Members In The News
Tom T. Hall Inducted Into Country Music Hall of Fame
Congratulations to Nashville Songwriter Hall of Fame Member and artist, Tom T. Hall, who received the honor of being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008, along with The Statler Brothers, and Emmylou Harris. Visit Tom’s page at the Country Music Hall of Fame site.
Members In The News
Hank Williams, Jr. Honored as a BMI Icon
Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member Hank Williams, Jr. will be honored as a BMI Icon at the U.S. performing right organization’s 56th annual Country Awards on November 11, 2008. Hank joins a joins an elite list of past honorees that includes other hall of fame members Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton, Whisperin’ Bill Anderson, and Loretta Lynn. Learn more about the BMI Icon Awards here.
Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Foundation Board of Directors
Meet Our Board Members
Roger Murrah - Chairman - is one of Nashville’s most successful songwriters and independent music publishers. The Athens, Ala., native moved to Nashville in 1972 and within the next few years had hits with Mel Tillis’ “Southern Rains,” Conway Twitty’s “A Bridge That Just Won’t Burn,” Steve Wariner’s “Life’s Highway” and the Oak Ridge Boys’ “Ozark Mountain Jubilee.” In 1981, Al Jarreau recorded Roger's international pop hit “We’re In This Love Together," which led the way for other '80s hits, including Lee Greenwood's “Hearts Aren’t Made to Break (They’re Made To Love)" and three Oak Ridge Boys’ singles – “It Takes A Little Rain (To Make Love Grow)”, “Crazy Love” and “Bridges And Walls.” During that time, Roger broke new ground by co-writing with Waylon Jennings, the late singer’s life story, A Man Called Hoss. The Jennings audio-biography yielded two more hits – “Rough and Rowdy Days” and “If Ole Hank Could Only See Us Now.” The '90s yielded more hits from Roger's catalog, including Travis Tritt's “Where Corn Don’t Grow," Alabama's “I’m In A Hurry (And Don’t Know Why)”, “Southern Star” and “High Cotton”, Ronnie Milsap’s “Stranger Things Have Happened,” Steve Wariner’s “When I Could Come Home To You,” John Anderson’s “Somebody Slap Me,” Conway Twitty’s “Goodbye Time” (which has been re-recorded and released by Blake Shelton), Wynonna’s “Only Love”, Clay Walker’s “If I Could Make A Living Out Of Loving You”, Tanya Tucker’s “It’s A Little Too Late” and the Grammy/CMA Song Of The Year nominated “Don’t Rock The Jukebox” recorded by Alan Jackson. Roger is president of Murrah Music Corporation, a former two-term president of NSAI and past president of the NSF. A BMI Songwriter of the Year and Songwriter of the Decade, Roger has served on the boards of the Country Music Association, Biblical Resource Center & Museum in Memphis and the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences. He was also a three-term Governor’s appointee to the Tennessee Film, Entertainment and Music Advisory Council and is an alumnus of Leadership Music.
Lisa Harless - Vice Chairman - is Senior Vice President of Regions Bank's Entertainment and Sports Division. She is responsible for assisting clients with their financial and banking needs while providing services which focus on estate planning, retirement planning, investment management, education planning, and personal insurance needs. As a 21-year veteran of Regions Bank, Lisa oversees the daily operations of the bank’s Entertainment and Sports Division in Nashville. As a consistent top performer, she was a Chairman’s Club honoree in 2005. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Speech Communication from Lipscomb University. She maintains her Series 6, 63, 66, and 7 securities licenses and holds her Insurance License. She was a member of the Leadership Music Class of 1995. Lisa has served as the past President and is now a board member of W.O. Smith Nashville Community Music School. She also holds board memberships with The Recording Academy/NARAS, T.J. Martell Foundation and the Nashville Songwriters Foundation. She is actively involved with MusiCares and serves on the Advisory Board of the Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business. Lisa is also a past recipient of the Tennessee National Guard Associate Adjutant General of the State of Tennessee Patriot Award.
