Interview: Jake Brown dives deep into latest book Songs Of Nashville, featuring interviews with country music songwriter greats of past and present

Written By Neil Shumate, OOTB Publications

Prolific award winning music author and biographer Jake Brown is adding another title to his already exquisite catalogue of interview collections—this time pertaining to the country music genre.

Titled, Songs of Nashville: The Real Stories Behind Country Music’s Greatest Hits, the 300-page hard copy book featuring 45 songwriters releases tomorrow, June 24, and is published by Diversion Books and Distributed by Simon & Schuster.

The book features: Jelly Roll, Taylor Swift cowriters Liz Rose and Lori McKenna, Luke Combs cowriter Drew Parker, Morgan Wallen hit writer Josh Thompson, chart-toppers Clint Black and Vince Gill, legends and trendsetters like the late Merle Haggard and Kinky Friedman, Americana troubadour Jim Lauderdale, song crafters with scores in film and television like A Star Is Born Oscar nominees Hillary Lindsey and Natalie Hemby and Songland judge Shane McAnally and other songwriters offering a behind-the-scenes look at country’s greatest hits.

Having an extensive career list of more than 60 published books across 11 countries since 2001, his works include books about: AC/DC, Rick Rubin, Notorious B.I.G., Dr. Dre, Heart, Joe Satriani, Iron Maiden, Motörhead, Tori Amos, 2Pac and many others.

In this extensive OOTB interview, Brown delves deep into the new book, reflects on his book writing career and how it aligns with himself being a musician, he previews upcoming future works, including his streaming TV show, and discusses much more.

Your work dabbles in every music genre, music as a whole. Why did you choose to focus on country music for this upcoming book?

There's nowhere else on Earth like Music City, Tennessee; the environment and atmosphere fostered an incredible inspiration in me… and there’s nothing better than country music to tell a story.

I've lived in Nashville for more than 20 years; I moved here in 2003 with just two books under my belt.

At that time, this town was the only place in the country where the music scene afforded creatives the opportunity to move here and work full-time on their craft. Folks who had a day job could play the stages at night and weekends, whether in-town or out-of-town gigs, and had a support system to pursue their dreams.

Being a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist myself, I came to know songwriters, singers, producers, et cetera within the Nashville music community. I began interviewing them about their songwriting and record-making processes across a number of musical genres.

Many of my books have since covered Music Row's hitmakers, their back-stories and what brought them to Nashville, their journeys to discovering and developing their talent, how they broke into the business, how they learned to live their lives as a “Nashville Songwriter,” and the stories behind writing their biggest hits.

The new book (Songs Of Nashville) spawned from my experiences, seeing the growth of the country music industry, learning to grow with it, and celebrating the true storytellers.

This book is my tribute and dedication to the unsung heroes of country music.

Which interview in this particular book, Songs Of Nashville, stands out as your favorite and why that one?

That’s a tough question; I have so many “favorites” for many different reasons. So, I’ll answer it this way, in no particular favorable order, just as “special moments" and recollections:

1.) Jelly Roll is the biggest new star to come out of Nashville in years, and I had a nearly 10-year-old interview I'd done with him for a documentary on Country Rap that never came to fruition. (A special “thank you” to producer Jon Conner and Jelly's co-writer David Ray for setting that up.) Very poignantly in that interview, Jelly Roll talks about lying in his prison cell and receiving a vision that he was headlining in an arena. Fast forward, look at how that worked out.

2) The interviews in the book stretch over the years. I had the chance to visit with and profile respected songwriters who have since passed on. The book features final interviews with Merle Haggard, Kinky Friedman, Jack Tempchin, Dallas Frazier (who was the youngest songwriter ever inducted into the Hall of Fame), Jim Weatherly (who wrote "Midnight Train To Georgia"), Rock Killough and Freddy Powers.

3) Clint Black and Vince Gill granted me extensive, catalog-wide discussions of their songwriting processes. Spending time with living legends of 90’s country, I felt like I was in the company of royalty. It was a real treat.

4) And lest we not forget the numerous songwriters (hall of famers, future hall of famers and heavy hitters) who were gracious with their time to share their stories about their journey and how, from pen to paper, their words of musical poetry became hits!

As you can see, therein lies the difficulty in narrowing a favorite!

Overall, country or not, which music genre is your personal favorite and why that genre?

Being a songwriter myself, I don't have a favorite genre. I write all over the map, and have a number of different studio projects to that end where I play and produce everything.

