photo by Rachel Briggs
Quinten Collier, the grand-prize lyric contest winner for 2009, flew into Nashville this past week to lay claim to his coveted prize package.
The spoils of victory included an all-expense-paid trip to Music City, as well as a co-writing session with the legendary Rodney Crowell.
The Clifton, Colorado, resident flew into Nashville Monday night. During the co-writing session at Crowell’s house the next day, the duo worked on a song called “The Outsiders,” a tune loosely based on the novel of the same name by S.E. Hinton. Collier/Crowell wrote three-quarters of the song, and plan to finish it over e-mail and phone, with Crowell eventually laying down guitar and vocals on the demo. Look for the song to be streamed on americansongwriter.com in the near future.
Before the writing session, American Songwriter chatted with Collier about his songwriting process, the influence of Gabriel Garcia Marquez on his recent work, and the writer’s experience doing relief work in post-Katrina New Orleans –-among a host of other topics. Be sure to read the interview in the May/June issue of American Songwriter.
Collier, 26, won the grand prize for his song “Roses and Wine,” which took top honors in our July/August issue. Gram Parsons’ “Hickory Wind” served as the inspiration for the tune, he said. “It’s open and it doesn’t have a lot of stuff going on. Everything blends together.”
A poet as well as a songwriter, Collier provided the American Songwriter staff with copies of his book of verse, Fascists, Fanatics And Escapists, which was published by Grand Junction Alternative Media in 2009. The “Roses and Wine” author also completed three full-length plays during the past year and a half and is currently at work on an experimental novel.
Be sure to check out Collier’s American Songspace profile, which features the winning song. And stay tuned to americansongwriter.com to find out which legendary songwriter has been selected for the “Dream Co-Write” for 2010.
I am so excited I found this and entered my first lyrics tonight… A song called chilling with you I wrote for Blake Shelton with a little part for Gwen Stefani in it I have lots of songs stacked up in a folder and this finally gives me a chance to get them out there for everybody tells me I need to get my songs to Nashville I wrote a whole album for Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani of fun and personalized songs it’s …12 songs about their lifestyle hunting, fishing, four wheeling, kids, Kingston Apollo and Zuma, and love – n- having fun.. and I think I’m going to enter a couple or a few more besides just some I wrote for them…However I sure want to send a couple more out of that album….And so I also have songs for NASCAR ..PBR rodeo.. websites like farmersonly.com and lots of miscellaneous like dance or honky tonk beer drinking four-wheeling songs.. I got no idea how to write a melody I just come up with a title and build a story structured verse course versus course bridge verse chorus…or a couple other different ways and I love it… I’m excited also became a member tonight with y’all. I am a 43-year-old country boy that drives tractor doing farming for a dairy I will soon be getting back into my union ironworker career I grew up ranching riding bulls being a guide at a pack of station in the Sequoia national Park on horseback I was also a mechanical bull operator and DJ at a restaurant called Big bubba’s BBQ I am very friendly I love good things and good folks and it is my dream to write songs for Nashville. And I sure look forward to meeting you all and believe I will someday thank you and God bless.