Wayland Holyfield - Vice Chairman & Finance Committee Chairman - is a native of Little Rock, Ark., where he attended public schools and completed his formal education with a marketing degree from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. He moved to Nashville in 1972 and had his first # 1 song, "Rednecks, White Socks And Blue Ribbon Beer" in 1973. Since then Wayland has been honored with 37 ASCAP and BMI awards and has written more than 40 Top 10 hits, including 14 # 1 songs. "Could I Have This Dance," "Some Broken Hearts Never Mend," "Till the Rivers All Run Dry," "Only Here For A Little While" and "Meanwhile" are but a few of his almost-four decades of hits. He also wrote "Arkansas You Run Deep In Me," adopted in 1987 as the official state song of Arkansas. Long active as an advocate for songwriters' rights, Wayland was the first Nashville-based writer to be elected to the ASCAP Board of Directors. Wayland has also served as President of the NSAI and as Chairman of the NSF. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992.
John Van Mol - Vice Chairman & Public Relations Committee Chairman - is a partner and CEO of Dye, Van Mol & Lawrence, a public relations agency that has been serving clients in Nashville and around the U.S. since 1980. He is a Knoxville, Tenn., native and a 1966 Journalism graduate of the University of Tennessee. His communications career includes a tour of duty in South Vietnam as a public affairs officer for the U.S. Army, experience as both writer and editor for The Associated Press, and director of PR for a major utility. Specialties include issues and crisis management, media relations and media skills training. An associate member of NSAI, John serves on the boards of the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce & Industry and the Pencil Foundation. He is a past chairman of Goodwill Industries, has served two terms as Chairman of Nashville’s Downtown Partnership and served two terms on the Executive Committee of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce.
David Conrad - Secretary - began his career in the music publishing business in 1971. He served as Vice President of Almo-Irving Music Publishing from 1981 to 2003 and as Executive Vice President of A&R at MCA/Mercury Records in Nashville from 2003-2004. He is a past president of both the CMA and the Nashville Entertainment Association and is a Trustee of the Country Music Foundation.
Layng Martine, Jr. - Treasurer - arrived in Nashville in 1972 from Connecticut. Learning his craft from publisher Ray Stevens, Layng’s first major success, “Rub It In” by Billy “Crash” Craddock, reached #1 Country and #16 Pop in 1974 (and has since become the long-running TV commercial “Plug It In”). In 1977, Layng's “Way Down” became a gold single for Elvis Presley and was at #1 on the day that Elvis died. Layng’s “The Greatest Man I Never Knew” (with Richard Leigh) was #1 and Grammy-nominated in 1992 and capped a string of Reba McEntire singles that had begun with her very first in 1976 and included “I Don’t Think Love Ought To Be That Way” (with Richard Mainegra; #13 in 1981). His “Should I Do It” reached #7 Pop for the Pointer Sisters in 1982, and Layng has had #1 Pop singles in both England and France, among other countries. The '90s also brought Country hits such as “I Was Blown Away” by Pam Tillis (#10 in 1995) and “I Wanna Go Too Far” (with Kent Robbins) by Trisha Yearwood in 1996. Layng also serves on the NSAI Board of Directors.
Jim McBride - Advisory Board Chairman - was a full-time postman and part-time songwriter until 1981, when he left the postal service to pursue his songwriting career. The Huntsville, Ala., native's first hit song came that year with Conway Twitty's "A Bridge That Just Won't Burn." That same year, he had his first #1 hit with Johnny Lee's "Bet Your Heart On Me," which was performed in the movie Country Gold. Over the years, Jim has reached #1 several times with songs such as Waylon Jennings' "Rose In Paradise" and Alan Jackson's "Chasin' That Neon Rainbow," "Someday," "Who Says You Can't Have It All" and "Chattahoochee," the CMA Song of the Year in 1994. Other artists who have recorded Jim's songs include Alabama, Johnny Cash, George Jones, Brenda Lee, Charley Pride, Anne Murray, Reba McEntire, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Paycheck, Crystal Gayle, Mickey Gilley, Travis Tritt, Randy Travis, John Anderson and Patty Loveless. In 1995, Jim was honored by the Alabama Music Hall of Fame with its Music Creator Award. He is a past president of NSAI. His songs have been on more than 60 million records sold.
