Victoria Shaw was speechless when she got to the stage to be officially inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame on Wednesday night at Music City Center in Nashville.
Shaw is a flame-haired, fiercely confident force in songwriting and country music communities. She is an empowering mama bear to two adult daughters, convicted in her principles, unafraid to share her opinions, and fearlessly creative.
I’ve never seen her speechless. But, if there was ever a moment to be overwhelmed by awe and gratitude – Shaw was standing in it.
The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame (NaSHOF) welcomed six new members as the Class of 2024 at its 54th Anniversary Gala in a ballroom at the top of Nashville’s Music City Center. NaSHOF inducted Al Anderson and Liz Rose into the songwriter category, Dan Penn and Victoria Shaw into the veteran songwriter category, David Bellamy in the veteran songwriter/artist category, and the late Tony Joe White into the Hall’s Legacy category.
The expansive stage stretched across the front of the large room that hundreds of country singers, songwriters, record label heads, and other recording industry executives filled to capacity. The audience, me included, watched as the evening unfolded in what became a familiar format. A montage of snippets of the songwriter’s most prominent hits played. One of the inductee’s peers shared personal highlights and stories from working with the person. A famous recording artist sang one (or, in Shaw’s case, a few) of their hits, and then the songwriter took the stage to accept the honor.
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Gary Burr: “We Like to Say We’re Like an Old Married Couple”
Shaw’s friend and longtime co-writer Gary Burr joked with the audience about the New York native who has writer credits on hits including Garth Brooks’ “The River” and “She’s Every Woman,” John Michael Montgomery’s “I Love the Way You Love Me” and Doug Stone’s “Too Busy Being in Love.”
Burr said Shaw’s father performed in “Guys & Dolls.” Her mother sang on the Ed Sullivan Show.
Shaw moved from Los Angeles to New York to work in a studio and play in piano bars when she was 17.
“Slightly illegal, but she did it,” Burr said. “We would all agree that those are the fundamental building blocks to make a country songwriter.”
Burr laughed that she wasn’t at all prepared and that she didn’t get much encouragement for a decade.
“People refer to us as musical spouses,” Burr said. “We like to say we’re like an old married couple. We fight a lot, and we don’t have sex.”
On a (slightly) more serious note, Burr said Shaw is “one of the greatest, most complete songwriters I’ve ever had the pleasure of being yelled at by.”
Brooks performed for Shaw and had a few stories of his own. He remembered their biggest fight was about the word “vessel” in “The River.” However, he said he still can’t figure out what word would have worked in its place.
Wearing a white cowboy hat and with the lights bouncing off his wedding band, Brooks remembered the pair first met in a bathroom at CRS. He said it was the first time he’d ever heard a woman use the f-word, and he knew immediately they would be friends. He played an acoustic montage of three songs—”A Friend to Me,” “She’s Every Woman,” and “The River.” Brooks received a standing ovation.
Victoria Shaw: “It’s Extra Special That There Are Two Women Being Inducted”
“To all the inductees tonight, it is an honor to be honored next to you,” Shaw said. “I admire all of you. And Liz, it’s extra special that there are two women being inducted this time. Some day, we won’t have to point that out.”
Little Big Town was on hand to sing “Girl Crush” for Rose, who also has 17 Taylor Swift writer credits. Hillary Lindsey told the room about her friend and said she always has a notebook in hand when she’s ready to write. Lindsey said Rose knows what the artist wants to say in the song before the singer knows. Rose may not have moved to town with a guitar on her back to change the face of country music, but that’s what she did.
Crying, Rose said it was humbling to know her name is now among the greatest songwriters in the world.
“I’m still trying to learn something in every room,” Rose said. I will always let the heart of the song lead the way.
“Music is magic,” she continued. “Thank you for letting me be a little part of it.”
Tia Sillers walked out to help induct Big Al Anderson – with him on her arm. Once on stage, she stood on a box to be more his size.
Vince Gill and Carolyn Dawn Johnson honored the writer at Anderson’s request with one of his favorite album cuts, “Some Things Never Get Old.”
Garth Brooks, Vince Gill, John Anderson and More Perform
“I’m blessed to be here,” Anderson told the audience after Sillers’ speech. “It’s a beautiful thing writing songs. It’s just the shit.”
Americana artist Nikki Lane and Kenny Vaughan performed White’s “Polk Salad Annie,” and White’s son, Jody White, accepted the honor for his late father.
Beloved songwriter Gretchen Peters lauded Dan Penn, and jazz vocalist and The Voice alum Wendy Moten sang his classic, “The Dark End Of The Street.”
Larry Gatlin shared some thoughts about his friend David Bellamy ahead of John Anderson’s performance of the Bellamy Brothers’ classic “Redneck Girl.”
“It’s quite a shock when they said they were going to induct me,” Bellamy said. “It was a good shock, a great honor. It’s pretty much a dream come true.”
The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame has welcomed 241 songwriters from multiple genres since 1970. Members include Gatlin, Gill, Brooks, Bill Anderson, Bobby Braddock, Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, Johnny Cash, Don and Phil Everly, Alan Jackson, Kris Kristofferson, Loretta Lynn, Bob McDill, Bill Monroe, Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison, Paul Overstreet, Dolly Parton and more.
Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images
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