CMA Songwriters Series Presented By U.S. Bank Announces Houston Performance With Josh Kerr, Maddie & Tae And Jon Nite September 17, Tickets On Sale Now

Songwriters Join the CMA Foundation to Visit with Students in the Houston Independent School District

The Country Music Association’s critically acclaimed CMA Songwriters Series Presented by U.S. Bank announces a performance at The Heights Theater in Houston Monday, Sept. 17 at 7:00 PM featuring Josh Kerr, Maddie & Tae and Jon Nite. Maddie Marlow, who hails from Sugarland, TX, and Tae (Taylor) Dye have a strong connection to Texas, with the two first meeting during a music showcase in Dallas prior to becoming a duo and beginning their musical careers, while Nite was born in Amarillo, TX. Tickets for the performance cost $25 and are on sale now at CMAsongwritersseries.com.

The CMA Songwriters Series Presented by U.S. Bank hosts intimate performances with some of Country Music’s most exciting songwriting talent taking turns telling the stories behind their hit songs and performing them in the raw as originally written. During the trip, the songwriters will partner with the CMA Foundation, CMA’s philanthropic arm, to visit with students in the Houston Independent School District (HISD). Last fall, the CMA Foundation made a three-year commitment to invest $500,000 through the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation to ensure all students in the HISD can participate in fine arts, despite limited budgets or resources.

The CMA Foundation and the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation will also team up to host a musical instrument drive in Houston Sept. 14-24, encouraging the community to donate gently used musical instruments at several drop sites located throughout the greater Houston area. Collected instruments will be cleaned, repaired and donated to Houston school music programs. Visit mhopus.org/instrument-drive for more details about drop sites.

Josh Kerr is an award-winning hit songwriter and music producer at Black River Publishing based in Nashville, TN. His multiple U.S. No. 1 songs include the RIAA Platinum-certified “Love Me Like You Mean It” and “Dibs,” co-written and recorded by Kelsea Ballerini, and the RIAA Platinum-certified “My Girl,” co-written and recorded by Dylan Scott. As a songwriter and producer, Kerr has worked with a variety of artists spanning multiple genres including Abby Anderson, Danielle Bradbery, Camilla Cabello, Brett Eldredge, Florida Georgia Line, for KING & COUNTRY, Hannah Kerr, Maddie & Tae, RaeLynn, Thomas Rhett, Cole Swindell, Keith Urban, and George Warburton. Urban’s “Never Comin’ Down,” produced by Kerr and Urban, is the second track found on Urban’s Graffiti U album and was written by James Abrahart, Shy Carter, Kerr and Urban. Kerr began making music early on in life while growing up in upstate New York. He was honored as the top jazz musician prior to graduating from Messiah College where he played collegiate lacrosse in addition to his music studies.

Award-winning Country duo Maddie & Tae recently released a brand-new single, “Friends Don’t,” playing on Country radio now. Written by Maddie & Tae’s Maddie Marlow and Taylor Dye along with Justin Ebach and Jon Nite, “Friends Don’t” is the first single from the Platinum-selling duo’s forthcoming sophomore album on Mercury Nashville. The new album follows Maddie & Tae’s critically-acclaimed, “highly polished” (Billboard) debut, Start Here. Garnering instant praise with their Platinum-selling debut and No. 1 hit, “Girl In A Country Song,” Maddie & Tae became the third female duo in 70 years to top the Country airplay chart with their debut single. The duo scored a CMA Award for Video of the Year for “Girl In A Country Song” and two Radio Disney Music Awards for Favorite Country Artist and Favorite Country Song for “Fly,” the Top 10, Gold-selling follow-up single. Receiving praise from NPR, Billboard, Entertainment Weekly, The Washington Post, Glamour and others, Country Music’s hottest stars including Dierks Bentley, Lee Brice and Brad Paisley took notice and welcomed Maddie & Tae on tour before the award-winning duo launched their own headlining Start Here Tour. Read more at www.maddieandtae.com.

Born in Amarillo, TX, Jon Nite is an award-winning singer/songwriter who has written over a dozen Top 10 Country hits.  Nite’s songs have been recorded by artists including Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Adam Craig, Dustin Lynch, Tim McGraw, David Nail, Jason Owen, Phillip Phillips, Michael Ray, Chase Rice, Darius Rucker, Blake Shelton, Keith Urban, Chris Young and more. Teaming up with Sony/ATV Music Publishing in Nashville, Nite has found a home with hits like “What Ever She’s Got” by Nail, “Smoke” by A Thousand Horses and “We Were Us,” the 2014 CMA Awards Musical Event of the Year by Urban featuring Miranda Lambert. He is a master of poetically sentimental lyrics, a talent illustrated by his song “Boy” recorded by Lee Brice, written for his son and his co-writer Nicolle Galyon’s baby boy days before she gave birth to him. Nite has received two CMA Triple Play Awards for writing three No. 1 songs in a 12-month period. Recently, he co-wrote Cole Swindell’s single, “Break Up in the End,” which continues to ascend its way up the Billboard Country charts. He also earned an album cut on Dan + Shay’s self-titled album with his work on the song “Stupid Love” and Michael Ray’s Amos with “Drink One For Me.” Nite worked closely on Bentley’s album The Mountain, co-writing “Living,” “Nothing On But The Stars,” “Son of the Sun” and “Travelin’ Light.” He also co-wrote Maddie & Tae’s well-received single “Friends Don’t.” Nite currently lives south of Nashville with his wife and their two children.