They have made successful careers out of writing beloved songs for some of America’s biggest country stars, as well as sweeping ballads and runaway hits for TV shows like Nashville and Grey’s Anatomy. Now these three Nashville residents are coming to New Zealand this April to collaborate with Kiwi songwriters for a week a Roundhead Studios in a program known as SongHubs.
Co-writers, producers and collaborators are the secret weapons of top selling artists and TV stars. Many of the world’s most popular songs are written by songwriters whose names you may not know, but whose musical influence runs far and wide.
SongHubs Auckland brings this experience to New Zealand, bringing songwriters with Emmy wins, and #1 singles under their belts, to sprinkle their songwriting wisdom among local talent.
We’re very pleased to announce the three international guests for this year’s SongHubs Auckland program are Kate York, Marc Beeson, and Heather Morgan.
KATE YORK
Primetime Emmy award winning song-writer Kate York is a versatile artist-writer who has penned music for a diverse range of artists from Little Big Town to Fall Out Boy.
She’s also written songs for numerous hit TV shows and films including Grey’s Anatomy, The Fosters, New Year’s Day, One Tree Hill, Hart of Dixie, and countless songs for the show Nashville – one of which won her an Emmy for the song ‘Nothing In This World Will Ever Break My Heart Again’.
MARC BEESON
This Illinois native and 25 year Nashville veteran has had over 100 cuts including songs recorded by Reba McEntire, Jason Aldean, Garth Brooks, Martina McBride, Billy Currington, Blake Shelton, Lady Antebellum, Carrie Underwood and Chicago, among others. He's won 10 ASCAP awards including both Country and Pop Song of the Year for his #1, ‘When She Cries’.
As an artist, he's recorded for Warner Bros., BNA and Curb Records. He has served on the Board of NSAI; worked as a mentor in the MTSU music business program and is on the NARAS educational committee. He co-wrote Billy Currington's #1 single, ‘We Are Tonight’ and more recently, the title track of Ashley Monroe's Grammy nominated record, ‘The Blade’, Blake Shelton's ‘She's Got a Way With Words’ and Josh Turner’s #1, ‘Hometown Girl’.
HEATHER MORGAN
Heather Morgan grew up in Richardson, Texas before moving to Nashville, where she signed her first publishing deal with Warner Chappell Music. Her songs have been featured on the television show Nashville, recorded by Keith Urban, Sara Evans, Martina McBride, Maren Morris, Cole Swindell, A Thousand Horses, The Eli Young Band, Dierks Bentley and Brett Eldredge among others.
A staff songwriter for Sony ATV Music Publishing, Heather celebrated her first #1 in 2014 with Brett Eldredge's song, ‘Beat Of The Music’ which also won her BMI's 2015 Country Song Of The Year. She co-wrote five songs on Brett Eldredge’s self-titled record (released Aug. 2017) and is also enjoying the release of her own artist project in 2018.
Kate, Marc, and Heather will combine with different configurations of local songwriters and producers each day, to write a brand new song. The aim is come to the end of the week with many new songs written and recorded, and new friendships forged.
“Having this calibre of international artists come together to share their talent, knowledge and experience with our songwriters is a huge opportunity” says APRA’s Director of NZ Member Services Victoria Kelly. “We’re incredibly excited about the music that will come from these collaborations, and the relationships they’ll build.”
We’re also very pleased to announce the list of impressive local writers, performers, and producers who will be working with York, Beeson, and Morgan:
Julia Deans
Alex Wildwood (producer)
Madeleine Bradley
Simon Gooding (producer)
Tom Healy (producer)
Jol Muholland (producer)
Tami Neilson
Jenny Mitchell
Woodes
Marley Sola
Seth Haapu
Taka Perry (producer)
Fraser Browne
Nick Dow
Jamie McDell
Kaylee Bell
We had 150 excellent applications for these 16 places, and were delighted to hear about many great music projects going on across New Zealand and Australia.
In light of the quality of the applications, we decided we would also create a producer internship position this year, in order to give an up and coming producer the opportunity to be involved in the valuable learning experience of SongHubs. For this program, the producer intern will be Maude Morris.
Please contact APRA AMCOS for info and biographies on all participants.
Participants have been selected by SongHubs Auckland curator, producer Greg Haver (Manic Street Preachers, Catatonia, Pluto)
SongHubs is an APRA AMCOS initiative, supported by the Federal Government of Australia. In addition to APRA AMCOS, SongHubs Auckland has been made possible with the support of NZ On Air, Auckland Council, Recorded Music NZ and the New Zealand Music Commission.