GAR Presents: The Bluebird Cafe at the 2022 Annual Conference & Expo- Singer/Songwriters Up Close
Wednesday, August 31 – 3:15-4:45 pm
We are so excited to have The Bluebird Cafe regulars Victoria Banks, Phil Barton, and JT Harding performing some of their biggest hits! Read more about each songwriter below.
Victoria Banks has been named both Female Artist of the Year and Songwriter of the Year at the Canadian Country Music Awards, garnering 11 CCMA nominations on the strength of her three albums and touring with artists from Reba to Lonestar. As a staff songwriter in Nashville she has penned ASCAP, SOCAN, CCMA and Covenant-award-winning hits and written songs for over 50 artists, including Jessica Simpson’s Billboard record- breaking single Come On Over, Sara Evans’ hit Saints & Angels and duet Can’t Stop Loving You (with Isaac Slade of The Fray), and Johnny Reid’s CCMA Song of the Year Dance With Me. Labeled “one of the best songwriters in the business” by Nashville’s Music Row Magazine, she’s an avid educator of aspiring songwriters and shares behind-the-scenes glimpses at the creative process via her victoriabanks.net blog and newsletter.
Phil Barton’s songs have been recorded by country music superstars Lee Brice, Sara Evans, Eli Young Band, David Nail, Dustin Lynch, Cassadee Pope, Drake White, LoCash, High Valley, Jana Kramer, Seth Ennis, Mickey Guyton, Kristian Bush, Jay Allen, Morgan Evans, The Shires, and Bobby Bones and The Raging Idiots. He was awarded “Breakthrough Songwriter” of the year in the Music Row Awards in 2012 and had his first #1 Billboard song with the Lee Brice hit A Woman Like You, the song went double platinum in the US and won him an NSAI Award for “10 Songs I Wish I’d Written.” Currently he has the new Locash single Don’t Get Better Than That going up the US Billboard top 50 charts. He’s also had 13 Top 10 singles to his credit in recent years on the Canadian Country Charts. His music has appeared in 2016 three times Oscar Nominated film “Sicario”, and television shows like “Nashville” and video games like “The Sims.” Over his career he has written over 800 songs.
J.T. Harding was born in Nashville and raised in Detroit. While other kids were on the baseball field, J.T. was in his basement jumping around to MTV and trying to write his own songs. He put together several bands in high school then moved to Los Angeles to pursue his dream. JT made his first demo tape with prize money he earned by winning the TV game show VH1 Rock N Roll Jeopardy. He has written several chart-topping hits including the 3 million selling Smile with Uncle Kracker, Somewhere In My Car with Keith Urban, Somewhere With You for Kenny Chesney, Sangria for Blake Shelton, Beers and Sunshine for Darius Rucker and Different For Girls Dierks Bentley. J.T. has written 14 songs for an off-Broadway musical that opened in New York City and recently performed his songs in a show presented by the Nashville Ballet. His book, Party Like A Rockstar, just released to rave reviews.
About The Bluebird Cafe
The Bluebird Cafe is one of the world’s preeminent listening rooms. Over the last 40 years, The Bluebird has gained worldwide recognition as a songwriter’s performance space where the “heroes behind the hits” perform their own songs; songs that have been recorded by chart-topping artists in all genres of music. Located in a small strip mall outside of downtown Nashville, the 90-seat venue is unassuming in appearance but some of the most significant songwriters and artists have performed on The Bluebird’s small stage. Some of those songwriters and artists include Garth Brooks, Keith Urban, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Kris Kristofferson, Carole King, Faith Hill, Vince Gill, Taylor Swift, Townes Van Zandt, Kathy Mattea and many more. The Bluebird Cafe was featured on the TV show Nashville and in the 2019 documentary, Bluebird.