Songwriters Night

Born in the small town of Quincy, Florida, Billy Dean started his music career at the age of eight, singing with his father’s band, the Country Rocks. After touring the Gulf Coast circuit in his late teens and early twenties, Billy’s first big break came in 1988 when he won Best Male Vocalist on Star Search, hosted by Ed McMahon. His success on the show led to signing with Columbia Records and the release of his debut album Young Man in 1990. Buoyed by the singles “Only Here for a Little While” and “Somewhere in My Broken Heart,” Young Man became Billy’s first of many Gold records. His second and third albums, Billy Dean and Fire in the Dark were also certified as Gold Records and featured the Billboard-charting singles, “You Don’t Count the Cost,” “Only the Wind,” “Billy the Kid,” “If There Hadn’t Been You,” “Tryin’ to Find a Fire in the Dark,” “I Wanna Take Care of You,” “I’m Not Built That Way” and more. Over the course of his 25+ year career, Billy has released 11 albums and has been recognized with several awards and nominations. In 1992, he was nominated for a Grammy for Song of the Year for “Somewhere in My Broken Heart,” which went on to win Song of the Year at the American Country Music Awards. That same year, Billy was named Top New Male Vocalist of the Year at the Academy of Country Music awards and nominated by the Country Music Association for the Horizon Award. Four years later, Billy won a Grammy for Amazing Grace, A Country Tribute to Gospel, an album featuring Martina McBride, Allison Krauss, the Charlie Daniels Band, and others. In 2017, Billy was inducted as a member of the Florida Artist Hall of Fame. A modern-day American Troubadour, Billy Dean has performed and toured with some of the industry’s biggest country music stars including the Judds, Kenny Rogers, Clint Black, Alan Jackson, Wynonna Judd, and others. After making a home in Nashville for decades, Billy has returned to his Florida roots and now lives in Quincy with his wife, Stephanie. Billy continues to perform and write – doing what he does best – telling the stories that have become the soundtrack of our lives.

Tim has been writing hit songs for the past 25 years for artists including “Girls Lie Too” and “I Wanna Do It All” by Terri Clark, “(This Ain’t) No Thinkin’ Thing” by Trace Adkins, and “I’ll Think Of a Reason Later” by Lee Ann Womack. In 2004, Nichols co-wrote Tim McGraw’s “Live Like You Were Dying” with Craig Wiseman, which set a new record of 10 consecutive weeks at #1 on the Radio & Records chart, won the Best Country Song Grammy award in 2005, and was nominated for the Grammy Song of the Year. It also won the Song of the Year award from the Country Music Association, Academy of Country Music, BMI Country Awards, ASCAP Country Awards, and the Nashville Songwriters Association International. It is the only song ever to have won every major song award that is presented for country music. Other artists to record Nichols’ songs include Kenny Chesney, Reba McEntire, Gretchen Wilson, Brad Paisley, Travis Tritt, Aaron Tippin, Collin Raye, and Clay Walker.