American songwriter
Musical artist
Luke Robert Laird (born May 4, 1978 in
Hartstown, Pennsylvania )
[1] is an American
country music
songwriter and
producer . He has written over 20 number one
Billboard singles, including
Carrie Underwood 's "
So Small ", "
Temporary Home ", and "
Undo It ";
Blake Shelton 's "
Gonna ";
Sara Evans ' "
A Little Bit Stronger ";
Rodney Atkins 's "
Take a Back Road ";
Eric Church 's "
Drink in My Hand ", "
Give Me Back My Hometown ", and "
Talladega ";
Little Big Town 's "
Pontoon ";
[2]
Luke Bryan 's "
I See You " and "
Fast ";
Thomas Rhett 's "
T-Shirt ";
Kenny Chesney 's "
American Kids ";
Lady Antebellum 's "
Downtown "; and
Jon Pardi 's "
Head Over Boots ."
[3] He has also written and produced songs for
Tim McGraw ,
Rascal Flatts ,
Kacey Musgraves ,
Toby Keith ,
Ne-Yo ,
John Legend ,
Darius Rucker , and many others.
[4]
Early life
Laird was born in Hartstown, PA on May 4, 1978.
[1] He wrote songs and learned guitar in elementary school.
[5] After seeing a
Randy Travis concert in high school, Laird claims he became fascinated with songwriting and production.
[6] He taught himself basic elements of music theory by listening to the radio and dissecting songs.
[5] Laird's parents took him in high school to see
Middle Tennessee State University and its recording program,
[5] and he enrolled there in 1997, graduating in 2001 with a degree in Recording Industry Management.
[7]
[8]
After college Laird moved to Nashville. Laird's first job in the industry was assistant tour manager for
Brooks & Dunn , though he spent his weekends writing.
[8] He participated in songwriter nights in Nashville at venues such as
Bluebird Cafe . In 2002, Chris Oglesby, at
BMG Music at the time, offered Laird a publishing deal.
[8] BMG was later bought by
Universal Music Publishing Group , which took over Laird's contract and made him a staff writer in 2008.
[9]
While working at BMG he met a receptionist, Beth Mason.
[7] The two were married in 2010, and went on to co-found Creative Nation in 2011.
[7]
Music career
Early in his time at UMPG, Bill Luther took an interest in him and encouraged him as a writer.
[6] Luther brought Laird along with him to write a song with
Hillary Lindsey .
[10] The three worked together and named a song around their rapport, called "
Painless ." The song went on to be Laird's first released song by
Lee Ann Womack in 2005.
[9]
Laird and Lindsey went on to work on a number of songs with
Carrie Underwood , including his first number one single "
So Small " in 2007.
[5]
[8] The song held the number one spot on the
Billboard Country charts for three weeks and went platinum.
[11] Since then Laird has co-written 23 singles that reached No. 1 on the Billboard Country charts.
[12] He is a proponent of the “New Country” style of country music, and has worked with pop artists such as
Ne-Yo and
John Legend .
[13] He has written No. 1 hits with
Carrie Underwood ,
Blake Shelton ,
Tim McGraw ,
Kenny Chesney , and
Eric Church , among others, and has had hits with artists such as
Ingrid Michaelson ,
Jason Aldean ,
Sara Evans , and
Kacey Musgraves , among others.
[11]
He was named
BMI 's Country Songwriter of the Year in 2012, and his song with
Rodney Atkins , "
Take a Back Road " was named Song of the Year.
[14] He was named ACM's Songwriter of the Year in 2015.
[15]
He has been nominated for four
Grammys for Best Country Song : twice in 2015, for
Kenny Chesney 's "
American Kids " and for
Eric Church 's "
Give Me Back My Hometown ,"
[16] in 2016 for
Tim McGraw 's "Diamond Rings and Old Barstools,"
[17] and in 2019 for Kacey Musgraves' "
Space Cowboy ", which he won.
[18] Although he is primarily interested in songwriting, Laird also produced two
Grammy nominated albums by
Kacey Musgraves , the 2014
Same Trailer Different Park –which won
[19] –and the 2016
Pageant Material .
[17]
Creative Nation
In 2011, Laird and his wife Beth founded
Creative Nation , a music publishing and management company for country music songwriters and producers. While Beth Laird handles logistics, Luke Laird focuses on songwriting.
[20]
[21]
The company includes
Kassi Ashton , Derek Bahr, Oscar Charles,
Barry Dean , Jonathan Hutcherson,
Lori McKenna ,
Sandra McCracken , Mia Mantia,
Steve Moakler , Ben West, Travis Wood, and Laird himself.
[22]
[23] Previous clients include Alec Bailey, Casey Brown,
Natalie Hemby , Muscadine Bloodline,
Tyler Johnson , and Native Run.
[24] The company has had partnerships with
Concord Music Publishing , Universal Music Publishing Group,
Sony ATV Music Publishing , and
Pulse Music Group .
[25]
[26]
[27]
Discography
Awards and nominations
Grammy Awards
[28]
Country Music Association Awards
Academy of Country Music Awards
American Country Awards
BMI Country Music Awards
References
^
a
b Chiodo, Pet (June 1, 2010).
"Hit-song writer and former local Laird enjoys Nashville music scene" .
The Meadville Tribune .
^ Parker, Eric (September 4, 2012).
"Little Big Town Earns First No. 1 Single" .
MusicRow .
^ Thompson, Gayle (January 4, 2017).
"Story Behind the Song: Jon Pardi, 'Head Over Boots' " .
The Boot .
^
"Luke Laird - Credits" .
AllMusic .
^
a
b
c
d Schlansky, Evan (January 31, 2014).
"Masters of Songwriting" . American Songwriter .
