Multi-Genre Group of Songwriters Team Up to Write the Next Big Hits!
ASCAP hosted its third Song Camp in Nashville, TN, where it brought together 13 hit songwriters from the worlds of Latin, Pop and Country music for three days of songwriting, recording and performing. The Song Camp took place November 16, 17 and 18 at ASCAP's Nashville offices.
Song Camp was established in 2008 by ASCAP's Latin Department with the goal of creating and supporting new relationships and collaborations among the performing rights organization's songwriter members. Previous Song Camps have taken place in Miami and Monterrey, Mexico. The Nashville Song Camp marked the first time that a cross-genre group of ASCAP writers participated in the series.
The ASCAP songwriters who participated in the Nashville Song Camp were: Alexander Acha, Jessi Alexander, Aureo Baqueiro, Darrell Brown, Ha*Ash, Yoel Henriquez, Brett James, Natalia Lafourcade, Fernando Osorio, JD Souther, Chris Tompkins, and Craig Wiseman.
About the songwriters:
Alexander Acha is the son of Mexican pop singer Emmanuel. He began his musical training at age five, first emerging as a classical piano prodigy, studying at renowned performing arts schools and finally graduating from Berklee College of Music. His debut album, Voy, released in 2008, was certified gold the same year on the strength of his first single, "Te Amo." Alexander has writing credits on all of the songs, and took an active role in the production of the record. This year, Alexander received a Latin Grammy for Best New Artist.
Jessi Alexander is an American country music singer/songwriter. Not long after moving to Nashville, she scored songwriting cuts with Patty Loveless and Kathy Mattea. Her songs have since been recorded by Toby Keith, Trisha Yearwood, Little Big Town and others. Jessi launched her own recording career in 2004. Columbia Records released her debut album, Honeysuckle Sweet, in March 2005, featuring 11 songs written or co-written by Jessi; two of them charted on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart. Not long after signing to Disney Music Publishing, she co-wrote Miley Cyrus's single, "The Climb," for the 2009 film Hannah Montana: The Movie. The song hit #1 on Billboard's AC chart and #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, and was voted Best Song from a Movie at the 2009 MTV Music Awards. Jessi now focuses on songwriting exclusively.
Aureo Baqueiro is a Mexican singer/songwriter and producer. He has written hit songs for groups and singers like Sin Bandera, Ha*Ash, Alejandro Fernandez, Tres de Copas and Timbiriche among others. He received a 2009 Latin Grammy nomination for Producer of the Year.
Darrell Brown is an American songwriter and record producer. He co-wrote the #1 hit "You'll Think of Me" by Keith Urban, which won the Grammy award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance in 2006. Darrell also co-wrote Urban's "Raining on Sunday," which reached #3 on the Hot Country Songs chart. Some of the artists Darrell has written with and/or for include: Faith Hill, LeAnn Rimes, Brooks & Dunn, Radney Foster, Sara Evans, Trace Adkins, Willie Dixon, Berlin, Dolly Parton, Mavis Staples, Michael McDonald, Wilson Phillips, Take 6, Abra Moore, Kenny Loggins, Hall & Oates, Beth Nielsen Chapman and many more. Darrell produced and co-wrote "Simple Things," a #1 single for Jim Brickman and Rebecca Lynn Howard, produced Radney Foster's See What You Want To See and This World We Live In CDs, conducted a 100-voice choir on Neil Young's Living with War (2006), and co-wrote Josh Turner's single "Why Don't We Just Dance." His other credits include Electronic Arts Video Games' The Sims 3 and NBA Live 10, the films Grandma's Boy, Cruel Intentions, Night and the City and Pretty Woman, and televisions shows Providence, One Tree Hill, Vegas and Six Feet Under. Darrell is currently writing with LeAnn Rimes for her forthcoming album. As of 2008, he lives in Los Angeles, CA and Nashville, TN.
Ha*Ash is a Mexican-American pop/rock duo comprising sisters Hanna Nicole Pérez Mosa and Ashley Grace Pérez Mosa. The Mexico-based duo's music is a mixture of commercial Latin pop, country rhythms and singer/songwriter style. Their platinum-selling self-titled debut album, released in 2003 under the direction of Aureo Baqueiro, featured the hit songs "Odio Amarte," "Estés Donde Estés" and "Te Quedaste." Their second album, Mundos Opuestos, released in 2004, spawned several hits including "Amor A Medias," "Me Entrego a Ti" and "Tu Mirada En Mí."
