Buddy Cannon, Dean Dillon, Dean Miller and Waylon Payne
Bring Treasure Trove Of Songs To Stage; Help Songwriters With Cancer
“These guys all know each other really well,” observes Booth Calder Cochran (co-founder of THCPF and Hank’s daughter). “They’re nuts … in a good way, and there is no telling where this night will take us.” As with all FUND shows, guest performers are welcome, and Cochran says it’s “likely” they’ll have some surprise visitors.
Confirmed for the April 25 show are:
Buddy Cannon is a powerhouse of a writer who has penned some of Country’s most memorable songs, including Vern Gosdin’s “Set ‘Em Up Joe,” “Dream Of Me” and “I’m Still Crazy,” Billy Ray Cyrus’ “She’s Not Cryin’ Anymore,” George Strait’s “I’ve Come To Expect It From You,” and the ACM 2007 Song of the Year, “Give It Away.” As a producer, he is responsible for #1 hits for Kenny Chesney, Mel Tillis, John Michael Montgomery, Joe Nichols, Sammy Kershaw and Reba McEntire, and projects with Merle Haggard, Shania Twain, Dolly Parton, Randy Travis, Willie Nelson and more. Most-recently, he helmed Alison Krauss’ much-heralded Country debut, WINDY CITY.
Dean Dillon is a Nashville legend. Named BMIIcon of the Year in 2013, Dillon can lay claim to 11 #1 hits with George Strait, plus hits with Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith, Lee Ann Womack, George Jones and many more. His best-known compositions include: “The Chair,” “Nobody In His Right Mind Would’ve Left Her,” “It Ain’t Cool To Be Crazy About You,” “Ocean Front Property,” “Famous Last Words Of A Fool,” and“If I Know Me.” Dean’s “Tennessee Whiskey” cut by Chris Stapleton is nominated for Song Of The Year by the ACM this year. As an artist, Dillon charted eight times and broke the Top 30 with “I’m Into The Bottle (To Get You Out Of My Mind).” He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002.
Dean Miller has written hit songs for George Jones, Trisha Yearwood, Jamey Johnson, Trace Adkins, Terri Clark and more. He is best known for Clark’s incendiary “A Little Gasoline.” As an artist, he has released three albums, including this year’s ‘TIL YOU STOP GETTING UP. The son of the late Roger Miller blends Honky Tonk, Outlaw Country and Roots Rock influences together on the project. A talented producer, Dean has worked with Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, John Goodman, Dolly Parton and many more.
Waylon Payne is a singer/songwriter/actor with a “rat-pack croon” that swings charmingly off-kilter with his Texas drawl. The son of Grammy-winner Sammi Smith and longtime Willie Nelson guitarist Jody Payne, Waylon was named for his godfather, Waylon Jennings. Payne honed his chops on the road, playing guitar with Shelby Lynne, before releasing a critically-acclaimed debut album, THE DRIFTER, in 2004. Following several years focused on acting, Waylon returned to writing full-time and promptly nailed two cuts (“Use My Heart” and “To Learn Her”) on Miranda Lambert’s THE WEIGHT OF THESE WINGS compilation. A Lee Ann Womack cut, “Solitary Thinkin’,” earned a Grammy nomination for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. Payne returns to the studio to record a new project this year.
Created in honor of Country Music Hall of Famer and NSAI Hall of Famer Hank Cochran, the HANK COCHRAN PEN FUND continues to raise money to assist the cancer-impacted songwriting community. All funds raised will be used to alleviate financial stress for the patients, their family and loved ones. Suzi Cochran, FUND co-founder notes, “We do everything from paying rent to assisting with household chores. We were fortunate enough to not need help when Hank became ill; that’s not true for many others.” Cochran passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2010. He wrote many songs now considered Country standards, including “Make The World Go Away,” “She’s Got You” and “I Fall To Pieces.” Suzi recalls, “Hank loved his fellow writers and he understood the importance of the Arts and music in our lives. Songs help, go help a songwriter.”
For more information on this non-profit 501(c)(3)