If you are unable to attend this workshop in person, please note that it will NOT be streamed or re-distributed for later viewing.
If you are a member and would like to attend and simply observe, you are more than welcome!
ABOUT BONNIE BAKER:
Signed her first publishing deal in 1997 with a small boutique publishing company, McSpadden-Smith. Baker landed her first cut in 1998 with a new artist on Warner Bros. That title was Ordinary Life which became a single and consequently a number one on the country charts and Bonnie Baker received her first of three ASCAP awards that following year. Other award winning singles: This Woman Needs by supergroup SheDaisy and My Sister by Reba McEntire.
Ten million albums have been sold that have at least one title created by Baker. She has three titles on the first Hunter Hayes Warner Bros. album that sold over two million copies worldwide. She wrote the song Invisible that was on the second Hayes album for Warner Bros. That title was performed live on the Grammys and then received a nomination the following year in the country single category.
In January of 2020 Baker began an adjunct position at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) in the Recording Industry department. Commercial Songwriting: Gender & Identity is the class topic and has grown 120% since inception. Baker is leading workshops for songwriters from all over the world and has developed relationships with adjuncts from The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance in London as well as The University of Ottawa, Ontario and as of November 2022 a relationship with Princeton University and their studio manager.
Bonnie Baker started bker MGMT in January of 2021. She has signed songwriter / producer Ryan Petersen and Kate Malone. She is developing her management style as she helps with production budgets, scheduling, creating compelling content for albums as well as developing new talent.
A documentary titled Invisible is scheduled for 2021 which follows Baker and many other female writers and producers. To date, the documentary has been accepted in 28 film festivals. The latest showing was at the MIXCP Film Festival in Copenhagen, Denmark. Baker attended the festival and presented songs from the film. The unreleased work documents individuals and their journey of being gay while being in the commercial music business with an emphasis on Nashville, Tennessee and the south.
Baker has songs with artists as diverse as Rachel Platten, Zella Day, Rascal Flatts, Hunter Hayes, Chely Wright, The Static Shift, Reba, Brantley Gilbert, Sara Evans, Emerson Drive, Tenille Arts and Megan Davies. Currently she has a small creative writing/production space on the east side of Nashville.
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 feedback!
We will play the first verse and first chorus of each song and the guest will provide comments/suggestions/feedback.
Up to 30 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 5:00pm, please join the line on our covered porch on the Roy Acuff side of building. Once doors open at 5:00pm 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, and must not infringe upon the copyrights, rights of privacy, image or likeness, publicity or other intellectual property or other rights of any person or entity, or be otherwise contrary to applicable laws and regulations. To the extent any generative or other forms of artificial intelligence was used in the creation of the song related to the submission, a detailed description of the scope of that use must be disclosed upon submission, for any NSAI-sponsored service or event.
*Please note, any songs containing generative AI content affecting the composition of the song will not qualify for any competition or merit-based recognition opportunities (i.e. Ones to Watch, NSAI Member Awards, Top 40, NSAI Song Contest, Chapter Challenge, live pitch, live feedback events, etc.)
- To understand melody in music, think about some music you’re familiar with. If you were asked to hum it, what would that sound like? The part of the music that you’d hum is the melody. According to: Hoffmanacademy.com
- Our policy speaks to the writing/creation of a song, not the production component.
