The Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) is an American institution founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman, and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to honor those whose work represent and maintain the heritage and legacy of a spectrum of the most beloved English language songs from the world's popular music songbook. It not only celebrates these established songwriters, but is also involved in the development of new English language songwriting talent through workshops, showcases, and scholarships. There are many programs designed to teach and discover new English language songwriters. Nile Rodgers serves as the organization's chairman.
Jonathan Mark Foreman is an American musician who is the lead singer, guitarist, primary songwriter, and co-founder of the alternative rock band Switchfoot. He formed the band in 1996 with drummer Chad Butler and his brother Tim Foreman on bass guitar. Keyboardist Jerome Fontamillas and guitarist Drew Shirley later joined the band. As a solo act, Foreman has released 14 extended plays and two studio albums.
Halloween, Alaska is a Minnesota-based band consisting of James Diers, Jake Hanson, Bill Shaw, and Dave King. All of the group's members live in the Twin Cities. Original keyboardist and programmer Ev left the band in 2008. Original bassist Matt Friesen left the band in 2009. The group first formed in 2002, and work on a self-titled debut soon began to be recorded. Completed in 2003, the disc earned considerable acclaim not only in the Twin Cities but also from indie tastemakers and college radio programmers across the US, combining ambient electronic elements with moody alt-pop songwriting. Two tracks from the disc were featured in the Fox television series The O.C.: "Des Moines" in season one, and "All the Arms Around You" in season two. The track "State Trooper", featured on their self-titled debut, is a cover version of the song by Bruce Springsteen. East Side Digital reissued the album in 2005, adding remixes and bonus tracks. A second disc titled Too Tall to Hide was released in 2005 and features another cover song - "I Can't Live Without My Radio" by LL Cool J. Champagne Downtown was released on April 7, 2009. An EP of remixes by Twin Cities artists was released in November 2009. Their most recent album, Le Centre, was released in 2018.
Van HuntJr. is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He released his debut album, Van Hunt, in 2004, and a follow-up, On the Jungle Floor, in 2006, both on Capitol Records. He won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for appearing on the tribute version of the Sly & the Family Stone song, "Family Affair", in 2007. He transitioned to Blue Note Records where his 2008 album, Popular, was shelved and would not be released until 2017. He self-released the compilation album Use in Case of Emergency in 2009.
James Ellis Ford is an English record producer and songwriter, known for being a member of Simian Mobile Disco and the Last Shadow Puppets as well as his production work with Arctic Monkeys, Blur, Depeche Mode, Foals, Florence and the Machine, Haim, Gorillaz, Klaxons, Jessie Ware, Kylie Minogue, Declan McKenna and the Pet Shop Boys.
NicolleJean Leary, better known as Nikki Jean, is an American singer-songwriter. Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Jean started out as a lead singer of a short-lived Philadelphia band called Nouveau Riche. She was introduced to rapper Lupe Fiasco when he was working on his 2007 album Lupe Fiasco'sThe Cool and achieved initial success as the featuring artist on his single "Hip Hop Saved My Life". She continues to collaborate frequently with him.
Matt Ellis is an Americana genre singer-songwriter from Sydney, Australia. Based in the U.S. since 2005, Ellis just released a new single, "Coming Back".
Donovan Woods is a Canadian folk and country singer-songwriter. He has released several albums of folk and roots music, including the Juno Award-winning Both Ways.
Jeremy Matthew Messersmith is an American indie pop musician based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States.
Douglas K. S. Paisley is a Canadian alternative country singer and songwriter, formerly with record label No Quarter Records and now with Outside Music. He was born in Toronto.
Charles T. Harmon, better known as Chuck Harmony, is an American music producer, musician, songwriter and entrepreneur, based in Nashville, Tennessee. He is a three-time Grammy Award nominee, and won a 2011 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Song for Fantasia’s "Bittersweet".
St. Lola in the Fields is a two-person band based in Nashville, Tennessee. Band members include singer/songwriter/musician/author, Cindy Morgan Brouwer, and songwriter/producer/engineer/musician, Jeremy Bose. St. Lola was birthed out of the need for both artists to have a venue to release their own penned songs that may have been viewed as having little commercial potential for other artists. The band members have together written over 20 number one songs, and have written songs for other artists, including Uncle Kracker and Clay Aiken, among others.
Sidney Miller III, also known by his production name of Speakerbomb, is an American record producer and keyboardist. He was a founding member of the Los Angeles-based band Malbec, and was also a keyboardist in the hip hop group The Knux. He is currently a producing and writing as a member of The Sharpshootaz production/songwriting team, working with artists like Alex Jacke and Jesse McCartney.
Hell in a Handbasket is the eleventh studio album by Meat Loaf, released September 30, 2011, in Australia and New Zealand, through Legacy Recordings. A wider global release followed in early 2012. It features guest appearances from Lil Jon, Mark McGrath, Trace Adkins, John Rich, and Chuck D, as well as Meat Loaf’s regular collabortors Paul Crook and Patti Russo.
Natalie Warner is an American singer, songwriter, and producer.
Morley Kamen, known professionally as Morley, is an American singer-songwriter, recording artist, music producer, and curator. Her music incorporates a wide variety of world influences, including folk, jazz, soul, and pop. Morley uses music as a tool for dialogue facilitation and trauma release when working with survivors of human trafficking and war.
Justin Thomas "JT" Daly is an American musician, producer, songwriter, visual artist, and former frontman of Nashville-based rock band Paper Route. His production and co-writing work include Benson Boone's Gold-certified single "Ghost Town", and Bully's album "Lucky For You".
Let It Rock! is the Connection's first full-length LP, released in June 2013. While all rock and roll, the songs on Let It Rock! are otherwise diverse in nature, and one of them incorporates touches of country music. A single, "Crawling from the Wreckage ", was released before the album as a 7-inch single.
Jody Gerson is the Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Publishing Group. Upon assuming the role on January 1, 2015, Gerson became the first female CEO of a major music publisher and first chairwoman of a global music company. Gerson serves on the Executive Management Board for Universal Music Group.
Miranda Nicole Dodson is an American Christian musician and folk singer-songwriter, who primarily plays an alternative country, roots rock, and a worshipful style of music. She has released one studio album, Change a Thing, in 2010, and an extended play, Ascend, in 2014.
