COUNTRY WEEKLY: Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Inducts Four New Members

John Anderson, Gretchen Peters, Tom Douglas, and Paul Craft Honored

photo by Bev Moser/Alliance
 
John Anderson, Gretchen Peters, Tom Douglas and Paul Craft were inducted as the newest members of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame during the 44th Anniversary Hall of Fame Dinner & Induction Ceremony, Sunday night (Oct. 5), at Music City Center in Nashville. The awards are presented in conjunction with the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), an organization dedicated to protecting the rights of songwriters.
John was the Songwriter/Artist inductee while Gretchen, Tom and Paul were inducted in the Songwriter category. As is customary, each inductee was saluted with a musical tribute from various artists. Thomas Rhett kicked off that portion of the evening as he performed a medley of Paul's songs, including "Brother Jukebox," while Bobby Bare closed the set with "Dropkick Me, Jesus," a Top 20 hit for Bobby in 1976.
Gretchen, whose hits include Martina McBride’s "Independence Day" and Patty Loveless’ "You Don't Even Know Who I Am," was honored by Trisha Yearwood, who sang "On a Bus to St. Cloud," and Brandy Clark. Rock star Bryan Adams also sent along a congratulatory video to Gretchen.
Tim McGraw, elegantly clad in black jacket and white tuxedo shirt, took the stage for Tom Douglas, performing "My Little Girl." Songwriter Allen Shamblin did a brief acoustic version of "The House That Built Me," the Miranda Lambert hit he co-wrote with Tom. Collin Raye was in note-perfect form with his rendition of Tom's first major hit, "Little Rock." Lady Antebellum, who recorded Tom's song "I Run to You," passed along a video message congratulating their songwriter friend. "Thank you for being such an incredible lyricist," said the trio's Hillary Scott.
John Anderson was introduced by John Rich, who produced John's Easy Money album. "He's one of the greatest talents of all time," John noted. Hall of Fame songwriter Bobby Braddock sat at the piano and performed John's "Seminole Wind," while Josh Turner had the crowd smiling with his version of John's signature tune, "Swingin'." Josh told the audience, "He's one of my five big heroes of country music and one of the most genuine people I've ever met."
As inductee John took the podium, he acknowledged that the Hall of Fame honor was "very humbling." He also drew laughs when he surmised that songwriting was not exactly rocket science. After a short pause for effect, John deadpanned, "Well, maybe it is."
Country Weekly congratulates John, Gretchen, Tom and Paul on this prestigious honor.

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