Troy Tomlinson - Board Nominating Committee Chairman - has been in the publishing business for more than 20 years. He began his career at Multimedia Entertainment in 1983 as Professional Manager of the Nashville division. He was Creative Manager of Don King Music and Rick Hall Music for three years. In 1988, Troy joined Acuff Rose as Creative Manager. In 1993, he was promoted to director and in 1996 was made Vice President of the Creative Department. Troy was made Executive Vice President of Acuff Rose in 1999. Sony/ATV Music Publishing acquired Acuff Rose in 2002, and Troy was hired as Vice President Creative. In December 2005, he was promoted to President and Chief Executive Officer.
Robert K. Oermann - Historian, Hall of Fame Nominating Committee Chairman and Design & Content Committee Chairman -“the dean of Nashville’s entertainment journalists,” writes bi-weekly columns for Music Row magazine and has been published in more than 100 other national periodicals. His seven books to date include the award-winning Finding Her Voice and A Century of Country. He has penned liner notes for more than 90 albums and boxed-set productions. He has scripted and/or directed television specials and documentaries for CMT, CBS, the BBC, TBS, TNN and others. And he appears frequently on-camera as a commentator on VH-1, A&E, CMT and the BBC. Robert’s recent projects include scripting the 2000 CBS television special celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Grand Ole Opry, penning the liner notes for the Grammy-winning O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack album in 2001 and cowriting the autobiography of 2002 Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame inductee Brenda Lee. He was a judge on the 2003 USA Network series Nashville Star. In 2004 he directed the DVD Music Business 101, wrote the PBS special celebrating the 50th anniversary of George Jones and was the music supervisor and script writer for the United Stations radio series Honest Country, narrated by Willie Nelson. Robert’s projects for 2005 include liner notes for albums by Emmylou Harris, Ray Charles, Eddy Arnold, New Grass Revival and Alabama, an audio presentation on the history of country music for the CMA and Patsy Cline: Sweet Dreams Still, a PBS TV special he wrote and hosted. Robert was a 2000-01 consultant to the National Endowment for the Arts. He serves on the boards of Leadership Music, and the Nashville Songwriters Foundation. He is the chairman of the country committee for the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles and serves on the Hall of Fame and awards committees for the CMA. His honors include receiving the 2000 President’s Award from the Recording Academy and winning the 1999 and 2001 Nashville Scene Reader’s Poll as Music City’s favorite feature writer. Oermann also won a 1996 Nashville Music Award, the 1994 ASCAP Deems Taylor Award and the 1988 CMA Media Achievement Award. He is a 1989 graduate of Leadership Music and a 2003 graduate of Leadership Nashville.
Mike Dye is Managing Partner of GroupXcel, a single-source solution providing combined facility services (janitorial, HVAC, electrical, landscaping, floral & plant care) for clients in five southeastern states. During his previous tenure at American Airlines, Mike was responsible for the company's sales and marketing in southeastern U.S.A. In this capacity, he earned numerous honors for outstanding sales and customer service and was responsible for establishing American Airlines as a founding (and continuing) sponsor of Tin Pin South, the annual Nashville-based celebration of songwriters. Mike’s love of and support for songwriters — combined with his keen sense of business — have become key assets to the Nashville Songwriters Foundation. He also serves on several other non-profit boards, including the Nashville Symphony.
Pete Fisher was named general manager of the Grand Ole Opry in June of 1999. He oversees all activities of the world's longest-running radio show. Fisher manages the day-to-day operations of the Grand Ole Opry House and Acuff Theatre and produces its weekly Opry shows. He also serves as Executive Producer of Grand Ole Opry Live on GAC, and America’s Grand Ole Opry Weekend, a two-hour syndicated radio program heard on over 200 stations via Westwood One. Fisher's entertainment industry experience ranges from artist management to music publishing, with a special emphasis placed on service to a variety of music industry organizations. Prior to joining the Opry, he was a partner in Fisher Raines Entertainment where he managed the careers of Warner/Reprise Records artist Paul Brandt and Sony’s Marcus Hummon among others. In addition, Fisher spent seven years at WarnerSongs, Inc. as director of creative services where he managed the joint-venture publishing operation between Warner/Reprise Records and Warner/Chappell Music, Inc. Fisher earned a bachelor's degree from Middle Tennessee State University with a major in Recording Industry Management and was recognized as a distinguished alumnus in 2004. He currently serves as President of the Nashville Chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. He also serves on the board of directors of the Academy of Country Music.
