The NSAI #1 Party was held on Monday, Sept. 15 at the organization’s Music Mill headquarters, presenting No. 1 plaques to the writers of songs reaching the top chart spot between February and July 2014 (full list below).
Additional honors included the NSAI President’s Choice Award, selected by Lee Thomas Miller, for guitarist/producer Jerry Kennedy for contributions to the betterment of all songwriters. The Maggie Cavender Award, voted by the NSAI Board of Directors, was presented to Eileen Littlefield in recognition of her late husband, Merlin Littlefield for service to the songwriting community. The Stephen Foster Award, chosen by NSAI Executive Director Bart Herbison, was presented to Douglas Corner co-owner and producer, Mervin Louque, in recognition of generous support and dedication to songwriters.
The organization will present additional nods for Best Song, Songwriter and Songwriter/Artist, as well as the Top 10 “Songs I Wish I Had Written,” on Oct. 5 at the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Dinner and Induction Ceremony at the Music City Center.

Songs Recognized (February – July 2014)
“Whatever She’s Got,” Jimmy Robbins, Jon Nite, recorded by David Nail
“Sweet Annie,” Zac Brown, Wyatt Durette, Sonia Leigh, John Pierce, recorded by Zac Brown Band
“Friday Night,” Eric Paslay, Rose Falcon, Rob Crosby, recorded by Eric Paslay
“Invisible,” Hunter Hayes, Bonnie Baker, Katrina Elam, recorded by Hunter Hayes
“Chillin’ it,” Cole Swindell, Shane Minor, recorded by Cole Swindell
“When She Says Baby,” Rhett Akins, Ben Hayslip, recorded by Jason Aldean
“Helluva Life,” Rodney Clawson, Chris Tompkins, Josh Kear, recorded by Frankie Ballard
“I Hold On,” Dierks Bentley, Brett James, recorded by Dierks Bentley
“Doin’ What She Likes,” Wade Kirby, Phil O’Donnell, recorded by Blake Shelton
“Goodnight Kiss,” Rob Hatch, Jason Sellers, Randy Houser, recorded by Randy Houser
“Drink To That All Night,” Derek George, Lance Miller, Brad Warren, Brett Warren, recorded by Jerrod Niemann
“Fever,” Dan Auerbach, Patrick Carney, Brian Burton, recorded by the The Black Keys
“Play It Again,” Ashley Gorley, Dallas Davidson, recorded by Luke Bryan
“Get Me Some of That,” Michael Carter, Rhett Akins, Cole Swindell, recorded by Thomas Rhett
“Rewind,” Eric Paslay, Chris DeStefano, Ashley Gorley, recorded by Rascal Flatts
“Ain’t It Fun,” Hayley Williams, Taylor York, recorded by Paramore
“Automatic,” Nicolle Gaylon, Natalie Hemby, Miranda Lambert, recorded by Miranda Lambert
“Somethin’ Bad,” Chris DeStefano, Brett James, Priscilla Renea, recorded by Miranda Lambert feat Carrie Underwood
“Beat Of The Music,” Brett Eldredge, Ross Copperman, Heather Morgan, recorded by Brett Eldredge
“My Eyes,” Andrew Dorff, Tommy Lee James, Josh Osborne, recorded by Blake Shelton feat. Gwen Sebastian
“Lettin’ The Night Roll,” Justin Moore, Jeremy Stover, Rodney Clawson, recorded by Justin Moore
“Give Me Back My Hometown,” Eric Church, Luke Laird, recorded by Eric Church
“American Kids,” Rodney Clawson, Luke Laird, Shane McAnally, recorded by Kenny Chesney
“Beachin’,” Jaren Johnston, Jon Nite, Jimmy Robbins, recorded by Jake Owen
“We Believe,” Richie Fike, Matt Hooper, Travis Ryan, recorded by Newsboys
“Dirt,” Chris Tompkins, Rodney Clawson, recorded by Florida Georgia Line
“Yeah,” Ashley Gorley, Bryan Simpson, recorded by Joe Nichols
“Whiskey In My Water,” Tyler Farr, Phillip LaRue, John Ozier, recorded by Tyler Farr
“Who I Am With You,” Marv Green, Paul Jenkins, Jason Sellers, recorded by Chris Young

Lee Brice was recently surprised during a show at Madison Square Garden, where the RIAA recognized “I Don’t Dance” as the fastest certified platinum country single released in 2014.
Today co-host Hoda Kotb joined Brice on stage to reveal the award. “I Don’t Dance” is the title track of Brice’s third album. It recently earned a CMA nomination for Song of the Year. “I Don’t Dance” was penned by Brice, Rob Hatch and Dallas Davidson.

