laughing. He said, “People are always asking where they can find the songs I write. This is my version of iTunes which I like to call iTrunk.”
He is one of those songwriters that can make you cry one minute and laugh the next. He had everybody in stitches for the song ‘Size Don’t Matter.’ He played ‘Shoes’ because the crowd keep heckling him to do it, as his final song. He said that Garth loved it – but didn’t cut it. Then everyone laughed, but it really was a true story.
NOTE: Pete has cuts that cover a wide range of genres from the pop of American Idol winner Phillip Phillips and Aussie singer Betty Who to the blues of 3x Grammy Winner Keb Mo, as well as Ronnie Dunn, Bucky Covington, and George Canyon.
Rory Bourke: This legendary (and iconic) songwriter started off with his song for Anne Murray, ‘Blessed are the Believers.’ Rory told the story about writing songs that became hits for Anne Murray: “Our publisher Henry Hurt put us [Rory and Charlie Black] together. The song ‘Shadows in The Moonlight’ was the result of what Charlie brought to the table. Of course, it was a super hit for Anne Murray. Tanya Tucker had a top ten hit with a song my co-writer Mike Reid and I wrote, ‘It’s Only Over For You.’”
Next circle around, Rory played ‘You Look So Good In Love,’ a super hit for George Strait. He did the Charlie Rich mega hit song, that was number one on the charts in the US, UK and Canada, ‘The Most Beautiful Girl,’ that he co-wrote with Norris Wilson and Billy Sherrill. Rory did a medley of super hits, as the final Fireworks! Hits included ‘I Know a Heartache When I See One’ (a hit for Jennifer Warnes in 1979, it was also cut by Jo Dee Messina and appeared on her ‘I’m Alright’ album), ‘Little Red Rodeo’ (co-writers Charlie Black and Phil Vassar) and ‘Bye Bye’ (co-writer Phil Vassar) by Jo Dee Messina.
Greg Friia: I have known Greg for almost 20 years, so to see and HEAR his success is very heartwarming and makes me proud of my friend. He kicked off his part with a song he and co-writers Casey Beathard and Steve Padilla wrote called ‘Me Before You.’ On the next pass, he played the Bonnie Tyler cut, ‘You Try’ that he co-wrote with Anthony Little, Mary Danna and Andrew Lane.
Then he played ‘I Smell Smoke,’ a song he and Jimmy Nichols and Danielle Peck co-wrote and is coming out by Rachel Holder, a new artist on Curb Records. I can’t wait to hear Rachel sing this song with her power-house vocals. As a special treat, Greg brought up Chas Sandford who kicked it into gear with his massive hit ‘I Ain’t Missing You’ for John Waite.
Greg told the story of the next song: “It was cut by the Rascals, couldn’t come up with a title so they called it ‘Love Song.’” Greg finished with his final song that he wrote with Scott Reeves titled ‘Summer Time.’
I was just one big smile through the whole thing, especially with having met Rory in 1984.
The stage sponsor for this event was D’Addario, manufacturer of musical instrument strings and accessories.
Note: Due to an editing error, in an earlier version of this post, the show’s location was misidentified. The correct venue was Station Inn. Also Chas Sandford’s name was misspelled. Apologies for the errors.