^
a
b Reuter, Anne (June 2, 2017).
"The Writer's Round with Luke Laird" . Sounds like Nashville .
^
a
b
c Allen, Eric (July 6, 2011).
"Luke Laird: One of Music City's Top Songwriters is also an MTSU Alum" . The Murfreesboro Pulse . Retrieved November 6, 2011 .
^
a
b
c
d Dunkerley, Beville (June 13, 2014).
"Songwriter Spotlight: Luke Laird" . Rolling Stone .
^
a
b Laundauer, Janelle (March 23, 2008).
"Songwriter Spotlight: Luke Laird" . Country Music Online .
^ Landauer, Janelle (March 23, 2008).
"Luke Laird Chases His Dream of Becoming A Songwriter –– And Scores BIG With 'So Small' " . Country Music Online . Retrieved November 6, 2011 .
^
a
b Hook, Brittany (December 14, 2015).
"20th Number One Song and Grammy Nods Mark Memorable Week for Songwriter Luke Laird" . Forbes .
^ Ross, Danny (June 20, 2017).
"This Guy Wrote Your Favorite Songs" . Forbes .
^ Moore, Rick (June 27, 2011).
"Nashville Songwriter Series: Luke Laird" . American Songwriter .
^ Paulson, Dave (October 30, 2012).
"2012 BMI Country Awards honor Tom T. Hall, Dallas Davidson, Luke Laird" .
The Tennessean .
^ Staff (April 7, 2015).
"Loretta Lynn, Luke Bryan are Early 2015 ACM Awards Winners" . Rolling Stone .
^
a
b
c Staff (February 8, 2015).
"Grammys 2015" . LA Times .
^
a
b
c
d
e Watts, Cindy (February 14, 2016).
"MTSU Honors Luke Laird with L.A. Reception" . The Tennessean .
^
"61st Annual GRAMMY Awards" . GRAMMY.com . Retrieved 29 January 2024 .
^ Lewis, Randy (January 26, 2013).
"Grammys 2014: Kacey Musgraves wins award for best country album" .
Los Angeles Times . Retrieved January 29, 2014 .
^
"POWER PLAYERS: 30 UNDER 30: Beth Mason Laird, Director of writer/publisher relations, BMI Nashville" .
Billboard . August 18, 2010.
^ Rau, Nate (April 10, 2014).
"Creative Nation's Power Couple are Hitmakers" . The Tennessean .
^ Nicholson, Jessica (August 3, 2016).
"Creative Nation Adds Belmont Student Kassi Ashton to Roster" . Music Row .
^
"Current Clients — Creative Nation" . Creative Nation . Retrieved 29 January 2024 .
^
"CATALOG — Creative nation" . Creative Nation . Retrieved 29 January 2024 .
^ Cantrell, LB (27 July 2021).
"Lori McKenna Enters Partnership With Concord, PULSE & Creative Nation" . Music Row . Retrieved 20 February 2024 .
^
"Universal Music Publishing Group Re-Signs Nashville Hit-Maker Luke Laird To New, World-Wide Publishing Agreement" (Press release). Universal Music Publishing Group. March 6, 2012.
^
"Pulse Recording and Creative Nation Announce Exclusive Partnership" . Globenewswire.com. Retrieved 2014-08-10 .
^
"Luke Laird" . GRAMMY.com . 2018-05-22. Retrieved 2018-08-30 .
^
"CMA Honors Triple Play Award-Winning Songwriters During Eighth Annual CMA Songwriters Luncheon - CMA World - Country Music Association" . CMA World - Country Music Association . 2017-02-15. Retrieved 2018-08-30 .
^
a
b
"CMA Honors Triple Play Writers" . MusicRow - Nashville's Music Industry Publication - News, Songs From Music City . 2010-10-14. Retrieved 2018-08-30 .
^
a
b
"CMA Honors Songwriters With Triple Play Awards" . MusicRow - Nashville's Music Industry Publication - News, Songs From Music City . 2014-02-04. Retrieved 2018-08-30 .
^
"CMA Presents Triple Play Awards" . MusicRow - Nashville's Music Industry Publication - News, Songs From Music City . 2013-01-30. Retrieved 2018-08-30 .
^
a
b
"2015 CMA Awards Winners -- Complete List" . The Boot . 5 November 2015. Retrieved 2018-08-30 .
^
"Country Music Association Awards, list of nominees" . Retrieved 2018-08-30 .
^
a
b
c Friedlander, Kari (2013-09-10).
"CMA Awards 2013: Full Nominees List Revealed" . Huffington Post . Retrieved 2018-08-30 .
^ Melas, Chloe.
"ACM Awards 2017: Jason Aldean takes home entertainer of the year" . CNN . Retrieved 2018-08-30 .
^
a
b
c Staff (2015-04-07).
"Loretta Lynn, Luke Bryan Are Early 2015 ACM Awards Winners" . Rolling Stone . Retrieved 2018-08-30 .
^
a
b Staff (2014-04-07).
"2014 Academy of Country Music Awards - Complete Winners List" . ABC News . Retrieved 2018-08-30 .
^ Rogers, Chris (2013-02-13).
"2013 Academy Of Country Music Award Nominees: Taylor Swift & More — Full List" . Hollywood Life . Retrieved 2018-08-30 .
^
"2012 ACM Awards Nominees" . 2012-02-28. Retrieved 2018-08-30 .
^
"2013 American Country Awards Winners – Full List" . Taste of Country . 11 December 2013. Retrieved 2018-08-30 .
^
a
b
"BMI Country Award Winners" . MusicRow - Nashville's Music Industry Publication - News, Songs From Music City . 2012-10-31. Retrieved 2018-08-30 .