NASHVILLE SONGWRITERS HALL OF FAME JOHN ANDERSON, PAUL CRAFT, TOM DOUGLAS AND GRETCHEN PETERS

Nashville, TN July 8, 2014 -- John Anderson, Paul Craft, Tom Douglas and Gretchen Peters will be inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in October, according to an announcement made today by Pat Alger, chair of the organization’s Board of Directors. The four new inductees will join the 192 existing members of the elite organization when they are officially inducted during the 44th Anniversary Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Dinner & Induction Ceremony on Sunday, October 5th at the Music City Center. "Here in Nashville where the music industry has always been built on a foundation of great songs written by legendary songwriters, each year only a few are elected to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame," said Alger. "This year we are very pleased to welcome the class of 2014: Tom Douglas and Gretchen Peters in the songwriter category; Paul Craft in the veteran songwriter category and John Anderson as our songwriter/artist." Tom Douglas’ songwriter credits include “I Run To You” (Lady Antebellum) and “The House That Built Me” (Miranda Lambert). Gretchen Peters’ resume is known for “Independence Day” (Martina McBride) and “The Secret Of Life” (Faith Hill). Paul Craft is the tunesmith behind “Dropkick Me, Jesus” (Bobby Bare) and “Hank Williams, You Wrote My Life” (Moe Bandy). John Anderson popularized many of his own compositions, including “Swingin’” and “Seminole Wind.” [Biographical information on each inductee follows this release] The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Dinner & Induction Ceremony is one of the music industry’s foremost events of the year. The evening features tributes and performances of the inductees’ songs by special guest artists. In recent years artists such as Garth Brooks, Jimmy Buffett, the Del McCoury Band, Emmylou Harris, Alan Jackson, Toby Keith, Barbara Mandrell, Michael McDonald, Ronnie Milsap, Blake Shelton, Marty Stuart, Taylor Swift, Steve Wariner, Gretchen Wilson and Trisha Yearwood have performed at or participated in the event. During the evening, NaSHOF’s sister organization, the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), presents its annual awards for the year’s Best Song, Songwriter and Songwriter/Artist, as well as the Top 10 “Songs I Wish I Had Written,” as determined by their professional songwriters division. Tickets for the event are $250 each. Select seating is available to the public and may be purchased (as available) by contacting Executive Director Mark Ford at hoftix@nashvillesongwritersfoundation.com or 615- 460-6556. About the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame: To the world, Nashville is synonymous with music and songwriting. Since 1970, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame has honored Music City’s top tunesmiths – some of the greatest writers ever to pick a guitar, play a piano or put pencil to paper in search of the perfect song. To date, the hall boasts 192 members from all genres of music who have reached the pinnacle of their craft, including such luminaries as Bill Anderson, Bobby Braddock, Garth Brooks, Felice & Boudleaux Bryant, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Johnny Cash, "Cowboy" Jack Clement, Rodney Crowell, Don & Phil Everly, Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs, Vince Gill, Merle Haggard, Tom T. Hall, Harlan Howard, Alan Jackson, Kris Kristofferson, Dave Loggins, Loretta Lynn, Bob McDill, Roger Miller, Bill Monroe, Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison, Paul Overstreet, Dolly Parton, Dottie Rambo, Jimmie Rodgers, Fred Rose, Mark D. Sanders, Don Schlitz, Cindy Walker, Jimmy Webb, Marijohn Wilkin, Hank Williams, Hank Williams, Jr. and Bob Wills. The Hall of Fame is owned and operated by the Nashville Songwriters Foundation Inc., a non-profit dedicated to the mission of educating, archiving and celebrating the songwriting profession uniquely associated with Nashville. In 2013, the Hall of Fame realized a long-held dream with the opening of a physical presence in Nashville’s new Music City Center. Engraved names adorn the steps from Songwriters Square at the corner of Fifth and Demonbreun that lead up to the Hall of Fame Gallery, which features songwriting memorabilia as well as touch screens that allow visitors to access information about the history of Nashville songwriting. More information is available at http://www.nashvillesongwritersfoundation.com/. Inductee