Nominees, Date Announced for 2025 Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala

Twelve exemplary tunesmiths are 2025 nominees for the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame (NaSHOF).

The new group will be among those honored at the 55th Anniversary Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala on Monday, October 6, 2025, at the Music City Center.

“Well-deserved congratulations to all the nominees in our contemporary categories,” says NaSHOF Executive Director Mark Ford.  “We look forward in several weeks to announcing those who will be inducted this fall as members of our Class of 2025.”

2025 nominees in the Contemporary Songwriters category are:

Steve Bogard

Shawn Camp

Don Henry

Gordon Kennedy

Tony Martin

Aimee Mayo

Jim Rushing

Darrell Scott

2025 nominees in the Contemporary Songwriter/Artists category are:

Jim Lauderdale

Gillian Welch & David Rawlings

Lucinda Williams

CeCe Winans

All nominees experienced their first significant songs at least 20 years ago.  A total of two songwriters and one songwriter/artist will be elected from the contemporary categories by members of the Hall of Fame along with other professional songwriters and artists from a variety of genres who are prominently identified with Nashville and who have written/co-written at least one original and significant Nashville song.

In addition, three more writers will be named to the Class of 2025.  A separate body of veteran voters will elect a Veteran Songwriter, a Veteran Songwriter/Artist and a Legacy Songwriter (deceased), all of whom experienced their first significant songs at least 30 years ago.  As part of that process, nominees in those categories are not announced.

ABOUT THE NASHVILLE SONGWRITERS HALL OF FAME 2025 NOMINEES:

Category 1 – CONTEMPORARY SONGWRITERS

STEVE BOGARD

Florida native Steve Bogard’s songwriting path began in Tampa where his teenage Rock band days led to two solo-penned singles on Scepter Records.  Following a move to Memphis, where he scored a Top 20 R&B hit with James Carr, Steve made his next move to Miami as a 19-year-old staff writer for Atlantic Records, where he garnered cuts by Rita Coolidge, Delaney & Bonnie, and others.  Steve followed with solo albums in Canada and the U.K.  Then in 1979, one of his 11-year-old songs, “Touch Me With Magic,” was released by Marty Robbins, reached #15 Country, and became a BMI-award winner.  Steve moved to Nashville in 1982.  His first #1, Lee Greenwood’s “Mornin’ Ride,” came five years later and was followed by more #1’s: “New Fool At an Old Game” by Reba McEntire, “Carried Away” and “Carrying Your Love With Me” (both by George Strait) “Wherever You Are” by Jack Ingram, and “Seein’ Red” by Dustin Lynch.  In 2000, “Prayin’ For Daylight” launched Rascal Flatts’ career as their debut single, and in 2006 and 2007, two of Steve’s songs by Dierks Bentley were nominated for Grammys – “Every Mile A Memory” and “Long Trip Alone.”

SHAWN CAMP

Shawn Camp grew up on a farm outside of Perryville, AR.  He picked up a guitar at age five and by age 20 had moved to Nashville, where he found work in the late ’80s as a fiddle player for The Osborne Brothers, Jerry Reed, Shelby Lynne, Alan Jackson and Trisha Yearwood.  After charting with a pair of self-penned singles in 1993 as a Warner Bros. artist, Shawn earned his first #1 hits as a songwriter in 1998 with “Two Piña Coladas” by Garth Brooks and “How Long Gone” by Brooks & Dunn.  Other Country hits soon followed, including “Would You Go With Me” and “Firecracker” (both by Josh Turner), “Nobody But Me” by Blake Shelton, and “River Of Love” by George Strait.  Also a successful Bluegrass writer, Shawn’s hits include “Sis Draper” by Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder and “Hillbilly Heartache” by Don Rigsby & Midnight Call.  In addition to writing “A Beautiful Time,” the title track of Willie Nelson’s 2023 Grammy-winning album, Shawn penned “Don’t Be Calling Me (At 4AM),” a 2024 Bluegrass #1 for Billy Strings.  Shawn’s forthcoming album, The Ghost of Sis Draper, features 12 songs he co-wrote with Guy Clark.