Yoel Henriquez is a songwriter, producer and singer. More than 100 of his songs have been recorded, many of which have been on Grammy-winning records. Yoel is responsible for Chayanne's hit single "Si Nos Quedara Poco Tiempo," which reached #1 on Billboard's Latin Top 50 chart. He's also behind the songs "La Mujer Que Mas Te Duele" by Isaac Delgado and Victor Manuelle and "Esa Baquita," by Tito Nieves, which were nominated Best Tropical Song at the Latin Grammys in 2007 and 2006, respectively. In addition to Chayanne and Nieves, Yoel has worked with some of the biggest names in Latin music, including Marta Sánchez, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Ednita Nazario, Olga Tañón, Yolandita Monge, Victor Manuelle, La India, Son By Four, Marc Anthony, MDO, Jerry Rivers, Pablo Partillo, Frankie Negrón, Huey Dunbar, Rey Ruiz, Michael Stuart, Charlie Cruz, Domingo Quiñones, Gisselle, Milly Guezada, Lourdes Roubles and Melina León. Yoel received a 2009 Latin Grammy Song of the Year nomination for "Día Tras Día."
Brett James has had more than 250 of his songs recorded by major label artists over the past several years and has enjoyed multiple hit singles, including "Who I Am" by Jessica Andrews, "Blessed" by Martina McBride, "When the Sun Goes Down" by Kenny Chesney, two #1 pop songs in Europe, and the worldwide Top Five Latin pop hit "Todo Mi Amor," recorded by Paulina Rubio. In 2005 alone, Brett had five Top Ten country singles including the Grammy award-winning #1 hit "Jesus, Take the Wheel,". He was named ASCAP Songwriter of the Year in 2006. Thus far in 2009, Brett has charted eight songs on the country charts including "It's America" by Rodney Atkins, "Out Last Night" by Kenny Chesney, "Summer Nights" by Rascal Flatts, and the current singles "Cowboy Casanova" by Carrie Underwood and "The Truth" by Jason Aldean. He also co-wrote the new pop single "Life After You" by Daughtry. Other artists that have recorded Brett's songs include Leona Lewis, Bon Jovi, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Taylor Swift, Backstreet Boys, Trace Adkins, Chicago, Jewel, Wynonna, Sara Evans, Josh Gracin, Pat Green, Lonestar, Leann Womack, Jodee Messina, Billy Currington, Mark Wills, Jake Owen, Billy Ray Cyrus, Lorrie Morgan, Boris, Marco Borsato, Engelbert Humperdinck and others. Brett's production credits include albums by Jessica Simpson, Taylor Swift and Josh Gracin.
Natalia Lafourcade, daughter of Chilean-born musician Gastón Lafourcade, is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She burst onto the scene in 2003 with her self-titled debut album, which produced four hit singles ("En el 2000," "Busca un Problema," "Elefantes," "Te Quiero Dar"), topped the album charts, went three-times platinum, and earned her four Latin Grammy nominations: Song of the Year ("En el 2000"), Best New Artist, Best Rock Solo Vocal Album and Best Rock Song ("En el 2000"). Natalia also earned a standard Grammy nomination for Best Latin Pop Album. In 2004, Natalia assembled a four-piece rock band, Natalia y la Forquetina. The band recorded the song "Un Pato" for the soundtrack to the film Temporada de Patos, and released Casa the following year, which topped the album charts, went platinum in Mexico, and won a Latin Grammy for Best Rock Album by a Duo or Group with Vocal. Natalia departed from La Forquetina in 2006 to resume her solo career and recorded an instrumental album called The 4 Seasons of Love. Natalia has received several ASCAP Latin Music Awards and was nominated for a 2009 Latin Grammy award in the Best Pop-Vocal Album category for "Hu Hu Hu."
