Tom Douglas (songwriter)

Last updated
Tom Douglas
Birth nameThomas Stevenson Douglas [1]
Born (1953-01-27) January 27, 1953 (age 71)
Origin Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Genres Country
Occupation(s) Songwriter
Years active1993 –present

Thomas Stevenson Douglas (born January 27, 1953) is an American country music songwriter. He has written Top 10 Billboard Country hits for John Michael Montgomery, Martina McBride, Tim McGraw, Collin Raye, Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Kenny Chesney and others.

Contents

Early life

Tom Douglas was born in Atlanta, where he grew up with musical influence from his father, who sold steel by day and played the piano and ukulele at night. [2] Douglas describes, “There was always music in the house” and describes his father as being an artist at heart. Tom took piano lessons in second grade, but didn't find real interest in the instrument until he first heard “Your Song” by Elton John. He would often practice and learn by playing Glen Campbell hits, especially those written by Jimmy Webb, who is Douglas’ idol. [3]

Douglas graduated from Oglethorpe University in 1975, and from Georgia State University in 1977 with an MBA. He worked in Atlanta selling advertising, but decided to quit his job to pursue his calling in songwriting. At the age of 27, Douglas opened a small publishing company with two of his friends, and moved to Nashville to pursue music for four years. [4] During his time in Nashville, he met his wife, Katie, with whom he decided to move to Dallas to work in commercial real estate, where he would stay for 13 years and raise 3 children. [3]

Career

In 1993, after revisiting songwriting as a hobby, Douglas attended a songwriters’ seminar in Austin and he played his song “Little Rock” for producer/publisher Paul Worley, who decided to take some of Tom's songs back to Nashville with him. One of his first cuts, "Little Rock," recorded by Collin Raye, made it to the country top ten in 1994, peaking at #2. [5] "Little Rock" was nominated for Song of the Year by the Country Music Association in 1994, [6] and received a "Million-Air" award from Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) for receiving one million spins on country radio. [7] Douglas then signed with Sony/ATV Music Publishing in June 1994, [8] and returned to Nashville, Tennessee in 1997. [7]

Douglas topped the charts again in 1998 with his second number-one hit, “The Gift”, as recorded by and co-written with Jim Brickman. [9] In 2001, Douglas started cowriting for Tim McGraw, and wrote the Number One singles "Grown Men Don't Cry" and "Southern Voice," as well as the Top Five songs "My Little Girl" (which also became the end title for the Fox film, “Flicka” in 2006) and "Let It Go." [8] He cowrote on McGraw's 2015 album Damn Country Music As well. He also co-wrote Martina McBride's "Love's the Only House," as well as Lady Antebellum's Number One "I Run to You." [8] [6] In 2009 Tom received the rare Triple Play Award, in which he had three number one hits in a year. These included Lady Antebellum's “I Run To You”, followed by Tim McGraw's “Southern Voice” and Miranda Lambert's “The House That Built Me”.

In 2016, Douglas decided to venture out of his regular co-writing to create Shatter the Madness, a project written with his songwriting partner Allen Shamblin. The project consisted of a mixed-media collection of songs and music videos about a man's struggle to find wholeness in a broken world. Douglas was a vocalist for the four-song project, which included his version of the hit Miranda Lambert made famous, "The House That Built Me." [10]

Honors, recognition and notable work

List of Singles Co-Written by Tom Douglas

Other Notable Songs

2001-2010

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2009

2010

2011-present

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

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References

  1. ↑ "Search results for Douglas, Thomas Stevenson". Broadcast Music Incorporated. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
  2. ↑ "How Four Decades Prepared Tom Douglas to Write Life into Songs". Cmt.com. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 "Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame". nashvillesongwritersfoundation.com. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  4. ↑ Mario Tarradell (4 December 1994). "Shootin' for the top: Dallas songwriter eases into the country music spotlight". The Dallas Morning News . Retrieved 25 March 2010.
  5. ↑ "Tom Douglas - CMA Songwriters Series". Cmaworld.com. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  6. 1 2 "Biography". Music City Networks. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
  7. 1 2 "Tom Douglas". Broadcast Music Incorporated . 30 April 2000. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
  8. 1 2 3 "Featured writers: Tom Douglas". Sony/ATV Music Publishing. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
  9. ↑ "Poets and Prophets: Salute to Legendary Songwriter Tom Douglas". Country Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  10. 1 2 Songfacts. "Tom Douglas : Songwriter Interviews". Songfacts.com. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  11. ↑ "About Tom". Tom Douglas. Retrieved 2016-12-22.
  12. ↑ "Songwriter Tom Douglas writes a song with seven inmates in Nashville". Tennessean.com. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  13. ↑ "Nashville Songwriters Foundation - Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Inducts John Anderson, Paul Craft, Tom Douglas and Gretchen Peters NSAI Presents Annual Awards". Archived from the original on 2014-10-24. Retrieved 2014-10-24., nashvillesongwritersfoundation.com, October 6, 2014; accessed January 3, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Keith Urban". Grammy.com. 22 May 2018. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  15. ↑ Talley, Brittni (25 January 2018). "SONGWRITER TOM DOUGLAS TO TESTIFY AT JUDICIARY COMMITTEE FIELD HEARING". Nashville Songwriters Association International. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  16. ↑ Parisi, Paula (25 April 2018). "Music Modernization Act Unanimously Passes House of Representatives". Variety.com. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  17. ↑ "Miranda Lambert's 'The House That Built Me' Named 'Song of the Decade' by ACM". Billboard.com. 4 September 2019. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
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