There’s something exciting about putting a big name on an event agenda. A recognizable artist or celebrity brings instant familiarity and excitement, and there are plenty of times when that’s exactly the right choice.

But there’s another question worth asking: What do you actually want people to experience?

You can spend $500,000—or considerably more—on a major artist and create an incredible concert. What you may not get, though, is the kind of access that allows an audience to really get to know the person onstage. You may not hear the stories you’ve never heard before or discover the humanity behind the music.

That’s one of the things that makes an experience with hit songwriters so different.

After more than a decade of creating these experiences, we’ve watched the same progression happen again and again. People may walk into the room not entirely sure what to expect. Then one of our songwriters starts playing a song everyone recognizes, and you can almost see the realization move through the audience:

Wait…they wrote THAT?

That surprise gets their attention, but then something deeper begins to happen.

They hear the story behind the song. Maybe it’s hilarious. Maybe it’s deeply personal. Maybe it came out of a difficult season of life, an unexpected conversation, or years of rejection before something finally broke through.

Suddenly, a song they may have heard hundreds of times means something different because now they know the person and the story behind it.

And often, those stories aren’t really about the music business at all. They’re about things all of us understand—relationships, failure, persistence, family, creativity, loss, hope, taking chances and believing in something when nobody else does.

That’s where the connection happens.

The songs may be what initially capture people’s attention, but the stories are what allow an audience to see the human being behind them.

Access Changes Everything

One of the things we appreciate most about working with world-class hit songwriters is how accessible they are.

These are GRAMMY, CMA and ACM winners, Hall of Fame songwriters and the people behind #1 hits and some of the biggest songs recorded by some of the biggest artists in music.

But there isn’t the same wall between them and the audience as with a celebrity artist.

They stay afterward and talk. Shake hands. Take pictures. Continue a conversation that started during the show. At a smaller gathering, they may be sitting right there with everyone else, sharing stories and getting to know the people in the room.

That creates something very different from simply seeing someone famous.

It creates relationship.

And that distinction matters when we talk about the value of these experiences.

A hit songwriter shouldn’t be viewed as the less-expensive alternative to booking the artist who recorded the song. It’s not the budget version of something bigger.

It’s an entirely different experience.

If what you want is a major concert with a famous artist, book the artist. There’s nothing quite like that experience.

But if you want your audience to discover something they didn’t know, hear stories they’ve never heard, laugh, feel something and connect with extraordinary people in a remarkably human way, that’s the experience we create.

Over the years, we’ve watched these experiences unfold in a way that’s become very familiar.

It starts with curiosity because people aren’t quite sure what to expect.

Then comes surprise when they realize the person in front of them wrote some of the biggest songs in music.

That becomes admiration when they experience the talent in the room.

Then comes discovery as they hear the stories behind those songs and begin to understand the people who created them.

And ultimately, it leads to what matters most: connection.

The biggest name doesn’t always create the most meaningful experience. The real value is in what your audience gets to experience:

Access. Stories. Discovery. Humanity. Relationship. Connection.

In the end, it’s not simply about putting the biggest name on the agenda. It’s about creating an experience that truly connects with the people in the room.

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