MSSF Takeovers
VBC Playouse
In collaboration with Jim Parker Songwriter Series
Tony Arata, Marla Cannon-Goodman, Ed Hill
700 Monroe St SW, Huntsville, AL 35801
Friday, October 3rd | Doors at 6PM, Show at 6:30PM
Tony Arata
Tony Arata was born in Savannah, Georgia and grew up on nearby Tybee Island. While studying for a journalism degree from Georgia Southern University, he began performing his original songs in local bands. In 1986, he and wife Jaymi moved to Nashville where his unique, soulful style began to get the attention of people like Allen Reynolds and Garth Brooks. Garth to date has recorded seven of Tony’s songs, and “The Dance” won song of the year at The Academy of Country Music and received both a Country Music Association and a Grammy nomination, as well as a most performed song in Radio and Records Magazine.He has also had No. 1 records with “Here I Am” for Patty Loveless, “I’m Holding My Own”for Lee Roy Parnell, and “Dreaming With My Eyes Open” for Clay Walker. Other artists who have recorded his songs include Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Raitt, Trisha Yearwood, Delbert McClinton, Don Williams, Reba McEntire, Suzy Bogguss, and Hal Ketchum.
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Marla Cannon-Goodman
Marla Cannon-Goodman was raised in Kingston Springs, Tennessee, where she had a front row seat for country music history as she watched her father, Buddy Cannon, shepherd the careers of new and legendary artists as a producer, songwriter and record label executive. Now, she has earned her own place as one of country music’s most-beloved and respected hit-makers. Since her first cut by Sammy Kershaw in 1996, Marla has been making country music history of her own with songs recorded by artists such as George Strait, Eddie Arnold, Eric Church, Billy Currington, Mindy Smith, Kenny Chesney and Sara Evans. Marla’s chart topping hits include Lee Ann Womack’s number one smash “The Fool,” Tracy Byrd’s number one “Ten Rounds With José Cuervo” and Rodney Atkins’ number one hit “Cleaning This Gun.” She found further chart success with Blake Shelton’s top-15 hit single “Don’t Make Me.” You can also find her song “Unfair Weather Friend” on the Willie Nelson/Merle Haggard duet album, Django and Jimmie.
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Growing up on a cotton farm in California might not seem like the best preparation for a songwriting career, but for Ed Hill 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 when he was a member of the Grammy Award winning Urban Cowboy Band. Ed has had over 40 singles and over 400 cuts. 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 Tracy Lawrence’s comeback hit, “Find Out Who Your Friends Are.” He has a track on Reba’s duets album with LeAnn Rimes, “When You Love Somebody Like That.” Ed was a writer on
“How ‘Bout Them Cowgirls” by George Strait, “Most People Are Good” by Luke Bryan, “Drinking Class” by Lee Brice, “Just Fishin’” by Trace Adkins, “Georgia Rain” by Trisha Yearwood and many more.