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SMOKY MOUNTAINS
SONGWRITERS FESTIVAL

FOUNDING SONGWRITERS BIOS

 

SMSWF is forever indebted to Bobby, Chris, Clay and Marty for helping us get a great line-up for the first Smoky Mountains Songwriters Festival.

Marty Dodson, Clay Mills, Bobby Tomberlin and Chris Wallin
are coming back again Aug. 23-25, 2012
and will bring other hit songwriters with them.

 


 

Marty Dodson 

          A Nashville, TN native, Marty Dodson celebrates his first #1 single with Billy Currington’s “Must Be Doin Something Right”. The song stayed atop Billboard’s Country Chart for two weeks and was on the charts for over 8 months. It has also been featured in a Hallmark Greeting card that will actually play the song when it is opened. This song is one of Ten “Songs I Wish I Had Written” to be honored at the Nasvhille Songwriters Annual Award Banquet in October this year. One of the ten songs will be awarded the “Song of the Year” award. This song is also among ASCAP’s most played songs of the year and is nominated for ASCAP’s “Song of the Year” award as well. It was certified Gold as a digital single, signifying downloads of over 500,000 copies of the song. Marty’s songwriting credits include Billy Currington’s “Let Me Down Easy” which won the Single Hit of the year for 2012, Kenny Chesney’s “Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven” and Rascal Flatts “While You Loved Me”. Other artists that have recorded his songs include Diamond Rio, Buddy Jewell, Lonestar, Blaine Larsen, Billy Ray Cyrus, John Michael Montgomery, The Oak Ridge Boys, Ricochet, Rebecca Lynn Howard, Craig Morgan, Erika Jo and Tracy Lawrence.

www.martydodson.com

     

 

Clay Mills 

          Clay Mills is a singer/songwriter from Cleveland, MS who now lives in Nashville, TN. The simple truth about Clay Mills is he loves good wine, good music, movies, traveling to new places and all the things that most people like. He is also famous for his Margaritas. He is living the life he dreamed of as a kid writing songs for a living in Nashville. Clay’s songwriting credits include Darius Rucker’s “History In The Making” and “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It”, Trisha Yearwood’s “Heaven, Heartache And The Power of Love,” Diamond Rio’s “Beautiful Mess”. Andy Griggs’ “She Thinks She Needs Me”, Danielle Peck’s “I Don’t” and Clay Walker’s “Fall”, which is also an Adult Contemporary hit for American Idol’s Kimberley Locke. Across 20 years in the business, Clay has written, produced, played and sung on television and radio commercials for the Armed Forces, Red Lobster and other corporations. Clay has cuts by Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town and Emerson Drive.

www.myspace.com/claymillsmusic

 

 

 

     

 

Bobby Tomberlin 

Songwriter/Artist Bobby Tomberlin is a Grammy, CMA, and ACM award nominee. He began his career in the music business at the early age of 11 as a disc jockey at WLVN in his hometown of Luverne, Alabama. During this time he interviewed legends such as Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Tammy Wynette, and Keith Whitley. Mel Tillis gave Bobby his first publishing contract, and he is currently a staff writer for Curb Records.

Bobby co-wrote the number one Country and top five AC hit, “One More Day” recorded by Diamond Rio and co-authored the inspirational book by the same title. He co-wrote the Top 10 single, “A Good Day To Run” with Darryl Worley and the number one Country Gospel single, “That’s The Way He Was Raised” recorded by Josh Turner. Bobby has also had songs recorded by Faith Hill, Kenny Rogers, Chris Young, Rodney Atkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Joe Nichols, Thompson Square, David Nail, Terri Clark, The Oak Ridge Boys, Little Jimmy Dickens with Brad Paisley, Ty Herndon, Joe Diffie, Bill Anderson, Lee Greenwood, Chely Wright, T.G. Sheppard, Linda Davis, Eddy Arnold, Russ Taff and many others. Bobby & Steve Dorff co-wrote “Dream Big,” the featured song in the Warner Film, A Pure Country Gift, as well as a song in the film, Small Town Saturday Night, starring Chris Pine of Star Trek fame.

Currently, Bobby can be seen every week as a cast member and featured singer on CMT’s hit television series, The Singing Bee. Bobby makes a cameo appearance in the Warner Film, A Pure Country Gift and plays a retired Secret Service Agent in the upcoming Stephen Dorff Film, Brake. Bobby recently appeared with Larry Gatlin on the Grand Ole Opry and with Vince Gill at Tin Pan South.

Also a voiceover artist, Bobby’s voice can be heard on projects by Trace Adkins, Michael McDonald, The B 52’s, Bill Medley and Peter Frampton. His first CD, “Living In The Wild,” features special guests including Little Jimmy Dickens, Bill Anderson and Steve Wariner. Some of Bobby’s co-writers include Josh Turner, Phil Everly of the Everly Brothers, Pam Tillis, Lee Brice, Steve Wariner and Mac Davis.

www.bobbytomberlin.com

 

     

 

Chris Wallin 

 With his unique gift for finding the extraordinary in ordinary life, Chris Wallin has established himself as one of Music Row’s most sought-after songwriters.

For the past several years, Wallin has topped the charts with classics-in-the-making for the industry's biggest stars: “Love Me If You Can” #1 by Toby Keith, "Don't Blink" A 6 week #1 by Kenny Chesney, "Soldiers And Jesus" Top 40 by James Otto, “I’m Tryin’” Top 5 for Trace Adkins, “Something To Be Proud Of”(2 week #1) and “Speed” (Top 5) by Montgomery Gentry.

His poignant lyrical portrayals of everyday people as they deal with living and loving have also been embraced by artists such as Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley, Diamond Rio, Lorrie Morgan, Keith Anderson, Sammy Kershaw, Confederate Railroad and Neal McCoy, among many others.

Raised in the small town of White Pine, Tennessee, Wallin was influenced by the likes of Jim Croce, James Taylor and Merle Haggard, as well as his own musical family – especially his mother, a singer herself. She recorded and performed in Nashville for a time, and the experience made an indelible impression on the seven-year-old Chris.

He began writing songs at age 12 and, perhaps inevitably, moved to Music City several years later, making the dues-paying rounds of writers nights and songwriting contests. He caught a break when his songs caught the ear of a small publishing company (co-owned by eventual Taylor Swift collaborator Liz Rose), helping to launch him on a professional career that has led to award-winning collaborations with fellow hit-makers like Jim Collins, Anthony Smith, Bob Dipiero ,Craig Wiseman, Tim Nichols and Jeffrey Steele.

Dedication and talent – not to mention a wry sense of humor – have taken him to the heights of the music world and primed him for international acclaim, but his advice on how to achieve such success is typically straightforward and down-to-earth: “Find out what you do the best and do that till you drop.” So Chris Wallin will continue to set the truth of real life to words and music because that’s what he does best!

www.chriswallin.com 

 

 

 

 

     

 


 


 

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