Hit Songwriter J.T. Harding Shares His Journey in New Book
From Selling a Shirt to Prince to Writing Hits with Keith Urban, Harding Chronicles His Unique Path
The Nashville songwriting community is populated with interesting characters but perhaps none more colorful than J.T. Harding. As co-writer of such hits as Keith Urban’s “Somewhere in my Car,” Uncle Kracker’s “Smile,” Dierks Bentley’s “Different for Girls” and Kenny Chesney’s “Somewhere with You,” Harding has forged a career as one of Music Row’s most successful songwriters. He chronicles his tumultuous journey in his new memoir Party Like a Rock Star: The Crazy, Coincidental, Hard-Luck, and Harmonious Life of a Songwriter.
“When I first began writing it, I thought these stories are wild and fun, but here’s what I’ve come to realize—this is the book that I’ve always wished I had because I had no idea how to get into the music business,” Harding tells SLN in a recent Zoom call. “I grew up in Detroit. I moved to LA. I didn’t know anyone in the music business as I say in the book. I made my first demo with money I had won on VH1 Rock & Roll Jeopardy! I borrowed a FedEx jacket to sneak into record companies.”
Harding chronicles his early love for music and the intense desire to hear one of his songs on the radio that prompted him to move to Los Angeles where he struggled to get a break while working at Tower Records. “I think everyone knows someone that is trying to write songs and for someone who is a songwriter, I really think they’ll love the book. Songwriting is much cheaper than therapy for songwriters, but hopefully not for just songwriters,” he says with a grin. “So many people loved the TV show Songland that aren’t even songwriters. For some reason right now, people are so interested in how songs are written. That’s why so many people are watching The Beatles: Get Back. I hope the book just finds whoever it’s meant to find.”
Party Like a Rock Star is an enjoyable read buoyed by Harding’s heartfelt recollections of his family and his often hilarious celebrity encounters. He shares the story of meeting Michael Jackson when he came in to shop at Tower Records in LA after the store closed. He recalls selling a shirt to Prince while he was working at a Melrose clothing store. He relays the first time he met Keith Urban in a men’s room and his awkward encounter with Harrison Ford during a tour abroad while he was working for an artist that he refers to in the book as “The High Priest of Crazy.”
“He’s a rock star. I don’t say his real name because if you say it three times he’ll appear in a puff of smoke and we don’t want that,” he says with a mischievous grin.
Other folks he’s worked with have read it and given their stamp of approval. “The guys in Linkin Park read the book and they were really sweet,” he says. “They loved it and were so nice to me.”
Harding has toured or written songs with some of the biggest country and rock stars on the planet, including Urban, Uncle Kracker and Bon Jovi. So is there someone he’d like to collaborate with that he hasn’t yet? “I would love to work with Luke Bryan or Jason Aldean and in the pop world Katy Perry or Adele. Of course, I would love to write with Bruce Springsteen but as we all know he doesn’t need my help,” he quips. “I’d also like to get more writes with my buddies Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne but they are so busy now I had to write a book just to get their attention.”
Amongst the celebrity anecdotes and songwriting tips, Harding also writes about his close family. He talks about the heartbreak of his older brother’s suicide. He shares the fact that he was adopted and praises his adoptive parents for their constant love and support. He also chronicles finding his biological parents and discovering his father was famous actor/comedian/radio personality Jay Thomas. The two formed a great relationship before Thomas’ death in 2017 after a battle with cancer. The book covers their meeting and lots of interesting moments, including the time Thomas was guesting on David Letterman’s show and Harding threw a shoe from the audience. The incident caused a temporary rift between father and son, but the conclusion of that story is hilarious.
Most of the book is good-natured fun, but Harding doesn’t shy away from getting deep. “There’s parts in the book that break your heart a little bit,” he admits. “Those were easy to write because I was alone in my house in the glow of the computer and it’s like a song. You are just spilling your deepest secrets. The hardest part for me to write was a small chapter about how to write a melody in a song. Melodies are so magical. I’d have a lot more hits if I knew the secret of it. So, trying to explain how a melody works or how to get little kids singing along to one of your songs, that was the hardest part to write, but I’m sure most people would think the personal things about my family or the heartbreak of losing a record deal but those weren’t as hard to write as explaining how a song works.”
Harding also gives valuable advice for aspiring songwriters. “Everyone does this when they come to Nashville. I did it myself. You think, ‘If I can just write with a hit songwriter, I’d have a hit too. If I could write with Craig Wiseman, who has had endless hits, if I could write with Hillary Lindsey, I’d have a hit too,’ but that is not how it happens,” Harding says. “I’ve never seen that happen with anyone. It doesn’t matter what age you are, young, old or in between, find people at the same level and then you rise up together because the way you see the world and the music you listen to, there’s so much value in that when you come together with someone who has just gotten to town or just starting to write like you are.”
Harding uses one of his friends and co-writers to illustrate his point. “It’s so easy to talk about Shane McAnally because he has so much success, but when I met him, he was sleeping on his sister’s couch. Neither of us had a publishing deal and it’s amazing to think of how many spray tans ago that was for him,” he grins. “But we rose together, and he introduced me to Josh Osborne and Brandy Clark and Trevor Rosen [Rosen, Osborne and Harding co-wrote Blake Shelton’s hit “Sangria”].
“If you’re a songwriter, you know all these names, but no one had hits at that time. We all just came up together. I say in the book to new writers, ‘Make a noise so loud that I’m begging to write with you’ because that happens as well. Find your tribe and [perform at] open mics at the Bluebird, the Listening Room. Find your tribe and rise together. That’s how it happens.”
There are several sections of the book that find Harding praising his fellow writers, including Brett James, who he describes thus: ‘If Patrick Swayze and Dennis Quaid had a baby, it would be Brett James.” “Most of the book is about me, but I’ve got to share the love,” he says. “I’ve learned so much from these other writers, not only how to write songs but how giving and welcoming they are. Nashville is an incredibly nurturing city.”
Harding cautions fledgling songwriters that the profession never gets easier. “When you have hit songs, it doesn’t get any easier. I have to still wake up every day in Nashville and write the best song in town,” he says. “I just love the feeling when a song comes together and when you hear it on the radio. It just keeps you going. I guess I’ve just always had that ambition and also there’s a great quote that’s so true, ‘Success lies outside your comfort zone.’ You can’t just stay in a little safe bubble and expect the world to knock on your door and say, ‘Hey, is there a songwriter in here?’ You have to just go out and make it happen.”
Party Like a Rock Star: The Crazy, Coincidental, Hard-Luck, and Harmonious Life of a Songwriter is available Feb. 22. Harding will celebrate the release with a special show at The Listening Room Cafe in Nashville Feb. 26. Attendees will receive a book with their ticket purchase.
When asked if the book might be turned into a film, Harding responds, “I have no idea how to make a book into a movie, but I actually did the audio book myself. Apparently, Denzel Washington wasn’t available,” he smiles.
Harding says there are people who have suggested the book would make a great movie, so he’s hopeful. “I couldn’t be more flattered. I think Reba McEntire could play Shane McAnally. That would be incredible,” he says, and there’s that mischievous grin again.
