From Craig Wiseman’s early days of writing and drumming in Hattiesburg, MS, to being crowned Songwriter of the Century by ASCAP, he has created for himself a monumental platform in country music. As the writer of songs including Brooks & Dunn’s “Believe” to Blake Shelton’s “Boys 'Round Here,” Wiseman has amassed over 300 cuts, 100 singles and 27 number ones.

After moving to Nashville, TN, in 1985, he received his first chart success after co-writing Roy Orbison’s “The Only One.” In 1990, Wiseman signed his first publishing deal with Almo/Irving Music, then later signed with BMG Music Publishing. In 2003, Wiseman opened his own publishing company, and within the first year of its operation, the first single of the catalog, “Live Like You Were Dying” by Tim McGraw, not only peaked at the top of the charts for 10 weeks, but was also named NSAI Song of the Year, CMA Song of the Year and ACM Song of the Year and won the Grammy Award for Best Country Song.

Not only was Wiseman proclaimed ASCAP’s Songwriter of the Year in 2003, 2005 and 2007 and Writer of the Year by NSAI and Music Row in 1997, but he was named NSAI’s Songwriter of the Decade in 2009 and won the 2014 Heritage Award from ASCAP as the most performed country songwriter of the century. In 2017, Wiseman was awarded with his first CMA Triple Play Award for having three number-one hits within a year.

For the past 14 years, Wiseman has hosted the Stars for Second Harvest show at the Ryman, which, to date, has raised $1.2 million for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee. After years of success, accomplishments and hard work, Wiseman was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in October 2015.

Home and the people who make it have captivated Lori McKenna for years. Over the last three decades, as she became a wife and mother of five, she has also emerged as one of the most respected, prolific singer-songwriters in popular music. Her 2016 release The Bird and the Riflenetted three Grammy nominations along with Americana Music Association nods -- all firsts for McKenna as an artist. Then, she made history: In 2016, she became the first woman ever to win the Country Music Association’s Song of the Year two years in a row thanks to co-writing Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush” and penning Tim McGraw’s number one “Humble and Kind” solo. Both songs also clinched back-to-back Grammy wins for Best Country Song. In 2017, she became the Academy of Country Music’s first female Songwriter of the Year. The Treeis her much-anticipated eleventh studio album. Produced by Dave Cobb, The Tree takes one of McKenna’s signature themes -- family -- and builds a tapestry of experiences she has lived, overheard, been told, and dreamed up to create a stunning ode to life’s defining relationships.