Hello friends! I’m back from Nashville! I’m jet lagged as hell right now so a full blog post is a bit much for me but I did one of these last year and really enjoyed it so I thought I’d do it again. So here are thirteen (well, actually fourteen) songs for the thirteen days I was in Nashville…

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FRIDAY – ‘Great Ones’ by Maren Morris (written by Maren Morris, Ryan Hurd, and Mikey Reaves)

Maren Morris is one of my all time favourite artists and songwriters and I spent the journey listening to her new album, ‘Girl’. It usually takes me a while to get into new albums but this song immediately jumped out at me as a favourite. I love the detail in the lyrics and the congruence of the mythical, atmospheric production. It just gives me this sense that love like that is really possible when I often doubt that.

You’re the perfect storm

So let it pour down on me

If they tell the story in a hundred years

No one would believe that you and me were really here

Just a memory of what the real thing can be

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SATURDAY – ‘This Town Still Talks About You’ by Natalie Hemby (written by Natalie Hemby)

I first listened to the ‘Puxico’ record on my way into Nashville and so every song reminds me of Nashville and vice versa. This song is one of my favourites (so much so that I’ve written about it multiple times). Wandering around Nashville and reacquainting myself with the city really brought it back.

Oh this town still talks about you

Like you never left

Hidden sounds in cracked sidewalks and church pews

How could we forget?

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SUNDAY – ‘Loving You, Using You’ by Caylan Hays

I got to see a lot of my friend Caylan while I was in Nashville, which was absolutely wonderful. I love her a lot and her songwriting is just beautiful so of course I had to include her on this list.

Maybe I’m loving you because I’m lonely

Maybe I’m holding you because you know me

Maybe I’m loving you

Oh, because you’re lonely too

Maybe I’m here because I’m grieving

Maybe I’m terrified of leaving

Maybe I’m loving you

Maybe I’m using you

I wish I knew the truth

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MONDAY – ‘Alice in Wonderland’ by Kalie Shorr

I love Kalie’s music so it was a real treat to go to Song Suffragettes and hear three new songs. The level of care and detail in her songs just takes my breath away. She’s recording her first album at the moment and I’m honestly so excited for it. She’s one special songwriter.

Before you know it every bottle says drink me

Before you know it, yeah, you’re gonna start shrinking

He’ll make you feel small, and there’s so far to fall

When you’re loving a madman

So hey Alice, how is Wonderland?

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TUESDAY – ‘Humble and Kind’ by Lori McKenna (written by Lori McKenna)

On the Tuesday night, I had the pleasure of seeing Lori McKenna perform again, which is a bit of a spiritual experience, especially when it comes to this song. The lyrics, the melody, and her voice just come together in this perfect way and it’s absolutely stunning.

Hold the door, say “please”, say “thank you”

Don’t steal, don’t cheat, and don’t lie

I know you got mountains to climb

But always stay humble and kind

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WEDNESDAY – ‘Rainbow’ by Kacey Musgraves (written by Kacey Musgraves, Natalie Hemby, and Shane McAnally)

This is one of my favourite Kacey Musgraves songs and it has been for years. At the late show on the Wednesday night, Natalie Hemby talked about it and then sang it and it was absolutely gorgeous. Easily one of my favourite moments of the whole festival.

Well the sky has finally opened

The rain and wind stopped blowin’

But you’re stuck out in the same ol’ storm again

You hold tight to your umbrella

Well, darlin’, I’m just tryin’ to tell ya

That there’s always been a rainbow hangin’ over your head

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THURSDAY – ‘Black’ by Travis Meadows

Travis Meadows is an astounding songwriter and after missing his show last year, I was very excited to see him again this year. He was a complete standout. He told some great stories and his songs are just beautiful. The imagery and the emotion are just SO good.

