2024 Backstage at BizTown

Ingrid Andress, Songwriter

4x GRAMMY nominated singer-songwriter Ingrid Andress digs deeper than ever before to explore the dark and the light within us all on her highly anticipated sophomore album, Good Person, available everywhere now. All co-produced and co-written by Andress, the track listing includes her latest platinum-certified, No. 1 radio single “Wishful Drinking (with Sam Hunt),” which is also currently GRAMMY-nominated for Best Country Duo/Group Performance. Having gone through two years that were transformational in every way and triumphing in the face of some unprecedented career-obstacles, Andress knew that the best way forward was a brave willingness to be even more truthful and real. Along the way, she also found that changes were happening in her personal life and that the songs were actually leading the way, revealing emotions she wasn’t fully aware of yet. She pushed for bold, experimental sounds that blended banjos with vocoders; swung from sweeping orchestration to spare, acoustic-based arrangements; and showcased previously unexplored parts of her vocal range. Good Person returns to the reflection and confession at the core of her triumphant 2020 debut, Lady Like, and plumbs even deeper. Named “one of the year’s strongest albums” by Associated Press, Lady Like became one of Billboard’s Top 10 Best Country Albums of the year and set the record as the highest streaming country female debut album of all time upon release. In addition to the Gold-certified title track, Lady Like also features her multi-platinum No. 1 radio single “More Hearts Than Mine,” which made history as the only debut single from a solo female artist to break the Top 20 on country radio in 2019. The album was up for Best Country Album at the 63rd Annual GRAMMY Awards in addition to Andress’ nominations for Best Country Song and Best New Artist, making her the only country artist to be nominated in a “Big Four” category. Recently celebrating the impressive milestone of surpassing one billion total career streams, Andress spent the summer on tour with Keith Urban for his “The Speed of Now World Tour” and recently announced her own global headlining trek, The Good Person Tour, kicking off in February 2023.

Derrick Southerland, Songwriter

Grammy-nominated songwriter Derrick Southerland consistently balances commercial success with critical acclaim. That blend is evident in Ingrid Andress’ chart-topping debut radio single “More Hearts Than Mine”. Southerland and the song received Grammy and CMA nominations for “Song of the Year”, won NSAI and MusicRow “Song of the Year”, and reached #1 on Country radio with the double-platinum single. Additionally, Southerland co-penned 5 of the 8 songs on Andress’ debut album Lady Like which received a Grammy nomination for “Best Country Album”. It also featured another Southerland collaboration, the Gold-certified radio single “Lady Like”. As a multi-instrumentalist songwriter with an eclectic background that ranges from R&B and Rap studios in Atlanta to Rock records in Athens, the Georgia native keeps conversational lyrics and memorable melodies at the core of his craft. Consequently, he appears on records from country music royalty and global superstars like 8x Grammy winner Carrie Underwood’s platinum album Storyteller, 4x AMA winner Kane Brown’s platinum album Experiment, and his Billboard Hot 100 gold-certified single “Like a Rodeo”. In an ecosystem where many songs feel disposable and have a short shelf life, Southerland has found a way to write songs with staying power. His song “Habits and Hearts” was recorded 7 years after it was written. The Wall Street Journal referred to the song’s poignant chronicle of addiction as a “searing ballad” for “the cold hard facts of life.” The vivid lyricism is also on display in “Yearbook”, another Southerland collaboration with Ingrid Andress for her sophomore album Good Person. Southerland co-penned 7 of the 12 tracks on the LP, including her recent Hot AC radio single “Seeing Someone Else”. “Yearbook” landed on the Rolling Stone “100 Best Songs of 2022” list and was lauded for its “perfect example” of “intense specificity”. Even when jumping genres, the ability to zoom into a situation, no matter how precarious, seems to be another Southerland strong suit. When Joshua Bassett was recounting his label’s advice on catastrophe, rather than using generalized metaphors, Southerland took the subject head on opening the song with “my label said to never waste a crisis.” While referencing “Crisis”, Euphoria magazine said, “Conceptually, the song is ingenious.” For every song in Southerland’s catalog that lands on an NPR or Rolling Stone editorial best list, there’s a Hot AC, Billboard Hot 100, or country radio single. His catalog also includes multiple TV and film sync placements and radio singles in Australia, the UK, and Canada. Additional cuts and collaborations include Jordan Davis, Fletcher, Hunter Hayes, Breland, Charlotte Sands, High Valley, Jon Bellion, Sam Hunt, and many more.

David Ray Stevens, Songwriter

Born and raised in Nashville, TN, David grew up listening to all genres of music from Country, Hip Hop, and Southern Rock to the Golden Oldies, so it’s no surprise that his songwriting and producer credits extend from Rock, Hip Hop, RnB, and Country. David got his first #1 on Rock Radio with “Dead Man Walking” recorded by Jelly Roll and followed that with a #1 on Country Radio with “Son Of A Sinner” and a third with “Save Me” also recorded by Jelly Roll and Lainey Wilson. He has over 1 billion streams combined on online platforms with multiple songs that reached Gold and Platinum. David is a proud father of 4 beautiful kids and the not-so-better half to his wife of 20-plus years Tara Stevens.

Ty Bentli has taken us backstage and down the red carpet at the biggest events in music – red carpet interviews at the GRAMMYS, the American Music Awards, the Billboard Music Awards, Country Music Awards, and other marquee events. Ty has been a vocal advocate for creators and the expanding perspectives of country music via his globally-renowned The Ty Bentli Show - heard daily in 165+ countries on Apple Music Country radio. The show celebrates country music around the globe alongside relevant, insightful and often hilarious conversations with superstars, rising talent and the creative community that makes this music possible!

As a dad, Ty often views the world through the eyes of his family. He aligns himself with causes that positively impact the future of our community, neighbors and the world as a whole. Along with listeners, family, friends and strangers, he has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars that support St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Children’s Miracle Network, Muscular Dystrophy Association, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, National Diaper Bank Network and more. Ty lives in Nashville with his unbelievably cool wife Corri, their sons Rad & Bash, and daughter Teddi.