DON HENRY

California native Don Henry began writing songs at age 13.  By the late 1970s, he was ready to give Nashville a try.  His early successes came from cuts by T.G. Sheppard and John Conlee, who singled “Blue Highway.”  Conlee also recorded “Class Reunion,” as did The Oak Ridge Boys, Gene Watson and Ray Charles.  Kathy Mattea has recorded a several of Don’s songs, including “Beautiful Fool,” “Whole Lotta Holes,” and the heart-wrenching “Where’ve You Been.”  Also recorded by Patti Page and Dailey & Vincent, that song earned the 1990 Grammy for Best Country Song, as well as the 1989 ACM Song of the Year, the 1990 CMA Song of the Year and the 1990 NSAI Song of the Year.  In 1993 Don released a critically acclaimed album on Sony Records titled Wild in the Backyard.  Many of those songs, such as “Harley” and “Mr. God” have become staples in his solo acoustic performance repertoire.  Among other hits from Don’s catalogue are “Heart Vs. Heart” by Pake McEntire, “Has Anybody Seen Amy?” by John & Audrey Wiggins and “All Kinds Of Kinds” by Miranda Lambert.  Don also records and performs in the duo The Don Juans with Jon Vezner.

GORDON KENNEDY

Born in Shreveport, LA, Nashville-raised Gordon Kennedy grew up attending studio sessions with his father, musician/producer Jerry Kennedy.  At age 15, Gordon wrote his first song and played guitar on his first session.  In 1984 he joined the Christian Rock band White Heart, writing five of their Top 5 hits, including “Fly Eagle Fly.”  In the early ’90s, Gordon’s “That Kind Of Love,” recorded by PFR, was named CCM Magazine’s 1994 CHR Song of the Year.  Several years later, Gordon was a co-writer on the international hit “Change The World” — first recorded in 1995 by Wynonna, then again by Eric Clapton for the 1996 film, Phenomenon.  The song spent 13 weeks at #1 and earned the 1997 Grammy for Best Song (and also for Record of the Year).  Among Gordon’s dozen-plus Garth Brooks cuts are “You Move Me,” “Love Will Always Win” (with Trisha Yearwood), “Lost In You” and “It Don’t Matter To The Sun” (both by Brooks’ alter ego, Chris Gaines).  In addition to singles by Bonnie Raitt (“I Can’t Help You Now”) and Ricky Skaggs (“Return To Sender,” a 2010 Grammy Gospel song nominee), Gordon co-wrote five songs with frequent collaborator Peter Frampton on his 2007 Grammy-winning instrumental album, Fingerprints, which he co-produced.  Gordon’s songs are also featured in the Disney film The Fox And The Hound 2.

TONY MARTIN

Born in Georgia and raised in Nashville, Tony Martin has been around Country songwriting his entire life.  The son of classic Country composer Glenn Martin, Tony grew up at the feet of other stellar songwriters such as Sonny Throckmorton, Mickey Newbury and Hank Cochran.  During his time as a journalist for a Chicago newspaper, Tony was writing parody songs for fun when his father urged him to take his talent more seriously.  In 1988, Tony wrote “Baby’s Gotten Good At Goodbye,” which his father successfully pitched to George Strait.  The song proved to be the dream scenario for a songwriter.  It was Tony’s first demo, first cut, first single, first hit and first #1.  Since that time, Tony has added more chart-topping hits to his resume.  Among those are “Banjo” by Rascal Flatts, “I’ll Think Of A Reason Later” by Lee Ann Womack, “Just To See You Smile” by Tim McGraw, “Living And Living Well” by George Strait, “No Place That Far” by Sara Evans, “Settle For A Slow Down” by Dierks Bentley, “Third Rock From The Sun” by Joe Diffie, “Time Is Love” by Josh Turner and “You Look Good In My Shirt” by Keith Urban.

