There’s a poignant scene near the end of the movie Almost Famous where Fairuza Balk’s character Sapphire is sitting backstage in catering, chatting with Stillwater guitarist Russell Hammond. It’s there, as she’s chatting about the newer girls on the scene, when she broods over the fact that “they don’t even know what it is to be a fan. To truly love some silly little piece of music or some band so much that it hurts.”
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It’s just a movie, of course, but as much as it is rooted in reality, so is that quote. In fact, that quote might be the most genuine piece of the movie. You see, there’s magic in music. Music makes you feel, move, remember, or even forget. It can freeze a moment in time so much that all it takes is the opening of a song and your memory comes rushing back so strong you can smell it.
There might not be T-shirts with his face on them, and his name isn’t painted on the side of a tour bus. But make no mistake about it, Ashley Gorley is the reason millions of people have fallen in love with “some silly little piece of music or some band so much that it hurts.”
Back on August 2 when LoCash’s (aptly titled) “One Big Country Song” went to No. 1, Gorley notched his 50th No. 1 song as a songwriter, something no other songwriter in any other genre has ever done. As if that wasn’t impressive enough, the seven-time ASCAP Songwriter of the Year, four-time Billboard Country Songwriter of the Year and three-time NSAI Songwriter of the Year has only been doing this full time since 2000. Want more? His first chart-topper came in July 2006. That’s 50 chart-toppers in 14 years. Really.
“I’m still completely blown away when anything gets all the way from a room like I’m in right now to the radio,” Gorley says as he readies for another day of writing.
The reality is that a lot of songs have gone from rooms where he’s been to the radio. He’s a long way from the days when he sat watching a then-22-year-old contestant from Oklahoma on American Idol, hoping he could get a song to her. Spoiler alert: Her name was Carrie Underwood, he did, and the result was his first No. 1 in the form of “Don’t Forget to Remember Me.”
“That was so special because it was with an American Idol-winning, huge superstar that I had never met. Like everyone else in America, I watched the show in real time from my couch. We were so into that show and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this girl is incredible. I’ve got to get a song to her. I know I’ve never had a hit but man, if I could get a song to her it would be great.’ That’s kind of that Nashville dream come true.”
The Nashville dream come true is something Ashley has been lucky enough to experience a few times, not just in having hits but in having his actual life come to life in song. Thanks to Trace Adkins, millions of people know the details of one of Ashley’s home stories.
“‘You’re Gonna Miss This’ came from a real story,” he says. “The bridge of that song where the repairman comes over, the kids are running around and he says he’s got two babies of his own, 36 and 23? That was real. That happened. He said that. So that song started from that place. I wrote that with Lee Thomas Miller and I was like, ‘Hey, this happened, I feel like there’s a song in there somewhere.’ We decided on that title and started working on all kinds of angles.”
Life is quite different for songwriters now than it was when Gorley first began wading into the water. Both the business of songwriting and the writing process have changed dramatically, and as in all walks of life, only those who can adapt will survive. From a business perspective, there are few opportunities for songs to find a home and even fewer make their way to radio. Streaming services have replaced digital downloads as the main avenue of listener consumption which, back then, began replacing CD sales. Radio, too, has changed the way it does business. With some singles taking nearly a year to run up the charts, the elongated process has resulted in fewer singles released by artists.
Things have changed drastically on the songwriting front as well. Creative co-writes are not only more popular than ever, they’re often bigger than before. To see three, four or even five writers in a room working on one song together is not entirely uncommon, whereas just 10 or 15 years ago, it was almost unheard of. While Gorley prefers writing with one or two other people in the room, he’s not opposed to a bundle of writers either.
“In the beginning, I never saw more than three people in a room for years, but now, it’s nothing to have four people there or two writers, a producer-writer and an artist on a bus trip. Sam Hunt’s song had five of us plus three from the sample we used, so there’s eight people on there. As long as everybody has their role. I’ve gone into a five-way write that was a train wreck, and then I’ve had a two-way where it didn’t work either. It just depends on if everyone is gelling. If it’s me and Thomas (Rhett) and Jesse Frazier and Shane McAnally, then it’s going to be amazing. That’s just fun to collaborate like that.”
Another change that has played to Gorley’s strength has been the evolution country music has seen. Then again, with 50 chart-toppers in 14 years, some might argue Gorley himself has had a big hand in the blend. Either way, as country radio and labels have loosened their grips on being married to a traditional country sound, Gorley’s songs have thrived.
“When I started full time in this, back in 2000, there was definitely more of a line between the genres. I started to pick up and get multiple hits a year around 2012 or 2013, and that’s when it started to really come together as far as different rhythms and some R&B voicings and some pop cadences and chords along with really, really country lyrics meshed together. Before that, I loved having songs on George Strait or Kenny Rogers or Tim McGraw albums. I love really, really country music and the classics, but it’s also fun to be able to push the boundaries.
