Marty Dodson

“Growing up in a recording and song center can be intimidating!” says professional songwriter and Nashville native 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.”  Although he had been writing songs since he was eleven, Marty didn’t have any connections in the business and was very intimidated by the sheer number of people trying to make it as writers and artists in town.  So, he initially set out on a different career path and earned a Psychology degree.

Upon graduation, Marty worked as a youth minister for several churches in the Nashville area.  During this time he wrote a book and numerous magazine articles, but songwriting was still a dream of his.  It remained merely a hobby until he ran into his father’s friend Gordon Payne, songwriter and 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 saw Marty’s potential.  Gordon helped Marty “commercialize” and demo the song, and then set Marty up with other co-writers in town.  One co-writer led Marty to Terry Vonderheide who was writing for Kim Williams Music and Sony Tree.  That, in turn, eventually led Marty to his own five year writing deal with Kim and Sony.  While writing at Kim Williams Music, Marty, along with Williams and Danny Wells, penned his first top ten single – Rascal Flatts’ hit “While You Loved Me.”

Since then Marty has had numerous cuts by such artists as Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney, George Strait, Emerson Drive, Julianne Hough, Bucky Covington and Darryl Worley, among many others.  Marty’s Billy Currington smash, “Must Be Doin’ Somethin’ Right,” spent two weeks at #1 on the Billboard Country Charts, and most recently, Marty's 'Let Me Down Easy' found its way to #1 for Currington; His Kenny Chesney single “Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven” entered the Country Chart at # 22 on August 5, 2008, and spent two weeks at #1 as well. New Warner Brothers artist, Frankie Ballard, chose a Marty Dodson/Dallas Davidson song for his first single and it is currently rising up the charts.

Marty writes for Ole’ and resides in Franklin, Tennessee.

Interesting Factoid:

Marty is a red belt in Taekwondo and an accomplished metal detector.  His most exciting find to date is a 16th century solid silver seal matrix found in Colchester, England in 2008.