Fernando Osorio has excelled at writing songs that inspire and speak to everyone for over twenty years. After studying marketing and finance in college, Fernando quickly realized that his true passion was in music. Fernando's first success as a songwriter came early in his career, when he wrote "Solo con un Beso," sung by Ricardo Montaner. He partnered with Juan Carlos Perez-Soto in the early 1990s to create the duo Fernando y Juan Carlos, which quickly became a hit in Venezuela, where they recorded two albums. Since signing with Warner-Chappell in the late 1990s, Fernando's songs have been interpreted by some of Latin music's most influential artists, including Marc Anthony, Huey Dunbar, Jerry Rivera and Frankie Negron among others. Fernando and Sergio George co-wrote two of the late Celia Cruz's most enduring songs: the Grammy-nominated "La Negra Tiene Tumbao" and "Ríe y Llora," for which he earned a Latin Grammy for Best Song. Fernando has also recorded several albums of his own, including the Grammy-nominated Con Palabras (2000). His most recent record, Debe Ser (2005), presents his songs as they are: naked, pure and simple, accompanied only by his guitar and passionate voice.
JD Souther is best known for his well-crafted songs. He co-wrote some of the biggest hits for the Eagles including "Best of My Love," "Heartache Tonight," "New Kid In Town" and "Victim of Love," as well as "How Long," a single from their 2007 release, Long Road Out of Eden, that was originally recorded by JD on a solo album in 1972. Artists including George Strait, The Dixie Chicks, Glen Campbell, India.Arie and Michael Bublé have recorded his songs. He's also written several hits for Linda Ronstadt including "Faithless Love" and "White Rhythm and Blues," produced her Don't Cry Now album and recorded several duets with her, most notably "Prisoner in Disguise" and "Sometimes You Can't Win." As an artist, the Texas-raised singer charted Top 10 hits with "You're Only Lonely" and "Her Town Too," a duet with James Taylor. After a 25-year break from recording, JD released If The World Was You in 2008. The following year, he was awarded the prestigious Golden Note Award at the ASCAP Country Music Awards.
Chris Tompkins signed his first publishing deal at the age of 22 when he moved from Muscle Shoals, Alabama to Nashville, Tennessee. In 2004, he penned his first Top 20 hit single, "Me and Emily" by Rachel Proctor, and the following year American Idol winner Carrie Underwood recorded his song "Before He Cheats" for her debut album Some Hearts. Shortly after Chris started working with Big Loud Shirt Industries during the summer of 2006, "Before He Cheats" achieved the #1 spot on every country chart as well as #5 on the Adult Top 40 chart. After five consecutive weeks at #1, it won Best Country Song at the 2007 People's Choice Awards, won ASCAP's Song of the Year in 2007 and was honored as Country Song of the Year at the 2008 Grammy ceremony. It also has the distinction of being the first country song to have over 2 million digital download sales. Chris has had his songs cut by Kenny Chesney, Rascal Flatts, Gary Allan, Martina McBride, Jimmy Buffett and Hank Williams Jr. He has also co-written songs with Daughtry, Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic, Tom Higgenson of Plain White T's, Kellie Pickler, Katherine McPhee and Bo Bice.
Craig Wiseman is one of today's most celebrated songwriters and has played a significant role in shaping country music. He was named ASCAP's Songwriter of the Year in 2003, 2005 and 2007. In 2005, he won a Grammy award for Best Country Song for Tim McGraw's 10 week #1 "Live Like You Were Dying." He also took home the CMA and ACM Song Of The Year awards for "Live Like You Were Dying," and in the following year for Brooks & Dunn' s "Believe." In the fall of 2003, Wiseman's dream of opening his own publishing company came true when Big Loud Shirt opened its doors. Within five short years, Big Loud Shirt has had 41 singles and seven #1s, with Wiseman penning six of the seven #1s including Kenny Chesney's "Summertime," Toby Keith's "Love Me If You Can" and most recently Faith Hill's "A Baby Changes Everything." In the fall of 2007, Wiseman even launched into reality TV, with the GAC series, The Hitmen Of Music Row. Some other major recording acts who have recorded his songs include Lonestar, Phil Vassar, LeAnn Rimes, Trisha Yearwood and Dolly Parton. Most recently, Wiseman was honored as the NSAI Songwriter of the Decade for the years 2000-2009. To date, Craig has had well over 300 cuts, 100 singles & 17 #1s.
