Dean Dillon & Friends Songwriters Celebration

Propst Arena

SHOWTIME
Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 7:00 p.m.
   Doors: 5:30 p.m.
   VIP Dinner: 6:30 p.m. (only available to those who purchase Premium Tickets to the October 9th event)

TICKETS
Available at the VBC Box Office or online at ticketmaster.com. 
   General Admission: $35 plus applicable fees

ABOUT
Country Music Hall of Fame member, Dean Dillon, will be the center of attention at the Von Braun Center (VBC) Propst Arena in Huntsville, Alabama, for two nights on Tuesday, October 8 and Wednesday, October 9, 2024, as many of country music’s biggest stars honor the legendary singer/songwriter.  

The first event features a songwriters' showcase on Tuesday and includes dinner for those who purchase a Premium ticket for the October 9th event. (Details for the October 9th event can be found here: Songs & Stories of Dean Dillon (vonbrauncenter.com)

TUESDAY'S SONGWRITER SHOWCASE INCLUDES:
Dean Dillon, Bob DiPiero, Jim “Moose” Brown, Scotty Emerick, and Jessie Jo Dillon!

About Bob DiPiero
DiPiero's first number one hit as a songwriter was 1983's "American Made" by The Oak Ridge Boys; it also became a national advertisements jingle for Miller Beer and Baby Ruth candy bar. Since then, DiPiero co-wrote countless hit singles for other country music artists, with 15 of his songs reaching No. 1 on the country music charts. In 1995 and 1996, he received the Triple Play award from the Country Music Association for 3 number one singles charted in each of those years. In addition, he has 36 awards from BMI for his contributions as a songwriter. 
 
Some of the hits Bob DiPiero wrote include:

• The Church On Cumberland Road – Shenandoah
• Cleopatra, Queen of Denial – Pam Tillis
• Wink – Neal McCoy
• Little Rock – Reba McEntire
• Mirror, Mirror – Diamond Rio
• Walking Away A Winner – Kathy Mattea
• Take Me As I Am – Faith Hill
• Till You Love Me – Reba McEntire
• Blue Clear Sky – George Strait
• Daddy’s Money – Ricochet
• World’s Apart – Vince Gill
• Cowboy’s Like Us – George Strait
• You Can’t Take The Honky Tonk Out Of The Girl – Brooks & Dunn
• Gone – Montgomery Gentry
• If You Ever Stop Loving Me – Montgomery Gentry

 
About Jim “Moose” Brown
Jim “Moose” Brown is a studio musician/record producer/songwriter in Nashville. He is a member of Bob Seger’s “Silver Bullet Band,” a Grammy Award- winning songwriter and Grammy-nominated record producer, and an in-demand session player. Moose was nominated for Keyboard Player of the Year by the Academy of Country Music in 2005, 2006, and 2011.
 
Moose won the Grammy Award for Best Country Song for co- writing “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” and also co-wrote the Top 10 hit for Darryl Worley “If Something Should Happen” as well as James Otto’s single “For You.”
He’s had songs recorded by Martina McBride, Alan Jackson, Jimmy Buffett, James Otto, James Wesley, Josh Turner, Terri Clark, Julie Roberts, Darryl Worley, Jamey Johnson, and others.
 
Moose co-produced Darryl Worley’s Top 10 hit “Sounds Like Life To Me,” and he also co-produced the critically acclaimed album by Jamey Johnson, “That Lonesome Song,” which features the Top 10 single “In Color,” as well as Jamey’s newest certified Gold double album “The Guitar Song.” Moose was inducted into the Arkansas Entertainer’s Hall of Fame in 2010.
 
About Scotty Emerick
As a musician, Emerick began his songwriting career in the mid-1990s, landing cuts by Sawyer Brown, including their Top 5 single "I Don't Believe in Goodbye", which he co-wrote with Bryan White.  Known primarily for his work with Toby Keith, Emerick has also written for Sawyer Brown, George Strait, Kenny Chesney and several other artists. In 2004, Emerick was named "Songwriter of the Year" by the Nashville Songwriters Association. He recorded an album, The Coast Is Clear, for DreamWorks Records in 2003, and has charted four singles on the country charts, including a No. 24-peaking duet with Keith, "I Can't Take You Anywhere", which Keith had previously recorded on his 2001 album Pull My Chain. "What's Up with That", performed by Emerick, was featured in the soundtrack to the film Broken Bridges.
 
