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Edmonton Country Music Week 2010
The Great Guitar Pull
Sunday, September 12 @ 12:00 PM Featuring… TIA SILLERS
RAY GRIFF
TIM NICHOLS
DERIC RUTTAN
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Tia Sillers is a consummate song crafter who has maintained a strong commitment to artistic integrity while achieving staggering commercial success.
Her landmark song "I Hope You Dance", initially recorded by Lee Ann Womack, struck an emotional chord with listeners and received national exposure on Oprah and through articles in Newsweek and the New York Times. Tia is far from a one-hit wonder, however, having penned hit songs
for numerous other artists, including the #1 smashes "That'd Be Alright", recorded by Alan Jackson, and "There's Your Trouble", recorded by The Dixie
Chicks. Tia has been nominated for ten CCMA Awards in 2009 and one in 2010, for her work with Johnny Reid, Crystal Shawanda and Victoria Banks. Tia
continues to be a sought-after talent, having worked recently for high profile producers such as David Foster and Steve Mac in addition to hit
Nashville producer Frank Rogers.
Born in Vancouver, BC Ray Griff is a staple in the book of Canadian country music history. With his first band 'Winfield Amateurs' at the age of eight
years old and touring with Johnny Horton by the time he was 17. Ray moved to Nashville in 1964 and is noted as the first country artist to produce his
own albums. Over the years, Ray has written over 2,000 songs including, "Patches," "Darlin'," and "You Ring My Bell." As well as hits recorded by other
artists including, "Baby," "Where Love Begins" and "It Couldn't Have Been Any Better." Ray also took to the small screen as host of Goodtime Country and Up-Town Country and currently plays host to Raymod's Place, a country classics radio show. A member of
the Canadian Country Music Hall of Honour, Ray was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2008 but returned to the concert stage this year with special
concerts in Edmonton, Calgary and Regina. 
Tim Nichols was born in Portsmouth, Virginia. As a country
music singer/songwriter, Tim has been active since the late 1980s. Nichols has written for several country music singers, including Keith Whitley, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Jo Dee Messina, and Alan Jackson. He and songwriter Zack Turner recorded one album for BNA
Entertainment (now BNA Records) in 1993 as the duo Turner Nichols, in addition to charting two singles as one half of
that duo. Three of Nichols's songs have become Number One hits on the country charts: "(This Ain't) No Thinkin' Thing" by Trace Adkins, "Girls Lie Too" by Terri Clark, and "Live Like You Were Dying" by Tim McGraw (which preceded "Girls Lie Too" at #1). "Live Like You Were Dying"
also earned Nichols and Craig Wiseman, a Grammy Award for Best Country
Song, as well as the Song of the Year award from the Academy of Country Music.
Born and raised outside Bracebridge, Ontario, but found his songwriting success upon moving to Nashville where his unique outlook and delivery
attracted the attention of songwriters Don Schlitz and Steve Earle. Since signing with Sony Music Publishing, Deric has had over two-dozen songs
recorded by other artists, including cuts by Gary Allan, Paul Brandt and Jason Blaine. Dierks Bentley's chart-toppers "What Was I Thinkin'," and "Lot
Of Leavin' Left To Do" are Ruttan co-writes, as is Eric Church's hit, "Guys Like Me." Earlier this year, Deric scored his third US Billboard Top 10 hit
with the Eric Church single, "Hell On The Heart." Deric is a nine-time CCMA Award nominee, and in 2007 he won the CCMA's SOCAN Songwriter(s) Of The
Year Award for his co-write on "Hold My Beer" (recorded by Pritchett). His most recent album, "Sunshine" was released in January of this year and
features hits, "Up All Night" and "Sing That Song Again." 
