Read below to learn more how our esteemed panel of judges picked the winners for the Session Four 2026 Lyric Contest.
Meet the Judges HERE.
Videos by American Songwriter
1st Place – “She Turned the Whiskey into Water”
By: Steve Robinson
Baylee Littrell: “All I have is lyrics but I can hear endless melodies with this song. Love the lyrics and the songs narrative.”
Danielle Bradbery: “I picked this one because the hook is clever and memorable. It flips the classic country idea of whiskey numbing heartbreak on its head—the whiskey didn’t change, but her leaving made it lose all its power, which is a fresh way to write about a breakup.”
Harper Grace: “I think reading this “how is this not a song already” this is so clever yet so simple and that’s what makes a generational country song! this is wonderfully written & it tells the heartache feeling wonderfully!”
Parker Welling: “I like the flip on “water into wine” and how colorful the lyric is. The pace of the lyric feels like it would fit into a melody well.”
Read Lyrics HERE.
2nd Place – “Everywhere but home”
By: Josie Sal, Kipper Lee, Kelli Johnson & Emma Dunne
Tiera Kennedy: “I think this is a very real feeling. We leave home to chase our dreams and ultimately home is the thing you always want to come back to.”
Chase McDaniel: “I like this one for the honesty. In my experience, songs about being on the road and other primarily artist experiences are hardly ever fan favorites, but they are necessary for us to write because we need them for ourselves. It’s true—you just miss home!”
Read Lyrics HERE.
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3rd Place – “Make Him Stay“
By: Allie Lamb, Jerome Goosman & Laura Pearson
Chase McDaniel: “You can’t write a great song without a great idea. “Taught him to sit wish I could make him stay” is such a cool concept for a song about the short life of a dog. If someone pitched this idea to me in a pro room amongst 7 other ideas I can almost promise you this is what we would be writing that day. Also, “he taught me how to live” line! You either love a dog song or you don’t get it….and shew, I’m such a sucker for a dog song.”
Danielle Bradbery: “I picked this one because it takes a universal heartbreak and tells it through the lens of losing a dog, which makes the emotion hit in a really unexpected way. The line “He showed me how to live, I taught him how to sit” is simple but devastating, and the title becomes the one thing every pet owner has wished they could do.”
Kassi Ashton: “I’m a sucker for a dog song. I think the hook is really clever and I haven’t heard it before. Descriptions were colorful without losing the plot.”
Read Lyrics HERE.
4th Place – “Having a beer with a headstone”
By: David Damron
Chase McDaniel: “”Beer With a Headstone” was the first one in the batch where I saw the lyric like a movie in my head. A great lyric is visual to the average listener. This kind of story writing is my favorite kind of country writing. It’s what Alan Jackson would do. The beautiful part about writing these is taking such a huge feeling like grief and simplifying the lyric. This was chiseled down and edited like a sculpture. It’s kind of easy to throw big words together that rhyme and let the audience guess what it means. Sometimes you wonder if the artist knows what it means. But this doesn’t require an intellectual exercise for the listener, it invites you into his world. He doesn’t tell you how it felt, he takes you to the graveside with him.”
Jillian Jacqueline: “I love how you can see the singer in your minds eye as you read it down. Unique title and emotional angle for a song”.
Katie Pruitt: ““Having a beer with a headstone” hit me as a beautifully simplistic way to sum up grief. Incredibly clever writing. I’m moved by the imagery on sitting with someone’s headstone, cracking a beer & catching them up on what they’ve missed.”
Read Lyrics HERE.