AIMEE MAYO

Raised in Gadsden, AL, Aimee Mayo wrote her first song at age eight alongside her father, hit songwriter Danny Mayo.  By high school, Aimee was writing obsessively, and by age 20 had moved to Nashville, where she waited tables at Brown’s Diner and dreamed of becoming a songwriter.  Over the next three years, she signed with AMR Publishing and scored her first Top 5 hit with “Places I’ve Never Been” by Mark Wills.  By 2000, she landed her first #1 song, “My Best Friend” by Tim McGraw.  A few weeks later, “Amazed” by Lonestar topped the Country, AC, and Pop charts.  The Grammy-nominated song was named the 1999 ACM Song (and Single) of the Year, the 1999 NSAI Song of the Year, and the 2000 BMI Country Song of the Year.  The following year, Aimee was named BMI’s 2001 Country Songwriter of the Year, making her one of the few female songwriters to win both song and songwriter honors from the performing rights organization.  Other hits from Aimee’s pen include “It’s Always Somethin’” by Joe Diffie, “Let’s Make Love” by Faith Hill & Tim McGraw, “This One’s For The Girls” by Martina McBride, “Who You’d Be Today” and “Bar At The End Of The World” (both by Kenny Chesney), “Let It Go” by Tim McGraw, and “Every Time I Hear That Song” by Blake Shelton.  Aimee is also the best-selling author of the memoir, Talking to the Sky.

JIM RUSHING

Jim Rushing was raised in Lubbock, Texas.  He studied classical piano for 13 years, then at age 17 left high school to join the U.S. Army Airborne and First Special Forces, Okinawa.  After a tour in Vietnam, he returned to the U.S. to complete his master’s degree as mounting opposition to the Vietnam War was dividing college campuses across America.  Amidst the turmoil, Jim began writing songs in earnest and by 1971 moved to Nashville to pursue songwriting full time.  During his three decades in Music City, Jim wrote or co-wrote songs recorded by a veritable Who’s Who of country, bluegrass, gospel and pop, including “Hope You’re Feelin’ Me (Like I’m Feelin’ You)” by Charley Pride, “Nothing Sure Looked Good On You” by Gene Watson, “Pittsburgh Stealers” by The Kendalls, “Cajun Moon” and “Thanks Again” by Ricky Skaggs, “Little Mountain Church House” by Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver (1990 IBMA Song of the Year), “Lonesome Standard Time” by Kathy Mattea and by Larry Cordle (1993 IBMA Song of the Year), “Cheap Whiskey” (Martina McBride), “American Honky-Tonk Bar Association” by Garth Brooks and “Salt Of The Earth” by Ricky Skaggs & The Whites.

DARRELL SCOTT

Darrell Scott was born in the rural farming town of London, KY, then moved with his family to East Gary, IN.  Darrell’s father encouraged each member of the family to play an instrument in the family band.  By age 16, Darrell was playing bar gigs around southern California.  After stints in Canada and Boston, Darrell moved to Nashville, where he joined Guy Clark’s band and began to play on sessions.  Soon after, his songs began finding homes across a variety of genres.  In the Country world, he hit with “It’s A Great Day To Be Alive” by Travis Tritt, “Born To Fly” by Sara Evans (a 2001 CMA song nominee) and “Long Time Gone” by The Chicks (a 2002 Grammy nominee for best country song and a 2003 IBMA song nominee).  Darrell’s Bluegrass hits include “Banjo Clark” by Sam Bush, “You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive” by Patty Loveless, “Cumberland Plateau” by Darin & Brooke Aldridge and “Bleeding For A Little Peace Of Mind” by Blue Highway (a 2011 SPBGMA song nominee).  Darrell’s Americana recording of “Hank Williams’ Ghost” was the 2007 AMA Song of the Year, while “Heavy Is The Head” by Zac Brown Band w/ Chris Cornell was a #1 Rock song in 2015.  Darrell was named 2000-2001 NSAI Songwriter of the Year and 2002 ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year.

Category 2 – CONTEMPORARY SONGWRITER/ARTISTS

JIM LAUDERDALE

Born in Troutman, NC, Jim Lauderdale grew up in Due West, SC.  After college graduation in 1979, Jim made his way to Nashville for a few months before moving on to New York.  By the late 1980s, Jim had joined the national touring production of Pump Boys & Dinettesand relocated to Los Angeles, where he began to find traction musically as a writer and performer.  In the early 1990s Jim returned to Nashville, where he began to land early cuts by George Strait.  By the mid ’90s Jim’s songs were finding homes on the Country chart: “Gonna Get A Life” by Mark Chesnutt, “Halfway Down” by Patty Loveless and “You Don’t Seem To Miss Me” by Loveless & George Jones.  Near the end of the decade Strait had Top 5 hits with Jim’s “We Really Shouldn’t Be Doing This” and “What Do You Say To That” (originally recorded by Jim on BNA Records in 1998).  Across Jim’s career as an Americana recording artist, he has released 37 albums – achieving two Grammy wins for Bluegrass Album of the Year and charting Bluegrass hits such as “Mighty Lonesome,” “One Blue Mule” and “Iodine.”  His collaborations with Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys have yielded the Bluegrass Top 10 “I Feel Like Singing Today” and “She’s Looking At Me,” the 2002 AMA Song of the Year.  Jim was honored with the AMA’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016.