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Nashville-based FLO {thinkery} has added Don VanCleave to its core group of senior executive advisers.
VanCleave co-founded Record Store Day and led ThinkIndie, a distributor of exclusive music to the independent record store community.  He founded the Coalition of Independent Music Stores in 1995 and led the organization until 2009.
He is also the recipient of the first Independent Spirit Award from NARM in 2009. He also manages the band Moon Taxi through his DVC Management Company.
 

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Catch This Music has hired Mitch Werthington as a social media manager. The graduated from The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina. After graduating, he was lead singer for southern rock band Southwood. He moved to Nashville to concentrate on songwriting and to work in the music industry.
“Mitch has a drive to create great songs, he also carries with him a strong vision to help grow the CTM brand. Mitch brings to our family amazing knowledge of social media and graphic design. We are honored to have him join our team of creators,” says CTM President/CEO Eddie Robba.

Spirit Music Nashville (formerly Cal IV Entertainment) has extended its exclusive agreement with songwriter Jim Collins. Collins first joined Cal IV Entertainment in 2006. Spirit Music Nashville originated from Spirit Music Group’s recent acquisition of Cal IV Entertainment.
Collins moved to Nashville from Houston, Texas, in 1995. He has scored hits including “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy,” “Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven,” and “The Good Stuff” (all recorded by Kenny Chesney), “Then They Do” (Trace Adkins), “How Bad Do You Want It” (Tim McGraw), and “Big Green Tractor” (Jason Aldean).
Collins’ “Baby Be My Love Song” is the new single recently released by Mercury artist Easton Corbin, and his songwriting will be featured on upcoming releases by Reba and Dustin Lynch.

AristoWorks, the digital division of AristoMedia, has signed on to work with Resnik Music Group (RMG) on the creation and management of music discovery profiles, and development of a custom database that houses all of RMG’s catalogs.
Florida-based Resnik Music Group has built a music catalog of more than 4,000 titles collected from purchasing or absorbing nearly 100 publishing imprints. RMG’s catalog includes songs from various formats, including Country, Americana, Gospel and doo-wop.

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Good Times Entertainment founder Michael Weist has opened SwerVRecords. He joins James Lucente and Chris Keaton in the new venture, and plans to announce the first signing this month. Good Times Entertainment nurtures and presents online talent from Instagram, Vine and YouTube to audiences through festivals and events nationwide.

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Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) has launched its online “Song List.” The launch features all works where a UMPG writer is directly affiliated with a US performing rights organization. The UMPG Song List is available to anyone who visits umpg.com.
The Song List contains information on songs controlled by UMPG, including song title, songwriters names, PRO affiliation, UMPG control percentage and, to the extent available, the International Standard Musical Work Code (ISWC), a permanent and internationally recognized reference number for the identification of musical works.

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Capitol CMG Publishing celebrated five-time Dove Award-winning songwriter Sue Smith on her latest No. 1 single, “Calvary’s Cry,” recorded by Daywind Records’ Brian Free & Assurance. This marks Smith’s ninth No. 1 single for Capitol CMG Publishing.

Big Machine Music and Warner/Chappell Nashville have mutually announced the extension of a co-publishing contract with songwriter Laura Veltz. Veltz recently scored her first No. 1 song as a co-writer on “Drunk Last Night,” recorded by Eli Young Band. She is also a co-writer on two current singles: Chris Young‘s “Lonely Eyes” (RCA Nashville) and Dean Alexander‘s “Live A Little” (Warner Music Nashville).
“I’m overjoyed that I get to continue to work with these two incredible companies,” said Veltz. “It’s such a blessing to focus on what I do and know that I’m in the right hands.”
“Laura brings an energy to all that she does and on behalf of the team at W/C we’re excited to continue to see her thrive in this partnership and her two singles on the chart are further proof of her talent,” said Ben Vaughn, Exec. VP of Warner/Chappell Nashville.
Big Machine Music VP Mike Molinar comments, “Laura is such a special songwriter and is just beginning to hit her stride. Our crew at Big Machine is excited to extend our successful relationship with her and our partners at Warner/Chappell.”