Sonny Throckmorton has won many music awards, including 1977 Cashbox\Songwriter of the Year, 1979, ACM's Song of the Year (It’s A Cheating Situation), 1979, NSAI Songwriter of the Year, 1980, DJ Songwriter of the Year, 1980, NSAI Songwriter of the Year 1985, ACM Song of the Year for “Why Not Me.” Artists who have recorded his songs include Jerry Lee Lewis, Merle Haggard, T.G. Sheppard, Emmylou Harris, The Judds, and George Strait. Two of Throckmorton’s songs have been made into movies, “Middle Age Crazy” starring Bruce Dern and Ann Margret in 1980, and "18 Again" in 1987 starring George Burns. This is Sonny's 4th time to serve as an instructor for the ASG Songwriter Symposium and he is a favorite every year. He will be performing in two concerts throughout the weekend, hosting a morning coffee class on the life of the songwriter on Saturday morning, as well as being present all weekend for various events.

Jimmy LaFave has been a “perennial presence” in the Austin music scene since he first landed here from Oklahoma in the late 1980s. Although he has lived in Austin for nearly 20 years, many people still think of him as being from Oklahoma, because of his strong musical ties to the state and what he often refers to as its “red dirt music.” Shortly after his arrival in Austin his career began to take flight when he was asked to help get a songwriter scene going at the now legendary Chicago House, which led to his first self-produced recording, Highway Angels…Full Moon Rain, which went on to his first Austin Chronicle Music Award. In 1992, Jimmy released a self–produced record, Austin Skyline, which drew international attention to his songwriting and vocal talents, and led to a publishing agreement with Polygram Music. Before long, Jimmy was touring the U.S. and Europe to widespread critical acclaim and landed a slot on Austin City Limits in 1996. Jimmy has built his reputation as not only a solid songwriter, but as an outstanding interpreter of songs by others, most notably Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie, both of who are huge influences on his music. In the liner notes for his 1999 record, Trail, music journalist Dave Marsh noted: “Jimmy LaFave has one of America’s greatest voices, and this album is the story of what he has learned to do with it. It’s a unique instrument, with startling range and its own peculiar sense of gravity, liable to swoop in and wreck your expectations at any instant.” He continues to record and tour consistently, meeting critical acclaim and widespread audience acceptance everywhere he goes. This is his first year as an ASG Instructor and he will be leading a class in songwriting, as well as performing a concert with Gurf Morlix Saturday evening.

 

 

 

Gurf Morlix is one of the very best guitar players and producers of Americana music in the whole world, as well as an outstanding singer-songwriter. From 1998-1996, Gurf primarily performed the role of guitar player and producer for Lucinda Williams all the way through her now classic record Car Wheels On A Gravel Road. Since 1999, he has been all over the place as a musician, engineer, mixer and producer out of his Rootball studio in Austin where he has produced a growing number of excellent records, including Slaid Cleaves Broke Down, Ray Wylie Hubbard Snake Farm, Mary Gauthier Mercy Now and Tom Russell Love and Fear, among many others. He is presently in the studio with Betty Soo, 2008's Kerrville Folk Festival "Best New Artist," who also happens to be an ASG Director. He has also worked with a diverse roster of artists in one role or another, including The Band of Heathens, Peter Case, Sam Baker, Jimmy LaFave, Ruthie Foster and Ian McLagan, just to mention but a few. In between all of this activity, he has produced and released a number of his own records, including Fishin’ in the Muddy and Cut ‘N’ Shoot. He is also a member of the Austin Music Hall of Fame. In his first year as an ASG faculty member, Gurf will be leading a seminar in record production on Saturday.

Monte Warden received his first Austin Music Award (for Best New Band) when he was all of 15-years old for his country tio Whoa Trigger!, which later led to the establishment of his next band The Wagoneers. That band was signed to a deal with A&M after performing at the very first SXSW Music Conference. The Wagoneer's debut record Sout and High was released to worldwide critical acclaim and is widely considered one of the best country records of the 80s. The early to mid-90s found Warden launching a solo career resulting in three albums featuring his signature blend of Buddy Holly hooks, hot rockabilly guitar licks and straight up Texas honky-tonk. His self-titled solo debut was named one of the 100 Best Americana albums of the 20th century by NME. However, Warden's biggest success has been as a professional songwriter landing cuts on movie and television soundtracks, while selling millions of records with artists Kelly Willis, George Jones, Patty Loveless, Bruce Robison, Travis Tritt, George Strait and Carrie Underwood. He co-wrote the George Strait #1 smash hit "Desperately." In the fall of 2005, that song netted Monte his first BMI songwriting award, followed in March 2006 by the prestigious BMI "Million Air" award, signifying over 1 million radio broadcast performances of the song.

 

Monte has been a long-time supporter of the Austin Songwriters Group, which resulted in his receiving an award at the 2008 ASG Symposium for his service to the organization, appropriately titled "The Monte." ASG intends to give out the award each year to an individual who has worked diligently in the previous year to support the songwriters in the Austin Songwriter Group membership. At this year's Symposium, Monte will be leading a songwriting class, co-facilitating song pitch sessions and performing in the instructor concerts. He is returning to the ASG Symposium as an Instructor for the 5th time and we appreciate his long-running service to ASG.

Songwriting is a craft, make no mistake about it. That being said, Chuck cannon is a master craftsman. In addition to his most recent hit he wrote with Toby Keith, American Soldier, Chuck is responsible for song like John Michael Montgomery's I Love The Way You Love Me and a whole slew of other hits like We Were In Love, Dream Walkin', and Getcha Some to name a few. Chuck has also served as President of the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI, 2001-2003), and continues to serve on their Executive Board and Legislative Committees. Among the honors he has accumulated along the way, he has garnered BMIs Eight-Million-Air award for the song "I Love The Way You Love Me" which was the Academy of Country Music's 1993 Song of the Year.

 

This is Chuck's first year as an ASG Instructor and we are pleased to have him deliver this year's Keynote Presentation at the Saturday lunch. In addition, he will facilitate a song pitch session on Saturday afternoon, which is sure to be well attended after his Keynote speech.