To kick off Tin Pan South on a Tuesday night, I attended my first round including Tyler Rich, Jordan Walker, John Gurney, and a special guest Adam Doleac.
Jordan Walker, who was previously a part of Walker Mcguire, sang his smash hit “When It Rains It Pours” that changed his life for the better. “This was my first ever hit and it got me a wife and a house. I wrote this song with one of my best friends in the world, Ray Fulcher and a guy named Luke Combs,” Walker says. “The day we wrote this song Luke I had known for about 2 hours and he said he wanted to write a song about his ex-girlfriend and I go yeah I can write a breakup song. Then he says I really wanna write it about her mom though. And I said alright, now I’m very interested. I say let’s write a song about your ex-future mother-in-law” and the rest is history. Walker also performed his Walker Mcguire track “Mysteries Of The World” along with a song he penned with Mitchell Tenpenny called “Mixed Drinks” that’s currently on Tenpenny’s EP.
John Gurney is an artist you need to keep an eye on. He currently has singles you can stream and buy. “Home With Her” has over 11 million streams and his new track just released in January “That’s How You Got It” has 700,000 streams and counting. Gurney also performed his track that’s released called “Fairytale Dress.” “I was fortunate to win the 2018 NSAI Song Contest, presented by CMT with this one,” Gurney says. “It did a lot for me in the last year. It’s all about holding onto the look of innocence that we hold onto when we’re young and trying to bring that into adulthood.” He also played a clever track I hope he releases soon called “Drink I Think.” The chorus says “I could use a drink I think / but every time I drink I think of you” and he explained that it was inspired by a late-night conversation on Broadway.
California native Tyler Rich started off his turn by introducing “Made For A Small Town” that he comes from a little town north of Sacramento; where the only thing it’s famous for is the feral chickens that run around on the highway. Rich also brought out an old song he has never played before called “Lost Time.” He played his potential single that he just recorded and it’s a fan favorite, “Leave Her Wild.” It’s about Rich being in a controlling relationship and him realizing she was turning him into something he’s not. “I’ve realized this thing about relationships, I see friends that meet someone and they like them and they spend an entire relationship trying to change them into their vision rather than just letting a person be themselves,” Rich says. “My buddy in the writer’s room said if you’re going to make a woman do something, make her smile. I said to write that down and then the whole chorus poured out. As they say, happy wife happy life.” Lastly, Adam Doleac was a surprise addition to this round. He first played his track cut by Darius Rucker called “Don’t” along with his songs released “Famous,” “Whiskey’s Fine,” and “Mom and Daddy’s Money.”
It was the perfect round mixed of talent and humor to keep the audience entertained. You can find out more about Tin Pan South and when you can catch a show here.
Kelly Shea Cunningham 