Some of the hits Scotty Emerick wrote include:

• As Good As I Once Was - Toby Keith
• Beer For My Horses - Toby Keith w/ Willie Nelson
• I Don't Believe In Goodbye - Sawyer Brown
• A Little Too Late - Toby Keith
• 'Round Here - Sawyer Brown
• Where Thay Came From - Randy Travis
• Like My Dog - Billy Currington
• I Love This Bar - Toby Keith
• Get My Drink On - Toby Keith

 
About Jessie Jo Dillon
Jessie Jo, who had been nominated for the Grammy’s Best Country Song award 4 times, was named the ACM Songwriter of the Year in 2024. In 2023 she co-penned Old Dominion’s No. 1 hit “Memory Lane,” Jelly Roll‘s anthem “Halfway To Hell,” Catie Offerman’s debut single “I Just Killed A Man” and Megan Moroney’s critically-acclaimed “Girl in the Mirror,” plus tunes released by Hardy, Brandy Clark, Lori McKenna, Nate Smith, Jake Owen and more. She also celebrated her co-written 2021 smash “10,000 Hours” by Dan + Shay and Justin Bieber crossing the one billion stream mark on Spotify, among other career wins.
 
Known for her evocative lyrics and hit sensibilities, GRAMMY® nominee and Big Machine Music songwriter Jessie Jo Dillon has penned songs recorded by some of the biggest superstars in today’s music, including George Strait, Kenny Chesney, Luke Bryan, Brett Young, Jon Pardi, Brett Eldredge and more. These successes and more led Dillon to named 2019 Songwriter of the Year by the Nashville Songwriter’s Association International (NSAI).
 
In 2019, Dillon scored two additional huge hits with GRAMMY® and ACM Awards nominated song “Break Up In The End” (recorded by Cole Swindell), which was named NSAI Song of the Year in 2019, as well as the iHeartRadio Music Awards Country Song of the Year nominated track “Rich,” off of Maren Morris’ GRAMMY®-nominated debut HERO. “Rich” was also named to prominent best-of lists by NPR Music, Rolling Stone Country, One Country and more, in addition to receiving recognition as the “Publisher’s Pick” at the Association of Independent Music Publishers Nashville Awards in 2016.
 
Some of the hits Jessie Jo Dillon wrote include:

• Lies, Lies, Lies – Morgan Wallen
• Messed Up As Me - Keith Urban
• Memory Lane - Old Dominion
• To Hell & Back - Maren Morris
• 10,000 Hours - Dan & Shay w/ Justin Bieber
• Rich - Maren Morris
• Break Up In The End - Cole Swindell
• The Breath You Take - George Strait
• Crazy Woman - LeAnn Rimes

 
About Dean Dillon
Dillon is a three-time Grammy nominee with 26 No. 1 singles to his songwriting credit and was named the 1985 Billboard Country Artist of the Year.  In 1986, Dillon was awarded the Nashville Songwriters award.  The Country Music Association (CMA) honored Dillon with the CMA Triple Play Award in 1995, 1996, 1998 for penning three No. 1 songs in a 12-month period.  In 2002, Dillon was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame along with Bob Dylan and Shel Silverstein.  In 2021, Dillon was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame along with Hank Williams Jr. and Marty Stuart.
 
One of the most successful and influential songwriters in country music, Dean Dillon has furnished more than sixty compositions for George Strait, and his songs have also found favor with many other recording artists.

Dillon’s hard-edged style and creative melodies suited Strait’s affinity for traditional country. In 1981, Dillon and Frank Dycus wrote Strait’s first hit single, “Unwound.” Since then, Strait has recorded Dillon compositions, including “The Chair,” “Ocean Front Property,” “Famous Last Words of a Fool,” “If I Know Me,” “I’ve Come to Expect It from You,” “Easy Come, Easy Go,” “The Best Day,” and “Here for a Good Time.”

Dillon also wrote many honky-tonk hits for Kenny Chesney, Vern Gosdin, Pam Tillis, Keith Whitley, and other singers. “Tennessee Whiskey,” which Dillon co-wrote with Linda Hargrove, has become a modern classic with widely heard versions by George Jones and Chris Stapleton.