Education Center

Emily Shackelton found her way to Nashville from Biwabik, Minnesota. After studying at Berklee College of Music, Emily moved to Nashville to pursue songwriting. She has played Tin Pan South many times and her catalog includes cuts by Carly Pearce, Runaway June, Joy Williams, Reba McEntire, Sara Evans, Jana Kramer...

Akil Thompson is a producer/arranger/multi-instrumentalist/mix-engineer.  From Josh Groban and Lauren Daigle to Little Big Town and Dave Barnes, Akil's experience in the recording/production world and as a multi-instrumentalist is expansive and thus, his knowledge! Akil offers up advice to songwriters on communication tips when in the production process, as well...

With a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree in music education, Janet began her successful teaching career as a faculty member at Belmont University’s commercial music program where she taught for 11 years. Her students are as varied as she is! Country artists like Lady Antebellum and Josh Turner, soulful...

EMI Records Nashville’s Kylie Morgan began writing songs in her hometown of Newcastle, OK when she was only 12 years old. A masterful storyteller, the singer-songwriter released her music independently in her early teens, garnering national attention from music producers and television executives. At the age of 16, she was...

Contributed by Brenna Joslin

Over the last few months, the whole world has been turned upside down by the novel Coronavirus. For many of us, this may be the first pandemic of this nature in our lifetimes. The entertainment industry has been affected massively, with hundreds of venues, restaurants, and...

How do you know when it's time to demo a song? GRAMMY award-winning songwriter, musician and producer Robin Ruddy shares her wisdom on all things production.