The songwriter has always been the heartbeat of music. The soundtrack of our lives starts with a person pouring their heart out with an idea and a guitar. A simple act can then snowball into a piece of music that changes our lives forever. Songs From The Sky will allow Big Sky residents and visitors to celebrate national and local songwriters May 22nd-24th.
May 22nd
Lone Mountain Ranch and Lone Mountain Land Company are partnering to offer an unprecedented evening of music featuring some of Nashville’s most notable songwriters in Big Sky on the Ranch. Hear the stories and the inspiration behind the songs you know and love with dinner at Horn and Cantle, followed by a writer’s round featuring:
Barry Dean – “Pontoon” Little Big Town
Marc Holman – “Don’t Think Jesus” – Morgan Wallen
Lori McKenna – “Girl Crush,” Little Big Town, “I Bet You Think About Me,” Taylor Swift
Steve Moakler – “Angel Singin’” Reba McEntire
Travis Wood – “’98 Braves” Morgan Wallen
May 23rd
We want to celebrate and highlight the local songwriters thriving in our Big Sky community. As such, we’ll follow Wednesday’s showcase with a local writers’ round in the style of Nashville’s iconic Bluebird Cafe on Thursday the 23rd at Block 3 to open our hearts and listen to the incredible music created by people in this special town.
May 24th
Friday, May 24th, will shift to the Tips Up for a show from Bozeman-based rock n’ roller’s The Love Darts.
May 24th, the focus moves to the Waypoint and features a celebration of music in film. Featuring films Stop Making Sense, ____, and _____, it will be a day to highlight the impact of music in the cinematic space.
Come celebrate the art of the songwriter here in Big Sky as Songs From The Sky takes its inaugural flight…
Barry Dean
Barry Dean takes nothing for granted. Even after earning a Grammy nomination for Tim McGraw’s “Diamond Rings and Old Barstools” and topping charts with four No. 1 singles, he remains awe-struck each time he hears a song he wrote on the radio. Dean still can’t help but think of how he seemed destined to work a 9-to-5 in Kansas––a fate that now seems preposterous, given his track record: two No. 1 singles for Little Big Town, “Pontoon” and “Day Drinkin'”; “Think a Little Less,” which topped the charts for Michael Ray; “Heartache Medication which hit #1 for Jon Pardi; Ingrid Michaelson’s Top 40 smash “Girls Chase Boys”; and an ever-growing list of country and pop successes including cuts with Kenny Chesney, Luke Combs, George Strait, Amy Grant, Brothers Osborne and more prove that Dean is doing exactly what he was made to do.
Lori McKenna
From her home base in Boston, Lori McKenna has carved out an enviable niche for herself as one of Nashville’s most in-demand songwriters while maintaining a prolific and remarkably consistent career as a solo artist. The release of her anticipated album, 1988, adds to a series of landmark years for McKenna and follows three widely acclaimed albums: 2016’s The Bird & The Rifle, 2018’s The Tree and 2020’s The Balladeer, of which the Associated Press praised, “McKenna has by now long established herself as one of the best songwriters working in any genre. And she does it again and again,” while The Tennessean asserted, “one of the sharpest pens in modern country and folk songwriting.”
In addition to her career as a solo artist, McKenna continues to enjoy success as one of the music industry’s most in-demand songwriters. In 2023, she was nominated for a Grammy for Best Country Song for co-writing “I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault),” performed by Taylor Swift. In 2017, McKenna became the first woman to win the Academy of Country Music’s Songwriter of the Year award and the first woman to win the Country Music Association’s Song of the Year award two years in a row. She also won back-to-back Grammys for Best Country Song: for “Girl Crush,” performed by Little Big Town, in 2016, and “Humble and Kind,” performed by Tim McGraw in 2017. In 2021, McKenna won her third Best Country Song Grammy for co-writing “Crowded Table,” performed by The Highwomen, with Brandi Carlile and Natalie Hemby. She was also nominated for all-genre Song of the Year as a co-writer for “Always Remember Us This Way” (Lady Gaga) and “Beautiful Noise” (Brandi Carlile/Alicia Keys). In addition, McKenna has written songs for a multitude of award-winning artists, including Miranda Lambert, Parker McCollum, Dan + Shay, Little Big Town, Thomas Rhett, Carrie Underwood, Meg Moroney, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, and Hailey Whitters. McKenna celebrated her 3rd number 1 song in 2024 with Parker McCollum’s “Burn It Down.”
Steve Moakler
Steve Moakler is a country music singer/songwriter with Pennsylvania roots. More than 15 years into his career, with a series of acclaimed albums, songwriter cuts with Dierks Bentley, Jake Owen, Ben Rector, Reba McEntire, Larry Fleet, Mackenzie Carpenter, and more, and cross-country tours with Old Dominion, Willie Nelson, Dan + Shay, and Tim McGraw and Faith Hill in the rearview, his new album Make A Little Room presents a recipe for something different. A life of unforgettable moments savored in the spaces between. Writing or co-writing all ten songs on Make A Little Room, a set steeped in uncommon wisdom emerged and delivered with a spark of enlightened electricity. Just as spacious in approach as in theme, it features an easy-going, rootsy, front-porch pop spirit, as tender vocals alive with gratitude join a bare minimum of bright, breezy guitars. Throughout, Moakler wraps himself in the freedom of the here and now. His 7th studio album features the title track and lead song, “Make A Little Room,” as well as tracks “Let’s Go To The Lake,” “Numbered,” and “’ You Being You,” all available now.
Travis Wood
Travis Wood is an award-winning songwriter and producer who signed a publishing deal with Creative Nation in 2019—2023; he earned his first Billboard Country #1 song with Parmalee’s “Girl In Mine.” A native Canadian, he has additionally penned 9 Canadian #1 singles, several of which were consecutive hits for James Barker Band. In 2024, he earned his first AIMP Award – Publisher’s Pick with “‘98 Braves” (Morgan Wallen) and an additional Rising Songwriter of the Year nomination. Wood has earned additional cuts and releases from Morgan Wallen, Jordan Davis, Jake Owen, Scotty McCreery, Chris Lane, Corey Kent, Ella Langely, Ashley Cooke, and more with his unique perspective and hit songwriting ability.
Mark Holman
Big Loud Publishing and Warner Chappell Music have signed chart-topping songwriter Mark Holman to a co-publishing deal. Hailing from Ewing, Illinois, Holman found an early love for music through his older brothers and began writing and producing in 2008. Making the big move to Nashville in 2014, he scored his first #1 hit as a songwriter on Florida Georgia Line’s 2018 smash, “Simple,” and now has two singles at Country radio – Cole Swindell’s “Single Saturday Night” + Maddie & Tae’s “Woman You Got” – along with over 60 cuts from artists across a range of genres, including Blake Shelton, Morgan Wallen, HARDY, Gary Allan, Three Days Grace, The Struts, Blue October, Halestorm, and Art of Dying.
