Probably my favorite event of the entire CMA Fest week was the BMI Songwriters’ night at The Hard Rock. The show was actually the third show in a series of three songwriters shows that took place during CMA Fest. The first show was a tribute to Kenny Chesney featuring the writers of some of Kenny’s biggest hits. The second night featured writers signed to ASCAP. We initially bought tickets to the BMI show because Dallas Davidson, one of my favorite songwriters, was scheduled to play at the event. In addition to Dallas, the night’s roster included Tom Douglas and Wynn Varble. Those three guys have written a lot of the songs on country radio today. The night’s proceeds went to aid Musicians on Call, a non-profit organization that brings music to patients in hospitals and other healthcare facilities. Dallas and Wynn were armed with acoustic guitars and Tom sat behind a keyboard. They took turns singing their hits and telling the stories behind the songs. One particularly sweet moment was when Dallas called his wife Sarah to the stage to help him sing “Gimme that Girl,” Joe Nichols’ recent multi-week number one, which Dallas said was inspired by Sarah. During the show Tom Douglas stressed the importance of songwriters in the music industry and he invited Ben Schofield, an up and coming singer/songwriter to the stage to perform. He treated the audience to a performance of his song “Silent Melody.” Throughout the show, the guys took turns bantering with each other and Dallas battled technical difficulty with not being able to hear his guitar in his monitor. He eventually resigned himself to playing Wynn’s guitar, which resulted in even more heckling. Overall it was an extremely entertaining night of acoustic music and great stories.
Wynn Varble, Dallas Davidson and Tom Douglas (l to r)
Set List
- Wynn – Sounds Like Life to Me
- Dallas – That’s How Country Boys Roll
- Tom – Grown Men Don’t Cry
- Wynn – A Little More Country Than That
- Dallas – Rain Is a Good Thing
- Tom – The House That Built Me
- Wynn – Things That Never Cross a Man’s Mind
- Dallas – Put a Girl in It
- Ben Schofield – Silent Melody
- Tom – I Run to You
- Wynn – Waitin’ on a Woman
- Dallas – Gimme that Girl
- Tom – Louisiana Moon
- Wynn – Have You Forgotten
- Dallas -All about Tonight
- Tom – Little Rock
- Wynn -Ain’t Going Down on Brokeback Mountain
- Dallas – Honky Tonk Badonkadonk
- Tom – My Little Girl
Tom Douglas
Wynn Varble
Dallas Davidson
Ben Schofield
See the whole album here.
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