CMA Songwriters Series Celebrates 50 Years of the CMA Awards with Tin Pan South Showcase
A very special CMA Songwriters Series took place on Tuesday (April 5) during the Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival.
It was a night of legendary performances by country music’s biggest hit makers and it was only fitting that the show kicked off the 24th annual Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival. On Tuesday (April 5), festivalgoers packed the Bluebird Cafe for an evening of storytelling and country music history.
CMA Song of the Year winner Bill Anderson was the host of the evening’s round, which included previous CMA Song of the Year winner Buddy Cannon, Country Music Hall of Famer and CMA Award nominee Bobby Bare and CMA Award nominee Barry Dean. The writers round had the four friends trading stories and taking a walk down memory lane to a captivated audience.
“I am so happy to be surrounded by four incredible songwriters and friends,” Whisperin’ Bill Anderson said at the start of the showcase. “This is songwriters’ week at Tin Pan South and people ask what does a songwriter do? And I say, most of the time as little as we can get by with. Songwriters are misunderstood in some ways. The main key to me in being a songwriter — especially in country music — is you gotta have a little imagination. A guitar, know three chords and have a good imagination. Here’s what songwriters do.”
He then went into playing his song “The Songwriters,” recorded by Willie Nelson, which vividly explained the life of a songwriter and had the tiny listening room laughing along.
Later, Bare told the story behind his first hit “The All-American Boy.” He prefaced it by saying it was long before “Detroit City” and “500 Miles Away From Home” became his well-known staples.
“In 1958, I went into the United States Army the day after I did this song. I went into the army six months after Elvis,” he explained. “It’s been so long since I’ve performed this song I may not remember all the words but I gotta do it because it’s my first hit.”
He joked afterward that he got a “brand new Cadillac radiator” with the money he made from the song, which was recorded under the name Bill Parsons. While Bare said he wrote the song when he was 18, Anderson said he wrote his first song when he was just nine years old.
Meanwhile, Dean admitted that he didn’t start writing songs until he was 34. It’s hard to believe he started his successful career so late in life as he played several hits that night including Tim McGraw’s “Diamond Rings and Old Bar Stools” and Little Big Town’s “Pontoon.”
Highlights of the evening included a sing-along performance of Anderson’s song “Peel Me a Nanner” after he told the story of when Cannon awkwardly realized that he wrote the song. Both baseball fans, the two songwriters decided to take a trip to Florida to watch some games together.
“We had to get through this before we really cemented our friendship,” he explained. “We were riding back through Florida and we’re talking about music. Buddy says, ‘What do you think is the worst country song that was ever written?’ I said, ‘Well I don’t know. What do you think?’ He said, ‘It’s a song called ‘Peel Me a Nanner.’ He said, have you ever heard a song called ‘Peel Me a Nanner? Who would write, Peel me a nanner and toss me a peanut. You sure made a monkey out of me?'”
After a long, uncomfortable pause, Cannon realized that Anderson wrote the song. Thankfully, the two have since moved passed that moment and have continued to write together frequently over the years including George Strait’s “Give It Way,” which the two wrote with Jamey Johnson. As Anderson explained, there are some days where co-writing becomes co-staring. During this particular write, none of the writers had any song ideas.
“We all sat there for a little while,” Anderson recalled. “Jamey spoke up and said, ‘Well I’m going through a divorce.’ I said, ‘Since when is going through a divorce not a good idea for a country song? There’s got to be something in there somewhere.’ So Jamey picked up the guitar and started coming out with words.”
Throughout the nearly two hour set, each artist played his hits and brought the audience a little closer to understanding the songwriting process. While those in attendance were mesmerized by the artists performing in the round, it was evident that each songwriter had just as much respect for the man sitting next to him.
“I feel really fortunate to be hanging out with great songwriters. I love songwriters,” Bare conceded. “They’re very bright people. I know the songwriters are always the brightest ones in the room. They’re very aware of what’s going on. They know everything that’s happening.”
Fans of songwriters are able to learn this firsthand throughout the Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival which runs through Saturday, April 9.
