Nashville SC in collaboration with SONY Music Publishing is bringing a piece of Music City to GEODIS Park with a special songwriters event on Friday, November 17 in the GEODIS WeHo Club.
Join us to hear local songwriters Madeline Merlo, Matt McKinney, Cole Taylor, and Neil Medley tell their stories about songs that have climbed the charts and which country stars sing them today.
From Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Madeline Merlo brings a unique style and influce to country music. After signing her first record deal at the age of 18, Merlo was honored with the Canadian Country Music Association’s Rising Star Award in 2015. In 2020, Merlo won the season two premiere episode of the NBC songwriting reality series Songland, penning the upbeat and infectious “Champagne Night” for Lady A. The song was a three-week No. 1 that opened doors in Nashville, led to a record deal with BBR Music Group and won Merlo (along with her “Champagne Night” co-writers) the 2021 Canadian Country Music Association Award for Songwriter of the Year.
McKinney has cuts with Trey Lewis, Kolby Cooper, Jordan Davis, & Elle King (5). Since moving to Nashville, he’s continued to write with some of Nashville’s top writers including Jordan Walker, Ben Hayslip, Jimmy Yeary, Jacob Rice, Joybeth Taylor, Josh Phillips, Rivers Rutherford, Trannie Anderson, & Seth Mosley. His most recent releases are “Tulsa” performed by Elle King making it her first single release of 2023, “Part Of It” performed by Jordan Davis, and “Beer With Santa” by Jon Pardi.
Nine months after moving to Music City, Taylor signed a publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Nashville in November 2013, and has since had three songs reach #1 on the country music charts; “Sippin’ On Fire” by Florida Georgia Line “Home Alone Tonight” by Luke Bryan featuring Karen Fairchild of Little Big Town and “You Me and Whiskey” by Justin Moore and Priscilla Block.
Neil is an award-winning singer/songwriter who has written songs for artists such as Luke Bryan, Jake Owen, Cody Johnson, Brent Cobb, Whiskey Myers, and many others. These songs have generated hundreds of millions of steams on streaming platforms and a multi-week #1 radio single for Jake Owen, “Made For You.” After 12 years of writing for others, Neil released his own album, South End Kid.
