By Wil Comstock
Music City Arts Contributing Writer
Wednesday, March 29 -- 9 p.m. Show at Third &
Lindsley -- Frank Rogers, Ben Glover, Kellie Pickler,
and Kyle Jacobs with Dave Baker on guitar.
This
was a fun show! The banter and exchange between the writers on stage was
worth the price of admission. They had me laughing all night while
listening to superb vocals and well-crafted lyrics.
Frank Rogers: Music business executive,
producer, and writer. Frank is one of the most successful guys in the
business. He began with his Darius Rucker hit “Thank God for What I’ve Missed”
telling us that if he didn’t have to stop at that light out in LA one morning,
the song wouldn’t have been written. He missed the light and wrote the
song! I enjoyed hearing him play his Brad Paisley hit “I’m Gonna Miss Her
(The Fishing Song)." It always brings a smile to my face. Rogers
performed a medley that included Paisley’s “Who Needs Pictures," “Me
Neither," “Swing," Rucker’s “History In the Making,” and
Granger Smith’s “Backroad Song”. Whew! Frank said he and Darius had set out
to write a positive song... the last song they wrote was about
divorce. They had gone out to eat with their wives and started the song.
Darius ended the session saying his knee was killing him, and promised to
finish the song with Rogers the next day. The following day, Rucker called
saying, “I’m in the hospital with a staff infection in my knee.” Eight
months later, they were at Rucker’s home in South Carolina. They picked up
working on the song and heard a crash… The girl next door accidently slid her
huge aquarium off of a dresser, and it crashed into her face. She needed
surgery. Frank said it evidently takes eight surgeries, four for Darius and
four for the girl next door, to write a positive song! With that, Rogers
launched into Darius’ #1, “Alright." Frank closed with his 2017 Crappy
Award-winning song, the off-color “Playing Possum,” which he swore was about
animals. Hmmm… with a line like “her beaver’s playing possum,” I’m
supposed to believe that?
Ben Glover: Grammy-Award winning
songwriter and producer from a small city on the edge of the Rocky Mountains.
Glover moved to Nashville in 2000, originally getting his start as an artist.
He has penned 26 number one hits in multiple genres and was named ASCAP’s
Christian Songwriter of the Year in 2010, 2012 and 2013. He kicked off
with Lee Brice’s hit, “Show You Off Tonight,” which he wrote with stage-mate
Kyle Jacobs. I loved his “Beautiful Messes,” which he co-rote with Hillary
Scott, who recorded the song. My favorite line: “Don't forget God used the
misfits just like us to do the most amazing things." Ben said he was
at a session with Billy Montana and John Ozier and explained, "We
thought we’d write a classic song about dudes saying, ‘You know, I’m kind of a
pain in the ass.’ We said, ‘Let’s just talk about ourselves in the song.'"
The result was the Lee Brice top-five “Hard to Love," which was produced
by Kyle Jacobs. Glover wrote his last number with David Crowder and Matt
Maher. He gave a stirring performance on the worshipful “Come As You
Are."
Kellie Pickler: Reality show star,
recording artist, songwriter, and wife of Kyle Jacobs! Pickler rose to
fame on the fifth season of American Idol, finishing in sixth place. She
was raised by her grandmother and great-grandmother because her parents were in
and out of prison. Writer Billy Montana asked her to talk about her life,
and she told him about her great-grandmother, Selma, who never had a driver’s
license, didn’t believe in bank accounts, and out-lived her husband by 40
years. She was a simple woman. Billy told Kellie, that is our song
right there, and together they wrote “Selma Drye." After Kellie
finished performing, husband Kyle said, “That was a goodin'.” Kellie
laughed and pointed out that Kyle’s Minnesota mother was a proper English
teacher. The jokes went back and forth, with Kellie imitating Kyle’s mother, to
which Kyle said, “When you do that, it takes sex totally out of the equation,”
which brought the house down. Kellie told how she and Leslie Ann Satcher got
together for a writing session but only talked. Satcher went home and wrote
“Tough” for Kellie, and it became the first single on her album 100
Proof. Kellie later said, "Leslie really gets me." Pickler
and her husband Kyle were joined by Dave Baker on guitar. Dave sat between
them and was the brunt of many of their jokes. Most of them being Kellie’s
mock jealously of Dave and her husband’s bromance. Dave, ever the straight
man, just sat there and rolled his eyes as Kellie and Kyle sipped whiskey and
cut up in between songs. For her next song, Kellie chose the Chris Lindsey, Amy
Mayo, and Karyn Rochelle-penned “Don't You Know You're Beautiful." Great
message, great delivery! Pickler closed with a song she, Chris Lindsey,
Amy Mayo, and Karyn Rochelle wrote about Pickler’s ex boyfriend, the sassy “Red
High Heels." Pickler was quick to mention, “It is not about Kyle... It was
before Kyle."
Kyle Jacobs: Producer, songwriter,
guitarist, and husband of Kellie Pickler. Kyle’s first number was written
with Joe Leathers and Ruston Kelly. They had all played the Bluebird that night
and went back to Kyle’s afterwards. His wife, Kellie, was out of town. He
lit some candles, poured some drinks, and reflectively said, “Nashville wasn’t
Nashville without her (Kellie).” Keeping that in mind, they began to throw
out country greats who made Nashville what it is today. Soon, the Tim McGraw
cut “Nashville Without You” was born. When Kellie was on Dancing With The
Stars, they didn’t get to see each other much. Kyle would write songs for
Kellie and send them to her. One of them was the heartbreaking “Spend a
Little Time with You." As Lee Brice’s producer, Jacobs listened to
100’s of songs. One of them was written by three writers who were inspired
after seeing the father of a soldier, who was killed going into harms way to
save others, being interviewed on television. The host asked him how he got
through it, to which the father replied, “I drive his truck." Kyle
gave a memorable performance on the Jessi Alexander, Connie
Harrington, and Jimmy Yeary-penned
number. Jacobs closed with the song that changed his life, the Garth Brooks
mid-tempo ballad “More Than A Memory," which he wrote with Billy
Montana and Lee Brice.
I
love shows like this where the writers know each other and are comfortable
enough to cut up and rag on each other. It always makes for an enjoyable and
memorable performance.
Tin
Pan South continues through April 1. To see the show schedule, visit
http://www.TinPanSouth.com/Schedule
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