Tonight's Songwriters Have Written Songs For:

• Carly Pearce
• Reba McEntire
• Sara Evans
• Jana Kramer
• And More!

Emily Shackelton:

Emily Shackelton proudly hails from Biwabik, Minnesota. After studying at Berklee College of Music, where she won the coveted John Lennon BMI Foundation songwriting competition, Emily moved to Nashville and began her career as a songwriter and performer. Her writing catalog includes singles and cuts by Carly Pearce, Runaway June, Joy Williams, Reba McEntire, Joe Nichols, Callista Clark, Sara Evans, Jana Kramer, David Cook, Mickey Guyton, Lauren Alaina, and more, as well as TV shows like Nashville, American Idol, and Dancing with the Stars. She celebrated her first Number 1 with Carly Pearce’s breakout single "Every Little Thing”. She’s since had 10 songs recorded by Pearce and is a co-writer of her current top 10 single, “What He Didn’t Do”. Emily was awarded “Breakout Songwriter of the Year 2018” by Music Row Magazine.

Connect with Emily HERE

Phil Barton:

Phil Barton moved to Nashville in 2007 from Sydney Australia. His songs have been recorded by Country music superstars Lee Brice, Sara Evans, Eli Young Band, David Nail, Dustin Lynch, Rodney Atkins, Cassadee Pope, Drake White, LoCash, High Valley, Alison Krauss, Jana Kramer, Seth Ennis, Ashley McBryde, Mickey Guyton, Kristian Bush, Priscilla Block, Matt Stell, Jay Allen, Morgan Evans, The Shires, and Bobby Bones and The Raging Idiots. He was awarded "Breakthrough Songwriter" of the year in the Music Row Awards in 2012

and had his first #1 Billboard song with the Lee Brice hit "A Woman Like You", the song went double platinum in the US, and won him a precious NSAI Award for "One of the Ten songs I Wish I’d Written" that year. Fifteen Top Ten singles to his credit in recent years on the Canadian Country Charts, and his music has appeared in 2016 three times Oscar Nominated film "Sicario", and television shows like "Nashville" and video games like 'The Sims'. Over his career he has had over 800 songs recorded on country, children's and pop records around the world.

Connect with Phil HERE

Chrissy Metz:

Chrissy Metz is an Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated actress and singer best known for her moving portrayal of Kate Pearson on the hit NBC series This Is Us. Audiences around the world connected with her honest, unfiltered performance, helping the show earn multiple ensemble Screen Actors Guild Awards and making Chrissy a familiar, beloved face on television. She has also appeared in American Horror Story: Freak Show, the feature films Breakthrough and Sierra Burgess Is a Loser, and even showed off her vocals on The Masked Singer.

Off screen, Chrissy is a recording artist and live performer who grew up singing in church and has since shared the stage at major events and on national TV. She fronts her own band, Chrissy and the Vapors, has released inspirational country-leaning songs including singles tied to her recent projects, and wrote the best-selling memoir This Is Me: Loving the Person You Are Today, along with the children’s book When I Talk to God, I Talk About You. Her latest roles include Nichole Jolly in Lifetime’s Faith in the Flames: The Nichole Jolly Story (2025), Starr in Netflix’s The Hunting Wives (2025), Jessica in Bank of Dave 2: The Loan Ranger (2025), and she’s currently filming the Apple TV+ series Lazarus as Ida—all bringing that same heart and courage she brings to every performance.

Connect with Chrissy HERE