Hear Carolyn Dawn Johnson sing Tommy's song, I Don't Want You To Go

Tommy Polk  Tommy grew up on the banks - both sides - of the Mississippi River in Vidalia, LA and Natchez, MS.  He started writing songs at 14.  Tommy entered his first recording studio with original material while at Belmont University in Nashville. By 1981 he was working professionally under the wing of Ralph Murphy.  In 1989 he signed as a writer with Warner Bros, which led him to writing for EMI, Acuff Rose, Blue Water, and others. He's penned songs for Martina McBride, Crystal Gayle, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Jessica Andres, Diamond Rio, Irma Thomas, and others with top ten singles "Look What Followed Me Home" by David Ball and "I Don't Want You To Go" by Carolyn Dawn Johnson.  The multi-faceted Polk published 3 stories for the Chicken-Soup-for-the-Soul series, owns a public-speaking business, Tommy Polk's Creative License Workshops, and plies the hospitality trade with bed and breakfasts in Clarksdale and Natchez.

 

 

Click here to hear Lee Ann Womack sing Tia's song, I Hope You Dance

Tia Sillers  Tia wrote her first hit song right out of college, "Lipstick Promises," with George Ducas.  "Blue on Black," which she co-wrote with now-husband Mark Selby and Kenny Wayne Shepherd, holds the record as the longest number one in rock chart history: a whopping 17 weeks.  On the country charts, Tia co-wrote Pam Tillis' number one hit "Land of the Living" and the Dixie Chicks' mega-hit "There's Your Trouble."  Lee Ann Womack's "I Hope You Dance" earned Tia ACM, MBI, ASCAP, NSAI and Grammy Song of the Year awards. The song was performed at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway, and is the theme song for the new movie, Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys, sung by Gladys Knight and a thirty piece Gospel choir.

 

 

Mark Selby  Mark has written more than 10 top-40 singles and 4 #1 hits, including those he has co-written with wife, Tia Sillers.  Wynona, Trisha Yearwood, Lee Roy Parnell & Keb Mo, Jo Dee Messina and many others have recorded Selby's songs.  Mark has 4 albums, including 2008's Nine Pound Hammer, and 2006's Mark Otis Selby...And The Horse He Rode In On, a solo acoustic set.
As a live performer, Mark has shared the stage with B.B. King, Jeff Beck, John Mayer, Robert Cray, Lynyrd Skynrd, Delbert McLinton, and Kenny Wayne Shepherd, to name a few.
American Songwriter Magazine wrote of Mark, "As a singer/songwriter, Mark Selby's in the same league as Bruce Springsteen, with meaty words, a compelling voice, and tracks that have more groove than a vintage vinyl record."

 

Byron Hill  For more than 30 years, Byron Hill has been a professional songwriter in Nashville, with songs that have generated more than 650 recordings, earned 77 Gold and Platinum awards, ten ASCAP awards, and 24 U.S. and Canadian top-ten chart hits.
Some of Byron's best known hits are Out of Your Mind by Joe Sun, Pickin' Up Strangers by Johnny Lee, Fool Hearted Memory by George Strait, The Pages of My Mind by Ray Charles, Born Country by Alabama, and Nothing On But The Radio by Gary Allan.
Originally from Winston-Salem, NC, Byron moved to Nashville in 1978 and almost immediately started writing hits, starting with Joe Sun's Out Of Your Mind and Johnny Lee's Pickin' Up Strangers.  In 1984, Byron began four years as an independent songwriter/publisher, having hits with such artists as Ray Charles, Kenny Rogers, Anne Murray, George Jones, and others.  Since 1988, he's been a staff songwriter and a producer for some of the biggest names in the business, including some awards-winning Canadian artists like multi-platinum star Gary Allan and the Canadian vocal group Hey Romeo.

 

Ferriday Songfest is a Louisiana Event funded and sponsored by: