After more than 20 years working at various companies in the music business, I started getting asked a question more frequently, “Why did you decide to launch Songwriter City?”
It sounds like an innocuous question, but it’s also a profound one.
Anyone in the process of starting a business should be asking themselves the question of “why?” Mine is wrapped up in how I’m wired and what drew me to Nashville in the first place.
I moved here because I wanted to be part of the music industry. I had an intentional desire to work with talented artists and help them succeed. That journey started in radio, went deeper through record labels, and eventually expanded into other areas of the music business.
But somewhere along the way, the focus began to shift. Too often it became more about the business and less about the artist. More about ego and power and less about the music itself.
At some point I realized I needed to get back to the reason I came here in the first place.
So I stepped back and asked myself a simple question: What is it that I actually love most about this industry?
The answer was easy.
Songwriters.
They are the foundation of everything creative in music. The ones behind the songs that become the soundtrack to people’s lives. The craft, the storytelling, the honesty — it all starts there.
And my favorite form of live music has always been songwriter rounds. Those moments when a handful of gifted writers sit on a stage together, sharing the stories behind their songs and performing them in an intimate setting. Often they’re songs that became massive hits for other artists. But in that room, it’s just the writer, the song, and the story.
It’s authentic. It’s personal. And with the right group of songwriters, it becomes something special that’s hard to replicate anywhere else.
Over the years, I’ve watched countless people walk out of those rooms saying it was one of the most meaningful music experiences they’ve ever had. Not because of big production or flash, but because they got a rare glimpse behind the curtain into the creative process and the people who make the music happen.
That’s why Songwriter City was born.
The idea was simple: bring those songwriter experiences to more people and create more opportunities for the writers themselves through private, corporate, and select public shows.
But for me personally, it meant something more.
It meant rediscovering the reason I came to Nashville in the first place.
Because at the end of the day, it’s not about ego.
It’s not about chasing superstars.
It’s about songs.
It’s about music.
And it’s about true artists.
– Mike
