Many years ago, I think it was the early 80s, Earl Bud Lee found his way to the house where Edna and I lived at the time on Walnut Street in Madison, Tenn. He wanted to write with me because I had attained some success in the music business as a country singer/songwriter. At the time I was an MGM recording artist, and I also had songs I had written that were recorded by Loretta Lynn, Con Hunley, Tom Jones and Gary Stewart, and I was not accustomed to writing with anyone. Yet, every other morning for some time, he was at my door wanting to write with me and wanting me to help him structure some of the lyrics in his songs. He was very persistent—something you must possess to be successful in the country music business—so I finally let him come in. He was a young man in his 20’s.

This was one of the greatest decisions I’ve made in Nashville. Bud became a good friend and some of the most beautiful melodies I have ever heard in my life came out of his soul and into my mind and heart forever. His lyrics were great too; however, some songs were at the time a little out of meter with a few too many throw away words. Bud was easy to work with and always eager to learn a new idea and a way to get things done properly. I’ve never taught anyone anything without learning something from them in the process. Believe you me, I’m sure I learned more from Earl Bud Lee than he ever learned from me.

Bud is certainly not a time waster, and he took his new-found knowledge and went for a long, hard walk down Music Row. It wasn’t long before Earl Bud Lee had a songwriting deal, and the big wigs on Music Row were taking notice and paying attention to this young man with the ideas rolling off the tip of his pen and the great melodies emanating from his heart and soul. Shortly thereafter, Bud showed his true genius to his friend, Dewayne Blackwell, and together they wrote one of country music’s classic songs, “I Got Friends in Low Places” for another new person on Music Row by the name of Garth Brooks. The rest is country music history. This song is requested and heard daily around the world. Garth never goes on stage without performing this song. He must do it, or his fans might riot and run him out of town. This kind of action only takes place when a song is more powerful than the artist. True, this does happen, but not very often in any genre of music. Yet, when it comes to Bud, it does not surprise me at all. If it can be done, Bud will find a way to do it.

Bud has since written hit songs for many great artists in the country music field and is still going strong. He, along with John Wiggins, wrote the great song, “Who Are You When I’m Not Looking,” that Blake Shelton recently recorded and took to No. 1.

https://nashvillemusicguide.com/did-you-know-the-past-with-a-personal-touch/

Growing up on a cotton farm in California might not seem like the best preparation for a songwriting career, but for Ed Hill, BMI’s 2006 Songwriter of the Year, it held plenty of valuable lessons that have helped him rise to the top of his profession. The biggest one probably applied after he had been in Nashville awhile struggling, trying to make things happen and painting houses just to eat.

“I was about to leave town,” explains Ed. “It’s just so hard when you start out, and I didn’t really have a Plan B. But I just kept my head down like a farmer, like my daddy, and kept working hard. And if you do that, eventually you’ll work your way into some luck.”

Ed had plenty of experience to draw on from his early years as part of the ’70’s Bakersfield scene. He played five nights a week at a club where legends like Merle Haggard and Kris Kristofferson would sit in with the band, and later joined the famed Palomino Club house band in L.A. Ed became so adept on the keys while out West that he was nominated for the Academy of Country Music’s Piano Player of the Year in 1980 and ’82.

Arriving in Nashville in 1986, Ed joined AMR/New Haven Music, and was soon getting cuts by Reba McEntire (“Til Love Comes Again”), Faith Hill (“It Matters to Me”), and John Michael Montgomery (“Be My Baby Tonight”). He also scored hits with Trace Adkins’s “Songs About Me,” and Martina McBride’s “Whatever You Say,” and is currently on the charts with Tracy Lawrence’s comeback hit, “Find Out Who Your Friends Are.” And he has a track on Reba’s upcoming duets album with LeAnn Rimes, “When You Love Somebody Like That.”

Known to write a song a week on average, Ed never knows where inspiration will strike, so he follows one strict rule of thumb: “I always make my wife buy me shirts with front pockets on them, and I carry a pen and pad in that pocket, no matter where I go. That way I can just pull it out when I get an idea, which could be at any time. I always have my antennas out…it’s fun!”