Songspeak - Conversations on the Art and Craft of Songwriting - Monty Holmes.
Tennessee MTSU Recording Industry professor Hal Newman, and occasional guest hosts, interview ASCAP songwriters.
Topics include the process of writing songs, how one becomes a songwriter, tips for being a successful songwriter in the music industry. Songwriters also perform a few of their songs. The programs are recorded in front of MTSU students enrolled in Recording Industry courses. A question and answer session follows each discussion.
Our guest today is Texas singer/songwriter Monty Holmes. Monty’s love of traditional country music was instilled in him as a child. Growing up in Lubbock, his grandfather who was a musician, exposed him to his record collection and artists like Jimmie Rodgers. As a young adult, Holmes formed a band and moved to Austin, where he recorded the song "In the Arms of a Beautiful Woman" that became a regional hit. From there, it was on to Nashville and work as a staff songwriter and singer on demo recordings. Through his demo work, Holmes quickly gained a reputation for his voice. He penned several songs for George Strait, including "I Know That She Still Loves Me" and the Top Ten "When Did You Stop Loving Me," as well as "What I Do The Best" for John Michael Montgomery and "Never Again, Again" for Lee Ann Womack. Holmes signed a deal as an artist with upstart label Bang II and issued his debut All I Ever Wanted in 1998.