Shoals Songwriter Workshop

Walt Aldridge, a songwriter, singer, musician, engineer and producer has exercised his musical skills in Muscle Shoals and Nashville for twenty years. Billboard magazine named Aldridge one of the Top Ten Country Songwriters of the year in 1989 and 1991 on the strength of such songs as Rickey Van Shelton's "I Am A Simple Man". His song "(There Ain't) No Gettin' Over Me" was ASCAP's most performed country song in 1982 and in the top 5 in 1983. "Holding Her and Loving You" was named song of the year by the Nashville Songwriters Association International. In 1992, the Alabama Music Hall of Fame awarded Aldridge with a bronze star in their Walk of Fame. Aldridge was lead singer, guitarist and producer for the country rock group The Shooters, and wrote or cowrote all their Top 40 singles. The Shooters were among Billboard's Top 10 New Country Artists of the Year in 1987. His work spans a wide spectrum of music, including the technopop song "My Love Is Chemical" which was recorded by Lou Reed as part of the soundtrack for the movie "White Nights", starring Gregory Hines and Mikhail Baryshnikov. His songs have been recorded by a diverse group of artists - from Conway Twitty to peter Cetera and Pam Tillis to Blessid Union of Souls. Billboard Magazine named him one of the Top 10 Country Songwriters of the year in 1989 on the strength of such songs as Shenandoah's hit "See If I Care." His song (There's) No Gettin' Over Me" was ASCAP's most performed country song in 1982 and in the Top 5 in 1983. "Holding Her And Loving You" was named "Song Of The Year" by the Nashville Songwriters Association, International. Other hits include "Leave Him Out Of This," "I Am A Simple Man," "Crime Of Passion," "In Over My Heart," and "Doncha."

Casey Le'Vasseur is no stranger to the music industry. She spent much of her childhood in the crowds of local dives, studios and publishing houses learning the craft and business from some of the very best producers, managers and writers. Her list of teachers and mentors includes her father, Hall of Fame songwriter, Jeffrey Steele. She is head of A&R/Artist Management at 3 Ring Circus Music & Records in Nashville,TN and has played an active role in the development of several hit writers as well as had a hand in many song placements from Miley Cyrus to Keith Urban, Eric Church, Cher and the like. LEVASSEUR and Steele also jointly operate the Jeffrey Steele Academy, a teaching community for aspiring writers. She is passionate about discovering new artists with unique sounds and eclectic personalities. When she isn’t developing artists and writers she is creating and performing. LEVASSEUR’s storyteller writing and sound can be heard as part of the duo Silence x Noise with fellow dreamer Kurtis John.

Emily Shackelton is a songwriter and performer from Biwabik, Minnesota. After studying at Berklee College of Music, during which time she won the coveted BMI John Lennon Songwriting Competition, Emily made the move to Nashville. She’s penned the #1 Carly Pearce single, Every Little Thing, along with singles and cuts with Pearce, Lauren Alaina, Runaway June, Cassadee Pope, the Civil Wars’ Joy Williams, Reba McEntire, Jennifer Nettles, Seth Ennis, Sara Evans, Jana Kramer, David Cook, and more. Several of her songs have also been featured on TV shows like Nashville, American Idol, and Dancing With the Stars. She won Music Row’s 2018 Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year award, and “Every Little Thing” was recognized as one of NSAI’s 2018 Ten Songs I Wish I’d Written. She currently serves on the NSAI board and just signed a new worldwide publishing deal with Winsongs Music Publishing.

Gary Baker, who has lived in Sheffield for 43 years, earned a Grammy for the smash hit “I Swear,” which he co-wrote with Frank J. Myers. The song was number one on the country charts and crossed over to the number one spot on the pop charts. Baker co-wrote “I’m Already There,” which also hit number one on the country charts before crossing over to the top five on the pop charts. His first major songwriting success was with “Once Upon a Lifetime,” which was performed by the group “Alabama” and soared to the number one on country charts. Through the years he has penned hit songs for numerous other artists including the Backstreet Boys, 98 Degrees and Reba McIntire. His songs have been featured in numerous high-profile television show and movie soundtracks. He has produced many records, including the Backstreet Boys greatest hits album. He launched his career in Muscle Shoals with the famed LeBlanc Carr Band, performing on their top 10 hit named “Falling.” He wrote and recorded with several artists ranging from Mac Davis to Marie Osmond before becoming a member of the “Shooters, a hit country act from Muscle Shoals.

