As part of ACM week, four of Nashville's most popular songwriters performed an intimate show of their hits, and talked about the stories behind the songs. What a treat this was. It's great to hear the songwriter sing their creation, which may sound very different from the radio version popularized by a country music artist.

The four songwriters involved were: Craig Wiseman, Jeffrey Steele, Bob DiPiero and Tony Mullins.


They performed acoustically, and each one took a turn, with all four songwriters playing their guitars for each performed song.

Jeffrey Steele was first to perform. He told of being asked if he would write a sequel for "My Town." He said that he didn't write songs unless it was 'something to be proud of.' And, there came the title and song which was a popular hit for Montgomery Gentry, which he then performed.

Bob DiPiero was next. He talked about wanting to write a love song that has never been done. So, he wrote a song about his ex-wife's sister, Connie. That song was "You Can't Take the Honky Tonk Out Of The Girl," popularized by Brooks & Dunn.

Tony Mullins was third. He said he'd like to perform a song he hasn't written yet. Then, he sang a song that I'm not sure if it is something he just came up with, or is popular, but I just haven't heard it before, called "That Ain't Right."

Craig Wiseman was fourth. He sang "Rough and Ready," which was popularized by Trace Adkins.

From there, we start at the left again with Jeffrey Steele, who performed "Help Somebody," popularized by Van Zant.

Bob DiPiero said that he had written with a lot of different people, but had written a big song with Vince Gill, and he played it one night in a club, and there was a lady who looked like she had had quite a bit to drink, sitting with her husband. He overheard her say to her husband as she heard Bob play the popular Vince Gill song he had co-written with him, Boy, Vince Gill surely has let himself go. After this short story, he played "If You Ever Stop Loving Me," popularized by Montgomery Gentry.

Tony Mullins said he wrote a song one time and he wasn't sure if it was gonna be a hit, but it was picked up by one of country's biggest stars, and sure enough, it was indeed. That song was "How Forever Feels," popularized by Kenny Chesney.

Craig Wiseman said with all the testosterone on the stage, they needed a woman up there, so he introduced special guest, Sarah Buxton. Sarah is a new artist on Lyric Street Records, and she performed two songs. "It's That Kind of Day," and "Growin' Up To Do." Not positive on the titles, but I enjoyed her voice and the songs were pretty good.

Jeffrey Steel performed "What Hurts the Most," popularized by Rascal Flatts.

Bob DiPiero performed "Church on Cumberland Road," popularized by Shenandoah.

Tony Mullins performed "Ain't Nobody Gonna Tell Me What To Do," popularized by Van Zant.

Then, came the funniest part of the night. Craig Wiseman asked someone at one of the tables to bring up his bag of stuff. He said, "When I think about Vegas, I think about.... Elvis," as he put on an Elvis wig and sunglasses. He then handed out matching wigs and glasses to the other three songwriters. I wish my camera battery hadn't died during the ACM New Artist's show. I would have loved getting a picture of that!

In Elvis mode, Bob sang "Burnin' Love," Tony sang "Hound Dog," Craig sang "Viva Las Vegas," and Jeffrey sang "Heartbreak Hotel." All this time, Craig has a small digital camera which he is sticking in the other guys' faces and snapping pics of them singing. It was hilarious!

One more round to go... Craig told of the one day that he went out to Ronnie Dunn's barn to tell him about a song he was writing, and wanted to write with him. I didn't write this down, so I'm going by memory, but I believe Craig's wife is a minister, and he was in the process of writing "Believe," which he then sang. He's no Ronnie Dunn in the vocal department (not many people can come close to Ronnie's awesome vocals), but his version was touching that he got a standing ovation after he was done.

Jeffrey said the next song he was going to perform was one he'd written with Bob DiPiero, and that song was "Gone," popularized by Montgomery Gentry.

Bob sang another Montgomery Gentry song, "She Don't Tell Me To."

Tony said the next song he was going to perform was one he'd written with Jeffrey, and that song was "Me and My Gang," popularized by Rascal Flatts.

Craig was the final performer of the night, and he closed with "Live Like You Were Dying," popularized by Tim McGraw.

What an enjoyable evening. I love hearing songs performed by the original writers. If I ever get the chance to attend another show like this, I'm there in a heartbeat. Great show!