Top country songwriters coming to Ford recital hall

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Three of Nashville’s greatest songwriters — including Liberty native Bob DiPiero — will come to the Ford Family Recital Hall on May 2.

The American Made country music songwriters series will bring DiPiero, plus Gary Burr and Tim Nichols, to the intimate theater for an evening in which the trio will perform the many hit songs they have written for other artists.

It will be an evening of music performed by the people who wrote the songs — not the ones who popularized them.

Tickets are $32.50 (general admission) and $62.50 (includes pre-show meet-and-greet), plus fees, and are available at the box office, by phone at 330-744-0264 and online at youngstownsymphony.com. Proceeds from the concert, which will begin at 8 p.m., will benefit Compass Family and Community Services, a Valley agency that provides services to those with mental-health and addiction illnesses.

In the concert, the three songwriters, guitars in hand, will take turns telling the stories behind their hit songs and performing them in the raw, as originally written.

DiPiero is the originator and host of the popular series, which brings Nashville’s top songwriters and artists to venues across the country.

He has been inducted into the Nashville Walk of Fame and the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame. More than 1,200 of his songs have been recorded by other artists.

DiPiero is one of Nashville’s most prolific songwriters and has penned a string of hits — including 15 that hit No. 1 — that began in the early ’80s.

His songs, and the artists who made them famous, include “American Made” (Oak Ridge Boys), “Southern Voice” (Tim McGraw), “I Can See Forever In Your Eyes” (Reba McEntire) and “Lovin You Is Fun” (Corbin Easton).

Gary Burr has written 14 No. 1 songs. His hits include “Love’s Been A Little Bit Hard On Me” (Juice Newton), “This Is the Night” (Clay Aiken) and “Before Your Love” (Kelly Clarkson).

Tim Nichols’ songwriting credits include “Live Like You Were Dying” (Tim McGraw), “Heads Carolina, Tails California” (Jo Dee Messina) and “The Man I Want to Be” (Chris Young).