And The Writer Is...with Ross Golan

Kicking off Season 5, at 22-years-old, this multi-talented guest has already become a buzzing and sought-after producer, songwriter and artist. Working behind the scenes on numerous hit singles, he has stepped out into the spotlight with his own innovative and ambitious solo project. Born and raised in East Los Angeles, he was homeschooled alongside his younger sister, Billie Eilish. Music was always an important part of their childhood and education and by the age of eleven, his parents had taught him the guitar and piano. He took to writing his own songs and by the time he was a teenager, he was already teaching himself to produce. In 2015 he wrote a song titled “Ocean Eyes” in his bedroom studio. That song became the breakout hit for Billie Eilish, quickly grabbing her a record deal with Interscope and gaining major media buzz. The siblings continued to write and record together for Billie’s solo project, creating her debut EP ‘don’t smile at me’ and No. 1 debut album, ‘When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?’. He has also had the opportunity to collaborate with artists including Khalid, Kehlani, Jessie Reyez, Ashe, Olivia O'Brien, Sabrina Claudio, Marian Hill, Bruno Major. Already regarded as a major producer and songwriter to watch, as an artist his anticipated debut EP, ‘Blood Harmony,’ is set to be released this October featuring the first single, “Shelter.” Unafraid to be vulnerable and unfiltered, his songs are rich with pure unadulterated emotion. And The Writer Is… FINNEAS!This episode is sponsored by Bandzoogle. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ricky Reed hosts this episode of “And The Writer Is!” Ricky interviews Ross in a candid conversation about Ross's 14 year project called “The Wrong Man.” Ricky produced the concept album released on Interscope Records that is being adapted into a musical opening in NYC by the Hamilton director by Tommy Kail and music director Alex Lacamoire. How does a project grow through word of mouth to a major label release and Off Broadway show without every releasing recorded music until last week? Listen to find out about this amazing journey from a West Hollywood apartment in the mid 2000s to a worldwide distributed album! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The music that our Season 4 finale guest has written, performed, and produced — both as a solo superstar and as founding member of the Fugees — has been consistently powerful and a pop cultural force for over two decades. In 1996, his band the Fugees released their monumental album ‘The Score’. As a solo artist, he has released eight albums that have sold nearly nine million copies worldwide, including his 1997 debut ‘The Carnival’ and 2000’s aptly titled ‘The Eclectic: 2 Sides II a Book’. His album, ‘Carnival III: The Fall and Rise of a Refugee’, was named one of the “25 Most Anticipated Albums” of the fall by Billboard Magazine that year. And his recent release, ‘Wyclef Goes Back To School Volume 1’ is a collaboration with students he met while touring the United States and visiting colleges across the country. He is a 3 time Grammy award winner who has worked with mega stars such as Whitney Huston, Santana, Mary J. Blige, Shakira, Mick Jagger, Paul Simon, Missy Elliott, Destiny’s Child and more. As a highly esteemed musician, he has undoubtedly influenced the artistry of musicians all over the globe. With his ethos centered around nurturing and growth, he has persistently made efforts to make positive changes, whether that be by holding charitable events, running for presidency in Haiti or just using his music to make others aware of actualities that don’t get enough media coverage. Live from South by Southwest, And The Writer Is…Wyclef Jean!This episode is sponsored by SONOS. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Originally from Buchanan, Virginia our guest is an award winning, multi-platinum artist who moved to Nashville to pursue his passion for songwriting. There he met his future bandmates and together went on to form the band Old Dominion, in which he is the lead singer. He co-wrote the band’s first hit song, "Break Up With Him," which is RIAA certified platinum. Old Dominion’s sophomore album, ‘Happy Endings’, debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums Chart & #7 on the Billboard Top 200. The album produced three platinum, #1 singles, “Written In The Sand,” “No Such Thing As A Broken Heart” and “Hotel Key,” all of which our guest co-wrote. He also co-wrote the band’s single “Make It Sweet,” which recently hit #1 on the Country charts. In addition to his band, he has written hit songs for other artists such as Kenny Chesney ("Save It for a Rainy Day"), Sam Hunt (“Make You Miss Me”), Dierks Bentley (“Say You Do”), Luke Bryan ("Goodbye Girl") and Tim McGraw (“Kiss A Girl”) among others. He is a three-time winner of the Association of Independent Music Publishers “Artists Writers of the Year” award, a two-time CMA “Triple Play Award” winner and the recipient of the ASCAP “Artist Writer of the Year” award. Additionally, he is a two-time Academy of Country Music Award winner for “Vocal Group of the Year,” and Country Music Award winner for “Vocal Group of the Year” as a part of Old Dominion. And The Writer Is...Matthew Ramsey!This episode is sponsored by SONOS. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

His remarkable story wasn’t the result of any long-term plan, but more a tribute to his hard work and creativity. Recent chart-topping hits include Kehlani’s “Distraction”, The Chainsmokers new single “Who Do you Love?” with 5 Seconds Of Summer, and Demi Lovato’s “Sorry Not Sorry” for which he recently won a BMI Award. He has co-written and co-produced breakout hits for Nicki Minaj, K. Michelle and Alessia Cara and worked with stars like Rihanna and Alicia Keys. He has 5 songs on the new Alessia Cara album and co-wrote and produced 8 records on Kehlani’s 'SweetSexySavage’ album. Our guest has celebrated consecutive #1 Billboard Mainstream Top songs with Alessia Cara’s “Here” and “Scars to Your Beautiful”, and two Grammy Awards for his work on Alicia Keys’ ‘Girl on Fire' (Best R&B Album) and Rihanna’s ‘Unapologetic' (Best Urban Contemporary Album). And The Writer Is… Oak Felder!This episode is sponsored by SONOS and BMI. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