GILLIAN WELCH & DAVID RAWLINGS

Gillian Welch & David Rawlings share a musical/songwriting partnership spanning three decades.  L.A.-raised Gillian moved to Nashville in 1992.  Rhode Island-native David arrived soon after, and the two became a duo (performing as “Gillian Welch”).  Since their debut album in 1996, Gillian & David have crafted critically acclaimed songs encompassing a wide variety of genres.  Some of the duo’s best-known songs include “Orphan Girl,” “To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High),” “Elvis Presley Blues,” “455 Rocket” (also a Country hit for Kathy Mattea) and “Tear My Stillhouse Down” (also a #1 Bluegrass hit for The Nashville Bluegrass Band).  “I Want To Sing That Rock And Roll” was a 2002 AMA song of the year nominee.  “Ruby” was a 2010 AMA song of the year nominee.  The Dailey & Vincent version of Gillian & David’s “By The Mark” reached #2 Bluegrass and was the 2009 SPBGMA Bluegrass Song of the Year.  Gillian & David’s “Cumberland Gap” was a 2018 Grammy nominee for best roots song.  Also in 2018, the duo’s “When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings,” recorded by Tim Blake Nelson & Willie Nelson for the film The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, was an Oscar nominee for best original song.  In 2015 Gillian & David received the AMA’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriters.

LUCINDA WILLIAMS

Born in Lake Charles, LA, Lucinda Williams began writing songs at age six, playing guitar at age 12 and performing on stage at age 17.  Dropping out of college to pursue music full-time, she played venues in Austin and Houston before moving to Jackson, MS, in 1978 to record her first album of cover songs.  Her second album featured all original songs and her landmark self-titled third album produced three hits.  The first, her breakout “Changed The Locks,” reached #16 Rock in 1988 and would become a #20 Rock hit for Tom Petty nearly a decade later.  The second, “The Night’s Too Long,” became a #20 Country hit for Patty Loveless in 1990.  The third, “Passionate Kisses,” became a #4 Country hit for Mary Chapin Carpenter and earned Lucinda the 1994 Grammy for Best Country Song.  By 2001, she charted again as an artist with the #9 Alternative hit “Essence.”  She earned AMA nominations for her songs “Righteously” (2003), “Are You Alright?” (2007) and “East Side Of Town” (2015).  She earned Grammy nominations for “Come On” (2007), “Kiss Like Your Kiss” (2010) and “Man Without A Soul” (2020).  Lucinda was awarded the 2011 AMA Lifetime Achievement Award (songwriting) and the 2022 BMI Troubadour Award.  In 2021, she was inducted into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame.

CECE WINANS

Priscilla “CeCe” Winans was born in Detroit, MI, as one of 10 children in Gospel music’s famed Winans Family.  In the 1980s, she and her brother BeBe became featured singers on Christian television’s The PTL Club before leaving to record and tour as a duo.  Their 1991 release, Different Lifestyles, made them the first Gospel artists to sell Platinum and also included CeCe’s co-written “Addictive Love,” the first CC song in history to top the R&B charts and which earned a 1992 Dove for Contemporary Gospel Song of the Year.  After seven albums as a duo, CeCe launched a solo career in 1995.  As a songwriter, her “Hallelujah Praise” earned a 2004 Dove for Contemporary Gospel Song of the Year.  In 2009, “Waging War” was nominated for a Dove, then in 2021, “Believe For It” earned the 2022 Grammy for Best Contemporary Christian Performance/Song, as well as the 2022 Dove for Song of the Year.  More songs from CeCe’s pen have become hits on the Gospel, AC, Pop, and R&B charts, including “Let Them Fall In Love,” “Pray,” “Say A Prayer,” “Slippin’,” and “Well Alright.”  With 15 albums as a solo artist, CeCe is a 2015 Gospel Music Hall of Fame inductee with stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Music City Walk of Fame.