Without a doubt you have heard the 2004 Grammy award winning song “Live Like You Were Dying;” however, what you might not know is the story behind the man who wrote the heart wrenching yet inspiring track. Tim Nichols, who has been writing songs for over two decades has dedicated his life to the music industry, embracing the change that has come to Nashville and making a highly respected name for himself in the process. Arriving in Nashville at the young age of twenty-one, Nichols originally sought the life of a country singer, but soon realized that he identified more with the writers who played The Bluebird Cafe. “I wanted to learn how to write songs and a part of my journey was discovering that I wasn’t supposed to be an artist, I was supposed to be a songwriter,” he shares. “I feel like I am doing exactly what I am supposed to be doing, what I was put here to do.”
After twenty years in the business, Nichols still writes every single day because he truly loves it. “You must be present to win,” he says. “Everybody else goes to work everyday so I should do that same.” He compares the craft of songwriting to a muscle that must be exercised: you have to work to achieve an ultimate goal.
He suggests the best way to develop as a songwriter is to go on adventures. “I think it is about input as a writer,” he says. “I want experiences, whether it be through reading or movies or shows or other music, whether it’s travel or whatever it is, I am all about new experiences; you have to go out and do things and then come back to your little room and just run things through your songwriter filter and see if anything comes out.” For Nichols, those types of experiences have led to some of Nashville’s most inspired hits such as Jana’s Kramer’s cut “I Got the Boy” and “Live Like You Were Dying.”
Nichols sat in a room with Craig Wiseman one afternoon chatting about a story one of their mutual friends was dealing with, a health scare that ultimately turned out to be a mixup with the lab and all of the feelings that he was going through after getting that diagnosis. The conversation turned into a bucket-list of items that they had felt themselves or knew other people were thinking about during a tumultuous time. Lo and behold, the images of sky diving, mountain climbing, and riding the infamous bull Fu Man Chu swirled their way into a song that went on to win countless awards and accolades for the writers and recording artist Tim McGraw.
Sitting across a table, he explains with a sparkle in his eye, as if he was transported back to watching Tim McGraw perform his song live for the first time, “He debuted it on the American Country Music Awards in 2004 and you always have in your mind, because your songs are like your kids, you have an idea of perfection and an ideal and for me when Tim debuted it that night on the ACM’s the vocal performance and production and everything was just my idea of perfect.”
Over the course of twenty years in this business, Nichols has seen the industry and the city itself change. With the question “What is country music” coming up in so many every day conversations, he explains that it has become almost like talking about religion or politics: everyone has an opinion. “I tend to not really focus on that so much,” he says. “Eric Church came out with a quote several years ago saying genres is a thing of the past, there is good music and bad music. I think that it is the way so many people, especially younger audiences, feel. I have a son who is twenty-one and he listens to you name it, Wiz Khalifa and Eric Church, so his musical palate is really broad. There are songs he will tell me about, non-country artists and I will check it out and I think it’s great. I think there is a lot of good music out there, just find what you like.”
Without legislative action, however, many fear that the opportunity once available for writers like Nichols will become scarce. As a board member of NSAI, Nichols, along with fellow songwriters, often visits Washington, DC to discuss with politicians the business model and challenges that songwriters are facing, trying to make these changes happen not just for himself or his cohort of songwriters currently, but for the next generation of songwriters that are growing and have the same dreams.
“Songs have value and when we are in DC and we are talking to politicians we bring up how there was a song played when you were married, there is a song that you fell in love to, and there is going to be a song played when you are buried,” Nichols says. “Songs are important and so we need to protect them and protect the people that are writing them.”
Keep up with Tim Nichols on his social media platforms, Twitter and Instagram .
If you want to learn more about NSAI and their initiative check out their site here.