You taught me there was more to life than getting by

If you want your dreams, the only limit is the sky

If you use your head, you won’t have to break your back

You taught me how to drink my coffee black

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FRIDAY – ‘Miss Me More’ by Kelsea Ballerini (written by Kelsea Ballerini, David Hodges, and Brett McLaughlin) / ‘Since U Been Gone’ by Kelly Clarkson (written by Max Martin and Lukasz Gottwald)

There just so happened to be a Kelly Clarkson concert while we were in Nashville. She’s an artist I’ve always wanted to see and I’ve always wanted to see a concert in Nashville so I couldn’t resist. Plus Kelsea Ballerini was opening and I just adore her and her music. Her current single, ‘Miss Me More’ is one of my favourites off her current album, ‘Unapologetically.’

I thought I’d miss you

But I miss me more

I miss my own beat, to my own snare drum

I miss me more

Miss my own sheets in the bed I made up

I forgot I had dreams, I forgot I had wings

Forgot who I was before I ever kissed you

Yeah, I thought I’d miss you

But I miss me more

As you can imagine, Kelly Clarkson is a fantastic performer and the show was incredible. There were so many moments that took my breath away but there’s nothing quite like a whole arena screaming along to the same song. It was so much fun and so freeing.

But since you’ve been gone

I can breathe for the first time

I’m so moving on

Yeah, yeah

Thanks to you

Now I get what I want

Since you’ve been gone

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SATURDAY – Born on a Windy Day by Anna Vaus

On the last day of the festival, I went to a really good show. It was really hard to choose a song for this day but this song by Anna Vaus just captured my imagination. I loved the story and the imagery and I keep going back to the little video I took of it.

And a bird’s gonna fly if it’s got wings

A cowboy’s gonna run off when the sunset sings

It’s just one of those things that I can’t change

Oh, I was born, I was born on a windy day

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SUNDAY – ‘I’ll Be There For You’ by The Rembrandts (written by Phil Solem, Danny Wilde, David Crane, Marta Kauffman, Michael Skloff, and Allee Willis)

The day after the festival finished, I was exhausted and so me and my writing partner had a chill day watching Friends while I recovered. I find it very difficult, especially in Nashville, to take down time and let go of being productive all the time. But I know that I have to build in recovery time because otherwise I burn out and have meltdowns. So we took a day off and watched Friends, hence this song choice.

So no one told you life was gonna be this way

Your job’s a joke, you’re broke

Your love life’s D.O.A

It’s like you’re always stuck in second gear

When it hasn’t been your day, your week, your month

Or even your year

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MONDAY – ‘Hypocrite’ by Savannah Keyes

I met Savannah when we played Song Suffragettes together and I love her and her music so much. Her lyric writing is just so detailed and clever. I’m so excited that she’s releasing music and this is her first single, which she played at the Song Suffragettes round I went to that night. I love her performance of it; she’s so cheeky and honest.

We all wish we weren’t so human sometimes

But we’re trying, yeah, we’re trying

We all wish we weren’t so human sometimes

But I’m trying, damnit, I’m trying

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TUESDAY – ‘Flavor’ by Maren Morris (written by Maren Morris, Jimmy Robbins, and Laura Veltz)

Maren Morris is pretty much always on in the background of my life, ever since I discovered her first EP, so it’s not surprising that she features on this list so many times. I loved this song when she started playing it on tour a few years back and I’m so happy that it made the new album – it’s a true Maren Morris song.

I’m cooking up my own flavor

Even if it ain’t your style

You only see one layer

Original can take a while

Making a mess straight out of scratch

Think what you think about that

Oh I’m just tryna make good a little bit greater

I’m cooking up my own flavor

(This was also the evening I went to see Caylan (Caylan Hays) play a show and I wish I could choose all of the songs she performed. I can’t wait for her to release them – they were utterly gorgeous.)

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WEDNESDAY – ‘A Song For Everything’ (written by Maren Morris, Jimmy Robbins, and Laura Veltz)

A fitting end for a trip focussed on music and songwriting. I love Maren Morris and I love this song. It’s beautifully produced and the melody and lyrics are just gorgeous. It’s definitely one of my favourite songs on the album and I only hope I can write a song as good as this one day.

One danced you through love

One rocked you through lonely

Mixtaped your heartbreak

And made you feel holy