by Robert H. Cataliotti for No Depression.
May 24, 2015
“Names like Fats Domino, Dave Bartholomew, Allen Toussaint, Earl King, and Dr. John a.k.a. Mac Rebennack come to mind when talking about hit songs emanating from New Orleans. Over the past few years, however, the biggest hits from a Big Easy songwriter have come from the pen of Jim McCormick. A New Orleans native, McCormick divides his time between his hometown and Nashville, where, working with songwriting teams, he has co-written such chart toppers as Jason Aldean’s “Take A Little Ride” and Brantley Gilbert’s “You Don’t Know Her Like I Do,” as well as songs for the likes of Tim McGraw, Trisha Yearwood, Randy Travers, and Trace Adkins. While he’s carved out a place for his talents in the Music City, he remains deeply connected to the Crescent City and the music scene where he developed his skills. McCormick explains: “It has long been a real goal of mine to highlight the rich songwriting history and present down in the Crescent City. It’s something that’s pretty overlooked given the extraordinary caliber of musicians and bands in New Orleans with the jazz and the funk, so many great things, but the quiet practice of songwriting kind of gets overshadowed. A trumpet is louder than the pen. But there’s great history here when you start scratching at it.” Asked by Threadhead Records president Chris Joseph to come home to do a solo recording, McCormick suggested a collaborative project involving three of his favorite songwriters and stalwart performers on the New Orleans scene — Spencer Bohren, Paul Sanchez, and Alex McMurray. Clearly signaling that songwriting is at the heart of the project they call themselves The Write Brothers and, earlier this year, took off with an eleven song CD, First Flight.”