As a book author, I tend to focus on writing books with the artists and bands who have had the biggest influence on me; like Teddy Riley, who invented New Jack Swing, or Joe Satriani, who invented modern instrumental rock guitar, or Freddy Powers and Merle Haggard. The list goes on.

I'm intrigued by creatives in all genres with abstract vision, those who dare to step outside the box, and pave (or paved) their way.

I've had a very fortunate career; being able to write with those artists about their creative processes has just lined up serendipitously.

I wrote a book on Prince–one of my 2 or 3 biggest musical influences. Motley Crue is a huge band for me, and I've been fortunate to feature Tommy Lee in a few books.

So, my musical tastes are as varied as the bands and artists I write with and about.

Of all the interviews you’ve conducted since 2001 with musicians through your expansive career, which interview(s) stand out as the most prolific to you, personally, and why that (those) interview(s)?

Honestly, it's more the vast number of artists and bands I grew up listening to and have been influenced by.

My passion for music and my journey has led me to collaborate with so many "greats" (John Mellencamp, Jon Bon Jovi, John Fogerty, Sammy Hagar, Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart, to name a few).

I'm blessed to have conducted a number of "stand-out" interviews.

On the other side of that, do you have an artist interview that stands out as disappointing or not as favorable as you hoped for? If so, which one and why?

Sure. Sometimes, the stars just don't align in timing and energy; we all have our good and bad days, right?

What band or artist have you not interviewed or collaborated with that you’d still like to work with?

Things were in the works to collaborate with Casey Casem and Johnny J, Tupac's producer; sadly, both passed before we could begin. Those are two projects I would have been honored to complete.

I would really like to write a book with David Lee Roth for my "In The Studio" series, about the making of his Van Halen-era and solo albums like Eat ‘Em and Smile and Skyscraper.

To write a memoir with Clint Black is also on my list.

Why musicians? What is it about music or musicians that intrigues and interests you most?

I'm a musician. I began playing piano by ear at 6, then gradually learned to play the drums, bass and guitar. Being an instrumentalist is a great aid if you're a songwriter and a more natural and intuitive segue to translate their stories.

Being a writer and producer gives me a more ready shorthand with these folks when we're talking about the music-making process, whether in the writer's room or the recording studio.

The writing part itself is a mystery of muse, and I don't think about it. I just do it. I'm not trained in book writing, have no degrees in it; I've just always done it much like I play instruments; I write by ear.

What and when and where was the first live concert or live music event you attended?

Bon Jovi, when I was 11-years-old. I grew up in Saint Louis. My mom took me, my brother, Josh, along with my Aunt Heather. It was a life-changing experience.

Of the 60+ books you’ve authored or been part of, which is your favorite title and why that book?

Here's my Top 5 List:

1. STRANGE BEAUTIFUL MUSIC with Joe Satriani

2. HEART: IN THE STUDIO

3. NASHVILLE SONGWRITER 1 & SONGS OF NASHVILLE

4. DOCTORS OF RHYTHM: Hip Hop's Greatest Producers Speak (Audiobook)

5. RICK RUBIN IN THE STUDIO

There are tons more, but those titles are all pretty unique to the market and have stood the test of time, so-to-speak, in that readers still buy them.

What are you currently working on now?

I am always writing two or three books at once; a couple haven't been announced yet by the parties I'm working with, so I'll leave that for another time.

We have Teddy Riley's memoir, Remember The Times, coming up in December, that I hope will be a BIG hit for Teddy. (He deserves it. We worked 10 years together to tell his life story. I'm really proud of that.)

I've been writing for the past couple of years with Ed McDonald, who is a folk hero within law enforcement circles; he played himself in Goodfellas and was the real prosecutor who took down all those mob families like the Persicos, Jo Mesinna, the Gambinos, and Gottis. It's an amazing memoir and we're super excited about it.

I wrote my first fiction novel last summer, titled The Ghostwriter. Hoping to roll it out in 2026. I'm seven chapters into the sequel already!

I also write, produce and host a streaming TV show called About The Authors TV which airs on Tubi. The show profiles the world's best-selling authors episodically across the creation of their entire catalogs. We're in six seasons and have 300 completed episodes.

So, all of that writing keeps me pretty busy.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

This is my 60th book, and I'm so very grateful every time I sell a new one.

Moreover, it reflects how much writing I've had to do over the last quarter-century to make a living within it.

Thanks for the opportunity, and if you're a country music fan or a songwriter, Songs of Nashville is guaranteed to have something for you!

Get Book

https://diversionbooks.com/books/songs-of-nashville/

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Songs

Book Details

https://songsofnashville.com/

Follow Jake Brown

https://jakebrownbooks.com/