x

Music

Keith Urban Shares the Secret to a Great Song ahead of Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Ceremony

October 12, 2023

LOS ANGELES — Country superstar Keith Urban and Kix Brooks of powerhouse duo Brooks & Dunn will be inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame on Wednesday night at Nashville’s Music City Center.

Urban, a four-time Grammy Award winning musician, is being celebrated at the 53rd anniversary gala for hits such as “But for the Grace of God,” “Who Wouldn’t Wanna Be Me” and “Days Go By.”

Kix Brooks’ songwriting in Brooks & Dunn helped shaped the iconic ’90s country music sound, with tracks like the Grammy-nominated “Brand New Man,” “You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone” and “Only in America.”

Other inductees include Casey Beathard and David Lee Murphy, in the contemporary songwriter category, and Rafe Van Hoy in the veteran songwriter category.

When asked to share the secret behind great songwriting in advance of the ceremony, Urban told The Associated Press over the phone: “It’s one of the most elusive things. Some days it just flows and other days, there’s nothing. I just always hope it’s not a day where I show up to somebody important to write with and nothing comes in.”

Urban says he’s learned over the years that if the inspiration to write a song doesn’t hit one day, it’s best to be kind to yourself.

“Just be in the moment and flow. If it’s there, it’s there. If it’s not, it’s not. But there’s a real balance, I think, of inspiration and craft,” he said. “It’s a blend of those two and then a whole bunch of mysticism all at the same time.”

Simply put: There’s no equation.

“It’s alchemy. You’re making something where there was nothing,” he continued. “I’ve often said that I can’t physically bring a child into being, but I can bring a song into being. And that song didn’t exist before that day. And now it exists and now it will always exist. And that’s an amazing feeling.”

 

RELATED

Watching “La Haine” nearly 30 years ago, there was a sense of something inexorable about violence in the French suburbs.

herald

Top Stories

Columnists

A pregnant woman was driving in the HOV lane near Dallas.

General News

NEW YORK – Meropi Kyriacou, the new Principal of The Cathedral School in Manhattan, was honored as The National Herald’s Educator of the Year.

Video

An Iconic Churchill Photo Stolen in Canada and Found in Italy is Ready to Return

ROME (AP) — Canadian and Italian dignitaries on Thursday marked the successful recovery of a photo portrait of Winston Churchill known as “The Roaring Lion," stolen in Canada and recovered in Italy after a two-year search by police.

Garrett Crochet, Tanner Houck and Tarik Skubal made their big league debuts pitching in empty ballparks.

PALERMO, Sicily (AP) — Thousands of people turned up for the funeral of Italian World Cup hero Salvatore “Totò” Schillaci on Friday.

BRANDON, Mississippi (AP) — Soon after Ashanta Laster reached the hospital, she was ushered into the emergency room where she saw doctors performing CPR on her teenage son.

BERLIN (AP) — Francisco Cerundolo got Team World off to a winning start at the Laver Cup with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Team Europe's Casper Ruud on Friday.

espa

Enter your email address to subscribe

Provide your email address to subscribe. For e.g. [email protected]

You may unsubscribe at any time using the link in our newsletter.