LISTEN & SUBSCRIBE

VERSED is a bi-weekly podcast illuminating the heart and soul of music. Featuring in-depth interviews with songwriters and composers, plus tips and insights to help you navigate your music career. Brought to you by ASCAP, home of the world's greatest music creators.

********Jaren Johnston is a Grammy-nominated country songwriter with hit songs for Keith Urban, Tim McGraw and more. He’s also the leader of The Cadillac Three, a great American rock band from Nashville with a new album called Country Fuzz full of kick-ass songs that celebrate southern living. ASCAP’s very own Evyn Mustoe (who knows Jaren better than most – she’s married to the guy) sat down with him a few weeks back to discuss his dual career. Since their interview, Nashville was hit hard by a tornado and the world was hit hard by the coronavirus. We followed up with Jaren to find out how he, his fellow songwriters and Music City are holding up under the circumstances.

+Visit Music Unites Us, ASCAP's new website with resources to help make sure you stay healthy, creative, connected and financially stable during the coronavirus epidemic
  

  

EP. 10 FEATURED INTERVIEW: JAREN JOHNSTON

Born and raised in Nashville, TN, Grammy-nominated songwriter and producer Jaren Johnston has lived a life surrounded by music. He got his start playing drums at a very young age, and when he was 13, his dad bought him his first guitar.

 

Influenced by diverse artists such as Nirvana, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Tom Petty, Johnston began to explore the craft of writing songs in his teens and is now lucky enough to call it a career. 

 

Jaren celebrated his first #1 song with “You Gonna Fly,” recorded by Keith Urban, and has had other cuts with Urban including the #1 single “Raise ‘Em Up.”  His list of hit singles include: Jake Owen’s “Beachin’,” “Days of Gold” and “American Country Love Song;” Billy Currington’s “Don’t It;” Tim McGraw’s “Meanwhile Back at Mama’s” and “Southern Girl;” Frankie Ballard’s “Sunshine & Whiskey” and “It All Started with a Beer;” and Drake White’s “Livin’ the Dream."

 

In addition to being a diverse songwriter with singles and album cuts in the rock, pop and country genres, Jaren is also the primary writer and lead singer for his band The Cadillac Three. When Jaren isn't on the road with his band or writing songs, he is also a highly sought-after producer. He has recently produced singles and albums for Steven Tyler, Dierks Bentley, Hannah Dasher, Kelleigh Bannen, Muscadine Bloodline and more. 

Website: www.thecadillacthree.com // Instagram: @thejaren & @thecadillac3 // Twitter: @thecadillac3  // Facebook: @thecadillacthree

+Watch The Cadillac Three perform "Hard Out Here for a Country Boy" at the 2018 ASCAP Country Music Awards

********

As a Nashville native and daughter of a former country music drummer, Evyn Mustoe grew up surrounded by music. After obtaining her Music Business degree from MTSU, Evyn entered the music business community in Nashville and has worked in almost every lane of the industry. Currently, she serves as Director of the Membership department at ASCAP where she has been for eight years. Evyn has had an integral role in developing ASCAP's presence in the Nashville pop/rock community as well as expanding its role in live music performance opportunities at festivals both locally and nationwide. 

********

Etan Rosenbloom joined ASCAP in 2006. His duties include writing and curating content for the ASCAP website, writing speeches and scripts for award shows, interviewing prominent members and working on ASCAP's corporate communications strategy. Before coming to ASCAP, Etan worked as the Director of Marketing at Cryptogramophone Records. He also spent many years as a freelance music journalist for publications including Decibel, MetalSucks, Billboard, Spin, Prefixmag and DailyOm. Etan currently lives in Los Angeles, where he spends most of his non-existing free time taking his three-year-old daughter on adventures, dreaming about craft beer and haunting all the used record stores within a 20-mile radius.