She is a multi-platinum, Grammy-nominated artist, songwriter and producer hailing from Rochester, New York. At the age of 15 she signed her first record deal with Columbia Records and released her debut album, ‘Underage Thinking’. The album’s lead single, “For You I Will (Confidence),” quickly found a spot in the Top 40. After a brief stint as a teen pop star, she began to co-write and produce music for other artists. She has written songs for acclaimed artists across the musical spectrum including P!nk, Maroon 5, Anne-Marie, Dej Loaf, Leon Bridges, Christina Aguilera, One Direction, Tiesto, Matoma, Empire of the Sun, Niall Horan, 5 Seconds of Summer, Birdy, DJ Snake and DNCE. Most notably her compositions and productions with Shawn Mendes have earned her multiple #1s and include the 2017 BMI song of the year “Stitches,” hit singles "Treat You Better,” “Mercy,” "There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back,” the Grammy nominated “In My Blood,” as well as Shawn’s new single “If I Can’t Have You”. And she played an integral role on the Billboard #1 self-titled Shawn Mendes album producing and co-writing 11 tracks. As an artist, she recently released her new solo album ‘LilyAnna’ under the moniker teddy<3 which features the singles “Body & Soul” and “I Was in a Cult”. And The Writer Is…Teddy Geiger!This episode is sponsored by BMI. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our guest is a three-time Grammy Award-winning songwriter and producer who has earned 40 No. 1 singles to date. He was named Songwriter of the Year by the Academy of Country Music in 2014 and 2019. Hot Country Songwriter of the Year by Billboard in 2015. This writer co-produced Kacey Musgraves' 2012 award-winning debut album, ‘Same Trailer Different Park,’ which earned him the Grammy for Best Country Album, and her 2015 follow-up, ‘Pageant Material.’ He's also produced debut albums for Sam Hunt (‘Montevallo’), Old Dominion (‘Meat and Candy’), Midland (‘On the Rocks’), Walker Hayes (‘boom.’) and more. In 2016, he arranged and produced "Forever Country," a collaborative song featuring Luke Bryan, Faith Hill, Miranda Lambert, Tim McGraw, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood and more to commemorate the CMA's 50th anniversary celebration. "Forever Country" debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart, making it the third song to debut at No. 1 on the chart since it began in 1958. He earned a five-times-platinum No. 1 co-writing "Body Like a Back Road," by Sam Hunt, which was the longest-reigning No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Song chart by a solo artist, spending 34 weeks atop the chart. Last year, our guest announced his co-presidency of Monument Records (with industry veteran Jason Owen) in conjunction with Sony Records, adding "label head" to his impressive list of accomplishments. He earned his latest No. 1 song with Old Dominion's “Make It Sweet“ and was named to Billboard's 2018 Country Power Players list. He also co-wrote Kacey Musgraves' "Space Cowboy," which recently won Best Country Song at the Grammys. This summer he will serve as a producer on NBC’s new musical competition series “Songland.” And The Writer Is…Shane McAnally! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our guest is a Grammy winning and six-time nominated songwriter, producer and guitarist. He has produced and/or written 45 #1 singles, 91 #1 albums and 60 million records sold to date in the genres of Rock, Pop and Country music. He has won a Grammy for Producer of the Year. And to those in the industry, his work is considered the gold standard. He started playing guitar in high school and performing with his band around LA. His incredible talent on guitar was the source of his first break, when he was asked to become Teena Marie’s tour guitarist at the age of seventeen. But songwriting was never far away, and he was soon writing jingles and themes for commercials and movies of the week, even as his guitar skills remained in high demand for demos and session work. A meeting with Melissa proved to be the next turning point in his career. After briefly playing guitar in her band, he left to concentrate on his own writing and production. Since then he has worked artists such as Alanis Morissette, Melissa Etheridge, The Corrs, Bonnie Raitt, Joe Cocker, Sheryl Crow, Keith Urban, Santana, Michelle Branch, Fleetwood Mac, Miley Cyrus, Bon Jovi, Celine Dion, Annie Lennox and numerous others. And The Writer Is...John Shanks! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This Florida-born, LA-based singer-songwriter wrote her first song at age eight and got her start posting self-recorded songs on YouTube as a teenager. Now, after spending nearly a decade as a chart topping songwriter, penning hits for stars like Rihanna, Ariana Grande, Pitbull, Kelly Clarkson, Miranda Lambert, Mary J. Blige, Madonna, Demi Lovato and many others, Renea has emerged to tell her own story with the chameleon-like stylistic range and emotional intelligence that has brought so many others’ hits to life. Spanning classic R&B, dark-edged country and urban-soul, her current album 'Coloured' is a fierce, political, and personal collection of stories that reckon with Priscilla's childhood in rural Florida, sublime love, violent heartbreak and racial trauma. And The Writer Is...Priscilla Renea! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our guest this week is hit songwriter who was trained as a classical violinist from the age of three and got his start in pop music with the Chicago area band he co-founded, Made in Hollywood. He is a powerhouse behind huge global hits including the 7x multi-platinum single “Havana” by Camila Cabello, the 5x multi-platinum “Work from Home” by Fifth Harmony, 4x multi-platinum “Let Me Love You” by DJ Snake & Justin Bieber, “Wolves” by Selena Gomez & Marshmello, “It Ain’t Me” by Kygo & Selena Gomez, “Let Me Go” by Hailee Steinfeld and Alesso ft. Florida Georgia Line and watt, and more. He has also contributed to several major albums and artist projects for Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Lukas Graham, Rita Ora and Carly Rae Jepsen, amongst others. This musician effortlessly carves pop melodies with more consistency than most songwriters in the game. And The Writer Is… Brian Lee!This episode is sponsored by BMI. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.