It is actually no secret that ladies have been traditionally under-represented in music and leisure, and a big a part of Variety’s Power of Women Nashville’s mission is to shine a light-weight on the nice work of the females who convey a lot to the town’s artwork and commerce. In assembling this yr’s honorees, it shortly grew to become apparent that songwriters would want their very own separate class — as a result of what’s Music City with out songs?
Like our prime 4 honorees — Kelsea Ballerini, Sheryl Crow, Mickey Guyton and Reba McEntire — and the 26 executives on our Impact listing, we hope to highlight totally different songwriters each time we convey this occasion to Nashville. Without additional ado, meet our inaugural Power of Women Nashville Songwriter Honorees:
Jessi Alexander
(Warner Chappell Music)
Alexander got here out of the gate robust with a terrific 2005 debut album, “Honeysuckle Sweet,” after which acquired dropped from her label the next yr. Ironically, it’s been all uphill from there in her second act as successful songwriter. In 2009, she landed her first prime 10 hit as a co-writer with the Miley Cyrus smash “The Climb,” and by 2012, she had her first nation No. 1 with Blake Shelton’s “Drink on It” — launching her on a path that led to her first nomination for the Grammys’ prestigious songwriter of the yr, non-classical award, for hits by Luke Combs, Cody Johnson, Dustin Lynch and Megan Moroney. It’s all added as much as a cheerful ending: “I usually like to be the girl in the background,” she says.
Jessie Jo Dillon
(Big Machine Music)
One of essentially the most profitable tunesmiths of this period, Dillon has obtained six Grammy nominations, together with one for the 2025 songwriter of the yr, non-classical, for her work with Brandy Clark, Megan Moroney, Jelly Roll, Catie Offerman, Dan + Shay, Old Dominion, Hardy and Lori McKenna (and you may add Post Malone, Morgan Wallen, Kelsea Ballerini, Megan Maroney and masses extra to the listing of her latest work). The daughter of Nashville royalty — Dean Dillon, who wrote hits for George Strait, Kenny Chesney and Toby Keith — her first track was not solely successful however a Grammy nominee: Strait’s “The Breath You Take,” co-written together with her dad.
ALYSSE GAFKJEN
Natalie Hemby
(Jody Williams Songs)
On a single Friday in March, Hemby had songs she co-wrote come out on albums by Mumford & Sons, Jessica Simpson and Lola Kirke. “That’s very, very broad, which honestly is very me,” she says. “When I was in high school, I was pretty much friends with everybody, and I floated in between groups, and I feel like I still do that with music. I have a mainstream country single out now with Parker McCollum, and this year I’ve been writing with Jon Batiste. I’m like a kid in a candy store: I want the chocolate, the jelly beans, the Twizzlers — everything.” She’s had eight No. 1 nation singles, together with scorching streaks with Miranda Lambert and Little Big Town. “But my hottest songs are usually not at all times the smash ones.
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Ink
(Big Loud)
A multi-hyphenate and multi-genre artist-songwriter-producer, Atia “Ink” Boggs has labored with Beyonce (“Cowboy Carter” and “Renaissance”), Kendrick Lamar, Jennifer Lopez, Leon Bridges and extra, nevertheless it might not be lengthy earlier than the Georgia-raised honoree breaks out as a solo artist, inking (sorry) an artist take care of Big Loud earlier this week. “Country music, to me, is more of a feeling,” she says. “Sometimes it feels like a big-ass hug at the family reunion. It’s all about the storytelling and for me it’s not time to fit in a box — it’s time to break the mold.”
Steph Jones
(Reservoir Media)
Looking on the higher echelons of pop charts of the previous 24 months, there’s virtually a bigger proportion of artists who’ve labored with veteran songwriter Jones than those that haven’t: a 10-year collaboration with Sabrina Carpenter (“Espresso”), together with Jelly Roll, Teddy Swims, Kelsea Ballerini, Selena Gomez, Myles Smith, Pharrell, Tucker Wetmore, Renee Rapp, Jade — we may go on. The Missouri native got here up within the church and, after stints in Austin and Los Angeles, not too long ago returned to the place the place she acquired her begin: Music City.