“I think hip hop, R&B, pop and country are all really close cousins even though it might not seem that way. They’re really tied in because the rhythms are so important. The lifestyle songs are there and the love songs. I love pop music, but country lyrics have always come natural to me.
“There have been several things that have changed genre-wise (in country) and the toolbox that we’re allowed to pick from I think has grown significantly, as far as people writing more tracks and different grooves. We’re taking chances with chords and lyrics and things like that we didn’t 10 or 15 years ago. We can explore more, and people are more tolerant of hearing new styles of country within the genre.”
It might be hard for some to imagine that the man behind Luke Bryan’s “Play It Again” or Cole Swindell’s “You Should Be Here” is the same man behind Thomas Rhett’s “T-Shirt” and “Unforgettable,” but diversity is one of Gorley’s biggest strengths. Even 50 No. 1s in, he’s not afraid to take chances and still wants to experiment and grow.
In many ways, Gorley stands out as a songwriter, even in a songwriting world full of unicorns. Having “gotten decent” on the piano in high school by crafting his own unique style of playing, Gorley took a piano course in college. It was the worst grade he ever got.
“I tried to drop the class,” he remembers. “No joke, the teacher told me, ‘Everything you’re doing with your fingers is wrong’ and I was like, ‘Well, too late.’ I can’t read music still. I don’t have a good discipline or attention span and it just never jived with me.”
Even though he can play guitar, that too remains something of wonderment to his guitar-playing peers.
“I got a guitar after I got to Nashville and learned to play it at a party one night. I can’t rip a solo or anything; I’m no Keith Urban. Guitar too, though, I play a little unconventional. I see guitar players looking at my fingers in a strange way and they’ll ask me what I’m playing. I don’t know, I thought this was what a G chord was supposed to look like.”
Given his background along with his self-admitted limitations, Gorley prefers to write on the piano or even with no instrument at all.
“My preference is to write on the piano or to do it a cappella, which is something I learned a few years ago,” he says. “It was another hit writer who was giving me advice to write melodies out loud. A lot of times somebody will play an instrumental bed, like a track, and I’m just yelling stuff out loud over it. I like to be playing nothing when I’m coming up with melodies and lyrics. That’s when I feel like my brain has the most freedom. A lot of times I’m just freestyling into a mic or a voice memo and will figure out the music later. My preference is no instrument, but if I’m gonna use an instrument, it’s usually piano. Sometimes it calls for guitar, so I’ll grab it. I can mess around and get by on most things, but I can’t play any cool instruments like fiddle or steel guitar or anything like that.”
Another one of Gorley’s songwriting preferences, and perhaps a secret to his success, is co-writing. A bonafide “people person” who always prefers to have company around — he’s never even lived by himself — Gorley relishes the give-and-take with a worthy writing partner. That said, co-writing is a skill; while the experience is typically different with each varying co-writer, as far as Gorley is concerned, the way to approach it is not. As both a songwriter and a publisher himself, spearheading Tape Room Music, Ashley stresses the importance of co-writes and how to not only get the most out of them but become an in-demand co-writer yourself.
“Always bring something to the table,” he says. “People appreciate when you show up and say, ‘Hey, I’ve got 10 ideas in my phone,’ or ‘I’ve got 20 tracks that might kickstart an idea.’ Be vocal in the room. Don’t be afraid to say something terrible, because it may be great. You don’t want anyone to get the sense that your goal was just to get in the room with these people. The great writers always bring something to the table. At the same time, don’t steamroll and be like, ‘What I’m saying is the best.’
“I always think of it as whatever the goal is of the room, I’m just trying to get us to that goal, whatever part I have to play. There’s a little bit of a chameleon in every great writer. Sometimes I’m supplying more of the melody, sometimes I’m writing the majority of the lyric, sometimes I change the groove completely. You just supply whatever is necessary and being aware of what that is. The best writers know their place in the room and know that it changes daily or hourly and continue to just bring things to the table. And again, they’re not afraid to fail, they’re not afraid to pre-write and re-write. They do their homework. Go in and know what’s at stake, what the task is and jump right in and go for it.”
While Gorley is squarely focused on the future, hitting the 50 No. 1 milestone has given him a cause to pause and reflect on his feat. And he’s cemented himself as one of the reasons millions of people have fallen in love with “some silly little piece of music or some band so much that it hurts.”
“It’s 50 No. 1s but it’s on 25 or 30 different artists, so that’s something that really keeps me energized and I’m really proud of. To have songs by Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Carrie Underwood, Thomas Rhett, Sam Hunt, Dierks, Chris Janson, Trace Adkins, Darius Rucker, I love the thought of me helping all those artists sell out shows or to be a part of all those careers. I really like that.”
Listen to one of Ashley Gorley’s chart-topping masterpieces below.
Photo Credit: Josh Ulmer
