MEET OUR MENTORS
show Songland alongside Ryan Tedder and Ester Dean. In 2023, McAnally brought the Tony Award winning musical Shucked to Broadway – a production he wrote the music and lyrics for with his collaborator Brandy Clark. Shucked was nominated for 9 Tony Awards and a Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album during the 2023 season. McAnally has been featured in the NYTimes, Billboard, Rolling Stone, The LA Times and on The Kelly Clarkson Show, NPR Tiny Desk, and more.
SHANE MCANALLY
Shane McAnally has written, and/or produced over 50 number one songs, garnered three Grammy Award wins (with 10 total nominations), been nominated for more CMA Awards than any other songwriter in history, and been named ACM’s Songwriter of the Year twice. He has written and produced songs for everyone from Sam Hunt to Kenny Chesney to Blake Shelton to Kacey Musgraves and received Billboard’s Trailblazer Award for his work both in country music and in championing voices in the LGBTQ community. In 2012 McAnally founded SMACKSongs, which includes publishing, digital and management branches, and whose writers are credited with nearly 70 number one songs. SMACK also manages singer/songwriter Walker Hayes, who shot to superstardom with his smash hit “Fancy Like,” produced by McAnally. In addition to SMACK, McAnally is co-president of Monument Records, a joint venture with Sony Music, and has starred on NBC’s hit television
JESSIE JO DILLON
Reigning Academy of Country Music Songwriter of the Year, Jessie Jo Dillon, has made an undeniable mark in the world of songwriting and is just getting started. A 5x Grammy® nominee including 2024’s Songwriter of the Year (non-classical), Dillon’s hits include the global smash “10,000 Hours” (Dan +Shay feat. Justin Beiber) which has achieved over 1 billion streams on Spotify alone and has been certified as 5x platinum by the RIAA. Other prior#1 radio hits penned by Dillon include “Memory Lane” (Old Dominion), “Halfway To Hell” (Jelly Roll), “Back Then Right Now (Tyler Hubbard), and “Break Up In The End” which was nominated for both Grammy Best Country Song and ACM Song of the Year and won NSAI’s Song of the Year in 2019. Dillon’s current singles include “Lies Lies Lies” (Morgan Wallen), ”Messed Up As Me” (Keith Urban”), “Am I Okay” (Megan Moroney) and “Friday Night Heartbreaker” (Jon Pardi). Artists who have recoded Dillon’s songs include George Strait, Miranda Lambert, Kelsea Ballerini, Luke Bryan, Hardy, Brothers Osborne, Darius Rucker and Tim McGraw, among many others.
