You must be an active NSAI member to pitch.

LOCATION:1710 Roy Acuff Pl. Nashville, TN 37203

TIME: Doors will open at 10:00am CT / Event will begin at 11:00am CT

PLEASE PLAN TO ARRIVE EARLY - SPOTS ARE LIMITED AND FILL UP QUICKLY!

If you are unable to attend this workshop in person, please note that it will NOT be streamed or-distributed for later viewing.

ABOUT Elizabeth Cook:

Cook joins the company as a senior at Belmont University. The songwriting major has previously spent time at Creative Nation and King Pen as an intern, and will now support the Back Blocks Music team as Creative Coordinator. The Nashville native will be responsible for catalog management, calendars and office management, while acting as an executive assistant to Marshall.

ABOUT Back Blocks Music:

Back Blocks Music is a Nashville-based artist development and publishing company founded in 2020 by Billboard Power Player Rakiyah Marshall. Following her tenure at Republic Records and BMG Publishing, Marshall launched Back Blocks Music to bring a new approach to artist development. Inspired by a family saying to ‘take the back blocks,’ Marshall named the company after the idea that there is always more than one way to get where you need to go. In less than one year, the company has already seen notable success with groundbreaking artist Lily Rose’s debut release “Villain,” which earned Rose a label joint venture with Big Loud Records, Back Blocks Music and Republic Records.

Back Blocks Music is also home to singer/songwriter and entrepreneur Ashley Cooke. Founder of the TikTok creator studio, The 615 House, Cooke released her debut album Already Drank That Beer in Aug. 2021 produced by award-winner Jimmy Robbins. The roster is rounded out with writer Blake Pendergrass, who earned his first major cut with Morgan Wallen’s “865.” An early fan-favorite from Wallen’s recent double album Dangerous: The Double Album, “865” marks Pendergrass as the only unsigned writer on the 30 song project. Pendergrass has also celebrated cuts with Chris Lane and Ashley Cooke in 2021.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE:

You must be an NSAI Member to fully participate in pitch / feedback workshops.

Bring an MP3 version of your song that you can easily play from your phone, along with two lyric sheets for the song you chose.(Cassette tapes will not be accepted.)

*Members are more than welcome to attend and simply observe the event even if they do not want to submit a song for pitch!

We will play the first verse and first chorus of each song and the guest will "pass" or "take a copy".

Up to 50 members can participate and will be played in order of arrival -Members traveling greater than 75 miles or 2 hours from Davidson County will be given priority to participate.*

If you arrive earlier than 10:00am, please join the line on our covered porch on the Roy Acuff side of building. Once doors open you will sign in and submit your lyrics sheets of the song you chose, to the receptionist for the event.

Song submission must be the original work of the Songwriter without use of any artificial intelligence, and must not infringe upon the copyrights, rights of privacy, publicity or other intellectual property or other rights of any person or entity,or be otherwise contrary to applicable laws and regulations.

*ATTENTION OUT-OF-TOWN MEMBERS:

Members traveling greater than 75 miles or 2 hours from Davidson County are considered "out-of-town". You must be in the Priority Line prior to the time that doors open at 10:00am. If you arrive after 10:00am, you will be asked to join the end of the "Nashville/Local Line". At that point, there is no guarantee that you will be able to participate.

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*NSAI does not require you to wear a mask, but we encourage you to do what feels most comfortable.

GUEST ATTENDEES:

NSAI non-members are permitted to observe two workshops prior to joining to experience what NSAI is about. If you have attended more than two workshops as a non-member, you will be asked to join NSAI as a member to fully benefit from membership and attend future events.

PARKING:

Limited parking will be available in the NSAI parking lot.

Additional parking is available on the street and in neighboring paid lots.