Kelly Archer has been a signed writer in Nashville for the past 16 years and her songs have been recorded by Jason Aldean, Reba, Brett Young, Trisha Yearwood, Eli Young Band, Dustin Lynch, Justin Moore, Chris Lane, Jo Dee Messina, Montgomery Gentry, and many more. Kelly had several songs place in the television series “Nashville” and has had success in her Native land of Canada with Artist like Chad Brownlee, Tebey, Jess Moskaluke and current CCMA Female Artist of the Year Meghan Patrick. In 2017 Kelly celebrated her first number one song

with Brett Young's "Sleep Without You". Her second followed less than a year later with Justin Moore's "Somebody Else Will". That year she received the “Rising Songwriter Of The Year" at the AIMP Awards. Kelly also pinned “After A Few” with Travis Denning and “Rockin All Night Long” with Adam Hambrick.

A Nashville-native and graduate of Vanderbilt University, Whitney Daane began her career in entertainment in LA in the film business with stints at Allan-Rice Management and the William Morris Agency before being hired by Madonna to join Maverick Picture Company. Daane realized her true passion was not film but songwriters and found a mentor in iconic music publisher, Lionel Conway. Conway hired Daane to co-lead with Peter Cronin the newly formed Maverick Music Nashville in 1996. In 2000, Daane started her own publishing and writer management company, Mighty Isis Music, representing writers in Nashville, Los Angeles, New York and London and began consulting for London-based start-up Kobalt Music Publishing in 2001. Daane helped launch Kobalt Music Services in the U.S. in November 2001 as a creative consultant and spent fifteen years building the Nashville roster and overseeing the creative staff as well as focusing on the acquisition of new writers and catalogues and exploitation of catalogues for Kobalt’s diverse global roster. In June 2017, Daane launched her new company DAANEgerous Entertainment that encompasses music publishing, writer management, artist development and film & TV project development and is represented globally by Kobalt.

Debbie Zavitson is a respected veteran in the music industry. With her history as a musician and entertainer performing with her own band in the United States and abroad with the USO, to an A&R executive at Sony Music and Giant Records, she brings a well-rounded wealth of experience and knowledge to songwriters and artists that she works with.

While Sr Director at Sony Records, she signed 1997 ACM Top New Vocal Duo or Group The Kinleys and co-wrote their Top Ten single “Just Between You and Me.” In the late 90’s Irving Azoff (Giant Records, Christina Aguilera, Journey, The Eagles, Joe Walsh) hired Debbie as Head of A&R at Giant. While there, she signed Grammy nominees, CCMA award winners The Wilkinsons, a Canadian family group. She also signed country newcomer (now country superstar and judge on The Voice) Blake Shelton. Debbie worked closely with Blake’s producer Bobby Braddock on his first albums, which included bringing the 5 week #1 and artist-breaking song “Austin” to Blake. Debbie then left Giant Records to manage the integral first years of Blake’s career. She is owner of Debbie Z Entertainment, a music publishing house and management company.

John M. is an esteemed singer/songwriter and author of 'Performance Matters,' a book that is an in depth analysis of the art and craft of live performance. He was named as the top 100 unsigned acts of 2018 by Music Connection Magazine. During his keynote, he will discuss how songwriters can achieve and establish a career through live performance. He is endorsed by G7 capos, CAD microphones and FISHMAN Transducers Inc. and has spoken all over the country at various music colleges and songwriting seminars.

Lillian Glanton is a multi-passionate Forbes Featured Enterprenuer and founder of the Muscle Shoals Songwriters Foundation, Muscle Shoals Songwriters Festival, Shoals Songwriter Workshop, and LG Media Co., a full-service digital marketing agency. Her career in the music business started at a young age and escalated quickly after receiving the Golden Ticket to Hollywood on American Idol in 2016 at just 15 years old. Lillian is a graduate from The University of North Alabama's Entertainment Industry Program majoring in Music Business with a minor in Marketing and Management. After coming back home from being a touring singer/songwriter, she realized that The Shoals, Alabama, which is deemed the 'Hit Recording Capital of the World' was missing a key cultural component. This led her to launch the Muscle Shoals Songwriters Festival in 2019, along with the Shoals Songwriter Workshop (launched in 2021) which has featured now over 300+ talented songwriters, brought thousands of music lovers to the Shoals area, and has garnered brand partnerships with some of the largest companies in the world. In August of 2023, she presented a global TEDx Talk on innovation and business.