Biographical Information JOHN ANDERSON was born in Orlando, Fla., and raised in Apopka, Fla. Despite his teenage Rock band roots, he moved to Nashville in 1971 to pursue Country music. Working odd jobs during the day (such as being a roofer on the Grand Ole Opry House), he played clubs at night. By 1977, he signed with Warner Bros. Records and his self-titled debut album in 1980 helped signal the rise of the new traditionalist movement. Following several hits penned by other writers, John’s co-written “Swingin’” shot to #1 and became one of his signature hits in 1983. That song won the 1983 CMA Single of the Year and helped John garner that organization’s Horizon Award. Other John Anderson compositions from the ’80s include “Chicken Truck,” “Goin’ Down Hill,” “I Wish I Could Write You A Song” and “If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It.” Throughout the ’90s John scored hits with “Seminole Wind,” “Country ’Til I Die,” “I Wish I Could Have Been There” and “Bend It Until It Breaks.” John scored another hit with “Shuttin’ Detroit Down” by John Rich in 2009. Memphis-born PAUL CRAFT has a special niche in the Nashville songwriting community. He is one of Music Row’s most prolific providers of songs to the Bluegrass world. Among his 200 cuts in that genre are recordings by stellar artists such as Earl Scruggs, Ralph Stanley, The Lewis Family and The Nashville Bluegrass Band. The Osborne Brothers have recorded 10 Craft tunes; the Seldom Scene have recorded nine. In addition to creating wickedly humorous fare such as “It’s Me Again, Margaret” (Ray Stevens) and Country hits such as “Blue Heartache” (Gail Davies), “Brother Jukebox” (Mark Chesnutt) and “Come As You Were” (T. Graham Brown), Craft is one of only four songwriters to have a pair of solely-written songs nominated for a Best Country Song Grammy in the same year. He accomplished that feat in 1977 with “Dropkick Me, Jesus” (Bobby Bare) and “Hank Williams, You Wrote My Life” (Moe Bandy). Craft’s catalog also contains several “standards,” including“Midnight Flyer,” “Keep Me From Blowing Away” and “Teardrops Will Kiss The Morning Dew.” After graduating from Georgia State University in 1977, Atlanta-born TOM DOUGLAS sold advertising in his hometown before making the move to Nashville a few years later. After four years of futility, Tom and his wife, Katie, moved to Dallas, where they raised a family, and he enjoyed a successful career in commercial real estate. In 1993, at a songwriting seminar in Austin, Tom played “Little Rock” for producer Paul Worley. The following year, the song was a Country hit for Collin Raye and nominated for CMA Song of the Year. Three years later, Tom and family moved back to Nashville, and more hits followed. “The Gift” by Collin Raye w/ Jim Brickman & Susan Ashton earned a 1998 Dove Award for Pop/Contemporary Song of the Year. “I Run To You” by Lady Antebellum earned the 2009 CMA Single of the Year. “The House That Built Me” by Miranda Lambert earned the 2010 NSAI Song of the Year, the 2010 CMA Song of the Year and the 2011 ACM Song and Single of the Year. Other Tom Douglas songs include “Love’s The Only House” by Martina McBride, “Hello World” by Lady Antebellum, and the Tim McGraw hits “Grown Men Don’t Cry,” “My Little Girl,” “Let It Go” and “Southern Voice.” GRETCHEN PETERS was raised in the New York City suburb of Pelham, NY and in Boulder, CO. She performed in bands in the Boulder/Denver area before moving to Nashville in 1987. Her first big songwriting success was “The Chill Of An Early Fall,” recorded by George Strait in 1991. Much of Gretchen’s catalog is solo-written, such as her domestic violence saga “Independence Day,” which was a hit for Martina McBride in 1994 and named the 1995 CMA Song of the Year. The song was nominated for a Grammy, as was “You Don’t Even Know Who I Am,” her 1995 hit by Patty Loveless. Other hits include “The Secret Of Life” (Faith Hill), “Let That Pony Run” (Pam Tillis), “If Heaven” (Andy Griggs), “My Baby Loves Me” (Martina McBride) and “On A Bus To St. Cloud” (Trisha Yearwood). She also has a number of cuts with frequent collaborator/Canadian rocker Bryan Adams such as “This Side Of Paradise” and “Rock Steady” (a duet with Bonnie Raitt). Peters has also recorded eight albums as an artist. ### Contacts for the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Foundation Media Jennifer Bohler/Alliance 615 292 5804 jenny@jb-alliance.com Executive Director Mark Ford /NaSHOF 615 460 6556 markford@nashvillesongwritersfoundation.com