Marty Dodson

"Growing up in a recording and song center can be intimidating!" says Nashville native and Blacktop Music Group songwriter, Marty Dodson. "We moved to Nashville when I was five years old, and I remember that it seemed like everyone who ever worked on our air conditioner or waited on us at a restaurant was trying to get into the music
business. I didn't have any connections in the business and was very intimidated because I knew the sheer numbers of people trying to make it as writers and artists here in town. So, I enrolled at David Lipscomb University and made plans for another career."

After graduating with a degree in Psychology, Marty worked as a youth minister for several churches in the Nashville area. While he was a youth minister, he published numerous magazine articles and wrote a book that was published in 1987.

Marty began writing songs when he was about 11 years old. He continued writing as a hobby until he ran into Gordon Payne, a friend of his fathers. Gordon was a songwriter and the lead singer for the Crickets. When Marty mentioned that he wrote for fun, Gordon asked to hear some of the songs he had written. One song entitled
"Weekend Cowboy" caught Gordon's ear and he asked if he could help make it more commercial. "We co-wrote the finished version of that song and Gordon made a demo of it. Then, he began to set me up to co-write with other writers he knew. One of my co-writers lead me to led me to Terry Vonderheide who was writing for Kim Williams
Music and Sony Tree. That led to a five year writing deal with Kim and Sony."

While writing at Kim Williams Music, Marty had songs recorded by such artists as Lonestar, Billy Ray Cyrus, John Michael Montgomery, Ricochet, Rebecca Lynn Howard, Rascal Flatts and Diamond Rio. Marty co-wrote the recent top ten Rascal Flatts hit single "While You Loved Me".

Marty signed with Blacktop Music Group, Inc. in April of 2001 and has since had songs recorded by Diamond Rio, Tracy Lawrence, John Michael Montgomery, Buddy Jewell, Rebecca Lynn Howard, Billy Ray Cyrus, Blaine Larsen, Craig Morgan, Nashville Star winner Erika Jo, and the Australian artist Gina Jeffereys. Marty recently had the singles "Always Sixteen" by Billy Ray Cyrus on Word Records and "Must Be Doin' Somethin' Right" by Billy Currington on Mercury Records which reached # 1 on the Billboard Country Charts. He lives with his wife Becky and their three children.

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