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OUR SONGWRITERS
LEE THOMAS MILLER
Lee Thomas Miller is a songwriter from Nashville, Tennessee. He earned a BA in Music Theory/ Composition from Eastern Kentucky University where, along with classical composing and arranging, he studied classical violin, guitar, piano and voice. He was inducted into the EKU “Hall of Distinguished Alumni” in 2010. Lee moved to Nashville in 1991, signed his first publishing deal in 1996 and has been on the radio virtually ever since. To date, he has had 18 top 20 singles with 7 reaching #1 and has earned 13 BMI radio performance awards. His songs have reached radio play in excess of 20 million spins with streaming numbers reaching into the hundreds of thousands. His accomplishments include 3 Grammy nominations, a teen choice award, and 4 titles being nominated for ‘Song of the Year’ at major industry events. He won both a CMA and an ACM award for Song of the Year with “In Color” as recorded by Jamey Johnson. “You’re Gonna Miss This” won Song of the Year at both the ASCAP and NSAI awards and single of the year at the CMA awards. Miller has also been given 4 “Songs I Wish I Had Written” trophies as voted on by the professional membership of NSAI (the Nashville Songwriter’s Association). Lee served as President of NSAI for 5 years and is still currently on their Legislative committee traveling to Washington D.C. representing and lobbying for the rights of the American songwriter. He has testified before both houses of the U.S. congress as well as spending countless hours with bureaucrats reaching from the department of justice to cabinet level officials to federal judges. In 2015 he was presented with BMI’s inaugural “Champions Award” for these legislative efforts. Ultimately, all of this led to the passing of the federal Music Modernization Act changing the criteria for which songwriters are paid in the digital era. Lee was present in the West Wing with the President when he signed it into law. Miller has had success also as a record producer producing a pair of top 20 hits on recording artist Steve Holy including his #1 record “Brand New Girlfriend” On a personal note, in 2010 he was awarded the Fatherhood Award from Washington D.C.’s National Fatherhood Initiative and he and his wife Jana received the Congressional “Angels in Adoption” award on Capitol hill in 2015 having adopted 3 of their 4 children. Lee and Jana have been married 29 years and live in Brentwood, Tennessee with their 4 kids.
RANDY MONTANA
Nashville native, singer-songwriter Randy Montana has been described as a standout among his “I’m more country than you peers.” His songs are pure, honest, & gritty but still manage to be from the heart. His style clings to the rough edges of country’s musical highway with clear hints of his childhood musical influences intertwined throughout. Randy has penned songs recorded by Jon Pardi, Luke Combs, Justin Moore, Riley Green, Jimmie Allen, Drake White, David Nail, Cody Johnson, Luke Bryan, & George Strait, and wrote “What If I was Willing” that was featured on the hit TV show NASHVILLE. In 2020, Randy was named Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year at the Music Row Awards. He currently writes for Warner Chappell Music and lives with his wife, Montgomery, and their three kids in Nashville, TN.
TIM NICHOLS
With over two dozen smash hits, a Grammy, a CMA Award, and two ACM awards for Song of the Year, as well as being a member of the Nashville Songwriter Hall of Fame, Tim Nichols has earned his place among Nashville’s most elite and respected tunesmiths. In 2004, along with Craig Wiseman, Nichols wrote Tim McGraw’s “Live Like You Were Dying,” the multiple-week #1 smash that won every major song award that is presented for country music. Other Nichols hits, “Heads Carolina, Tails California,” and “Cowboys and Angels” helped launch the careers of Jo Dee Messina and Dustin Lynch. Sony Music artist Chris Young stayed at the top of the charts for three weeks with the Nichols/Brett James composition “The Man I Want To Be.” More recently, Cole Swindell put a new twist on the Jo Dee Messina, "Heads Carolina" classic by staying at the top of the country charts for 5 weeks and winning the 2023 Academy of Country Music Song of the Year Award with “She Had Me At Heads Carolina.” Feeling the importance of giving back to the community and the music industry, Nichols is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Country Music Association and a current member of the Nashville Songwriters Association International Board of Directors. In addition, Nichols participates in The Warburton and The Rahm, two annual events that benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. When not on Music Row pursuing his next hit or entertaining crowds with his songs and stories, Tim can be found on keynote stages across the country, sharing what chart-topping songwriters know about creativity, collaboration, and teamwork so that companies, corporations, and businesses can be at the top of the charts in their own industries.
