The Harder The Life, The Sweeter The Song

Since moving to Nashville late last year, I have learned one thing: Nashville is full of true talent.  It’s not just the songbirds who spit out twangy vocals, this town has musicians (some of the best in the world), engineers, publishers, and songwriters.  As a new feature to Tragic Kingdom in 2011, the Songwriter Spotlight will give songwriters a chance to get much needed, and well deserved, attention.  First up, is by far one of the most sincere storytellers in town, John Edwards.

Born in the hills of Lenior, North Carolina, songwriter John Edwards was destined for success. At the age of three, his mother moved John and his brothers to Arizona to escape from an abusive marriage. Growing up watching his mother struggle to raise three boys on her own, John learned just how hard life could be without a strong male role model in his life. The experiences that he faced as a young man shaped him into a sincere and real storyteller, which he later learned to share through the gift of music.

With only the dream of writing hit records and hearing them played by the city’s finest, Edwards packed up his Arizona based roots in January of 2001 and headed east for Nashville, Tennessee. Upon his arrival in Music City, he took on renovation projects at a rundown, local motel in return for a place to stay. When the project concluded, Edwards found a roof at the, once famous, Spence Manor, where he again traded his handy work for rent. The historic hotel, and its guitar shaped swimming pool, that was once home to Frank Sinatra, Tammy Wynette, The Beatles, and Elvis, was being transformed into condominiums on Music Row. When John wasn’t knocking on doors looking for opportunities to play his music, he hopped in the front of a taxi cab and, with his guitar in the passenger seat, transported people around town writing melodies and lyrics in between stops.

In 2004, his drive to succeed and determination on Music Row paid off when he got the chance to sit down with one of Nashville’s top publishers and songwriters, Roger Murrah (“Don’t Rock The Jukebox”). Edwards was signed to a publishing deal with Murrah Music after playing five of his self-penned tracks. The deal he had been dreaming of was his, but unfortunately it only lasted two years – not long enough to make an impact. In the wake of the blow, John turned to music to tell the personal story of a fateful night when his mother pulled the trigger on her husband, only to find the gun was not loaded. With rent due and jobs scarce, John returned to his Arizona home. Ironically, just two months after being released from his obligation to Murrah, he learned that the personal song and story of his mother’s struggle, was going to be his first major cut. The song, “What She Had To”, appeared on Lonestar’s 2006 release Mountains. Around the same time, his track “Cowboy and a Dancer” was cut for Tracy Byrd’s first independent release, Different Things.

On the heels of the good news, Edwards returned to Nashville and began looking for new representation. In April 2007, Edwards had found his home. Benny Brown of Broken Bow Records signed John to a publishing deal at Magic Mustang Music, home also to Tragic Kingdom’s Featured Artist, Jason Aldean. John approached Aldean’s band members, appreciating their unique sound and ability to blend with his vision for tracks. Tully Kennedy, Rich Redmond, and Kurt Allison started playing on his demos. The three year relationship with ‘the boys’ led to the second major cut of his career, a southern love song called “Country Boys World”. The track appeared on Aldean’s smash 2010 release My Kinda Party as one of the album’s standout tracks. With My Kinda Party being one of the biggest selling country album’s of the last year, it is clear that Edwards is on his way.

In Nashville, industry insiders call it a “ten year town” and as Edwards closes his first decade in Music City with a bang, it looks like the rumors are true. He’s paid his dues in full and does not regret, or look back at, one part of his hard rise to success.