Songcraft: Spotlight on Songwriters Ep. 133 - ED HILL ("It Matters to Me")
The Best Country Song Grammy nominee and BMI Country Songwriter of the Year joins us to talk about his career as a consistent Nashville hitmaker in four consecutive decades. EPISODE DETAILS: PART ONE Scott and Paul pay tribute to Songcraft guest David Olney, who recently passed away on stage at a songwriter festival. PART TWO - 5:50 mark The guys discuss how this episode was brought to you by Pearl Snap Studios in a much more literal way than ever before. PART THREE - 8:05 mark Paul and Scott call up Ed Hill to hear about how be began his musical life as an American kid with a Japanese guitar hooked on the British Invasion and playing in a Mexican band; why landing a steady gig at a famous Bakersfield nightclub made him fall in love with country music; the way he landed his first cut, which became a Top 5 hit; how he keeps his antenna up for new song ideas; what he calls the "yellow legal pad days" of songwriting; the artist who cried when the Ed Hill song he recorded hit #1 on the charts; why a record label stopped promoting one of his singles; how he's never met Martina McBride, Faith Hill, and many others who made his songs famous; and the reason he says stubbornness has given him songwriting longevity. ABOUT ED HILL Starting his career as a musician, Ed Hill earned two ACM award nominations for Piano Player of the Year and received a Grammy award as a member of Mickey Gilley’s Urban Cowboy Band. He went on to become one of Nashville’s top tier songwriters, scoring 400 cuts and more than 40 singles. His very first cut, “’Til Love Comes Again” became a Top 5 hit for Reba McEntire, who later hit #1 with his song “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.” Other Top 5 singles from Hill’s catalog include “Runnin’ Behind” and ACM Vocal Event of the Year “Find Out Who Your Friends Are” for Tracy Lawrence, “Be My Baby Tonight” for John Michael Montgomery, “It Matters to Me” for Faith Hill, “Whatever You Say” for Martina McBride, “Songs About Me” for Trace Adkins, “How ‘Bout Them Cowgirls” for George Strait, “Drinking Class” by Lee Brice, and “Most People Are Good,” a single for Luke Bryan that was named Song of the Year by the Music Row Awards in 2018. Additional Ed Hill catalog highlights include the Trisha Yearwood classic “Georgia Rain” and Trace Adkins’ “Just Fishin’,” which earned Ed a Grammy nomination for Best Country Song. Five of Ed’s titles have earned the “Songs I Wish I Had Written” recognition from the Nashville Songwriters Association, International. In 2006, Ed was named BMI Country Songwriter of the Year. He recently released a memoir called It Matters to Me: One of Country Music’s Most Beloved Songwriters.