Becky Judd, a native of Nashville, Tennessee, is Executive Assistant to Mike Curb of Curb Records. She began her career with Curb in January of 1994 after working as a legal assistant for Neal & Harwell and other local law firms for 15 years. She works closely with the Mike Curb Family Foundation which supports music education and works to restore historic music industry locations. These include Elvis Presley's former home in Memphis, RCA Studio B and the building located at 34 Music Square East in Nashville, former home of the Columbia Studio A and the Quonset Hut, and the future home of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Don Schlitz is a native of Durham, N.C., who briefly attended Duke University before moving to Nashville in 1973. Working as a swing-shift computer operator, Don continued to hone his songwriting skills over the next five years. Then, in 1978, Kenny Rogers scored his signature hit with Don's first recorded song, "The Gambler," which became a #1 Country and Top 20 Pop hit, earned a 1979 Grammy for Best Country Song, was named 1979 CMA Song of the Year and spawned a series of TV movies. Within the next few years, Don's songs began pouring onto the Country charts: "Forty Hour Week (For A Livin')" – Alabama (#1, 1985), "Rocking With The Rhythm Of The Rain" – The Judds (#1, 1986), "Give Me Wings" – Michael Johnson (#1, 1987), "I Know Where I'm Going" – The Judds (#1, 1987), "Strong Enough To Bend" – Tanya Tucker (#1, 1988), "Daddy’s Come Around" – Paul Overstreet (#1, 1991) and "I Feel Lucky" – Mary Chapin Carpenter (#4, 1992). Among Don's most-honored songs are "On The Other Hand" – Randy Travis (#1 in 1986; named NSAI Song of the Year, ACM Song & Single of the Year, CMA Song of the Year), "Forever And Ever Amen" – Randy Travis (#1 in 1987; earned a Grammy for Best Country Song; named NSAI Song of the Year; CMA Song & Single of the Year; ACM Song & Single of the Year) and "When You Say Nothing At All" – Keith Whitley (#1 in 1988); Alison Krauss & Union Station (#3 in 1995; named CMA Single of the Year). Today, with more than 40 Top 10 hits, Don is one of Nashville's most-decorated songwriters. He was ASCAP's Country Songwriter of the Year for four consecutive years from 1988-91 and was NSAI's 1987 Songwriter of the Year. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1993 and the North Carolina Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame in 1999.
Michael L. Vaden, CPA - is the Director of Decosimo/Vaden, the entertainment and sports business practice of the Decosimo CPA Firm. For nearly 35 years, Mike has applied his expertise in royalty accounting, tax planning, and financial management to all areas of the entertainment industry. Mike’s specialized services to music professionals include concert tour accounting, royalty examinations, tax planning and compliance, investment analysis, business management assistance, and catalog valuation. Mike is an alumnus of Leadership Music and a member of many professional organizations, including the Nashville Entertainment Association, Nashville Songwriters Association International, the American Institute of CPAs and the Tennessee Society of CPAs. He is an U.S. Army veteran and a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University. He also serves on the boards of Rocketown and Sound & Speed.David L. Maddox - Legal Counsel - has been formally engaged in the entertainment industry for more than 25 years, but his love for music began at the age of four when he first began singing in church choirs. A native of Atlanta, he received his BA degree in political science from North Georgia College in 1969 as a Cum Laude graduate and his JD degree from the University of Georgia School of Law. He is admitted to practice law in both Georgia (1972) and Tennessee (1975). After serving as assistant to the President of Thomas Nelson Publishers from 1972 to 1975, David followed his heart to the music industry beginning in 1975. In 1976 David was named the Executive Secretary of the Nashville Local of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) and held the same post with the Screen Actors Guild from 1976 to 1986. In 1984, he and Rush Hicks formed the law firm of Maddox & Hicks and he practiced on a part-time basis for the next two years. In 1986 he left AFTRA and SAG to practice full time. His law practice has consisted primarily of entertainment law from then until the present. In 1995, David formed his present firm, David L. Maddox & Associates, P.C., where he practices today. In 1999 he entered into an of counsel relationship with Frascogna Courtney, PLLC, in which he represents Frascogna Courtney, PLLC clients in Tennessee and vice versa.