SONGWRITER ADVOCATES MAKE LOBBYING TRIP TO WASHINGTON, DC

This week, the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), along with a group of other songwriter and publisher organizations are hosting one of the largest songwriter lobbying trips to Washington, DC in modern history.

(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) This week, the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), along with a group of other songwriter and publisher organizations are hosting one of the largest songwriter lobbying trips to Washington, DC in modern history. Approximately forty songwriters will have individual meetings with one hundred members of Congress on Wednesday and Thursday, May 8-9, 2002.

"Songwriters will tell Senators and House Members how their profession works and outline how they are paid," said NSAI President, Chuck Cannon.

ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and NSAI are sponsoring the trip. These organizations, along with the National Music Publishers Association and the Songwriters Guild of America worked collectively to organize this ambitious lobbying effort to inform members of Congress about the unique way songwriters earn their income.

Representatives from sponsoring organizations of the trip stated: "It is important that our lawmakers understand how their decisions impact not only songwriters income, but also the very artform of songwriting itself. Over the past few years, everything from the digital music revolution to changes in the U.S. Tax Laws have impacted the songwriters ability to earn a living."

A list of songwriters and notable executives making the trip include:

Rick Beresford
Les Bowren
Bobby Braddock
Tim Bupert
Chuck Cannon
Buzz Cason
Debi Cochran
Lynn Gillespie Chater
Paul Corbin/BMI
Jamie Cutler-Harper
Tony Haseldon
Matt Hendrix
Bart Herbison
James Dean Hicks
Benita Hill
Barry Jaffe
Tim Johnson
Dennis Lord/SESAC
Kelley Lovelace
Tony Martin
Peter McCann
Andrew MacLain
Eileen MacLain
Bill Minner
Dottie Moore
Betty Morrell
Jennifer Nash
Wood Newton
Mark D. Sanders
Tom Shapiro
Mike Sistad/ASCAP
Sandy Thurston
Jerry Vandiver
Tricia Walker
Don Wayne
Jim Weatherly
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