Ep. 89 - BETH NIELSEN CHAPMAN ("This Kiss")

PART ONE Scott and Paul announce the five Patreon supporters who are getting signed copies of Billy Edd Wheeler's memoir. Then they fill you in on how you can snag one of two signed Beth Nielsen Chapman CDs for yourself! PART TWO - 02:45 mark The guys talk about cover songs that have become better known than their original versions. PART THREE - 12:34 mark Scott and Paul's in-depth conversation with Beth Nielsen Chapman

Beth stops by Songcraft International Headquarters to chat about her new record; how a traumatic childhood field trip set her on a path of creative reflection; why one of her songs took 18 years to complete; the movie that inspired her to start writing songs again after she quit for four years; why a chance encounter with a Beach Boy inspired her to move to Nashville; how she got commissioned to write songs for Willie Nelson; the unusual way Trisha Yearwood discovered one of her songs and made it a hit; and how a song deeply personal song about losing her husband to cancer became an inspiration to Elton John. Singer/songwriter Beth Nielsen Chapman is best known for co-writing “This Kiss,” a #1 country hit and Top 10 pop hit for Faith Hill that earned a CMA Song of the Year award. Other chart-topping hits from her catalog include Tanya Tucker’s “Strong Enough to Bend,” Willie Nelson’s “Nothing I Can Do About it Now,” Lorrie Morgan’s “Five Minutes,” Martina McBride’s “Happy Girl,” and Alabama’s “Here We Are,” which she co-wrote with Vince Gill.

As an artist, Chapman has released a dozen albums and placed eight singles on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary charts, including “Walk My Way,” “All I Have,” and “I Keep Coming Back to You.” After her husband lost his battle with cancer, Beth worked through her grief by digging into an emotionally rich body of songs that includes “Sand and Water,” a song that was later covered by Elton John on his 1987 world tour.

The long lists of artists who’ve recorded Beth’s material includes Neil Diamond, Michael McDonald, Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Raitt, Roberta Flack, Bette Midler, Keb Mo, Trisha Yearwood, Waylon Jennings, The Indigo Girls, Don Williams, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Jim Brickman who scored a #1 Adult Contemporary hit with her song “Simple Things.”

The two-time Grammy nominee has been honored by The Alabama Music Hall Of Fame and was the recipient of The Distinguished Artist Award from the Alabama State Council on the Arts in 2009. She was inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame in 2016.