TIN PAN SOUTH 

Megan Moroney, Jon Nite, Allison Veltz Cruz, and Dave Pittenger

Tuesday March 28, 2023

@ Live Oak in Nashville, TN

(Review by: Jeffrey Kurtis)

Demonbreun Hill hotspot Live Oak packed in shoulder to shoulder as plenty of personality and a whole lot of hit songs flowed from the foursome on stage, transcending the crowd to an audible hush as they soaked in the familiar songs from the writers behind them during the SEASC sponsored round that featured Dave Pittenger, Megan Moroney, Allison Veltz Cruz, and Jon Nite.

Pittenger immediately had the crowd invested when he kicked off with Tenille Arts’ “Back Then, Right Now,” but he also travelled back to the beginning of his songwriting career with Tyler Farr’s “Better In Boots,” while showing his versatility with his pop cuts that included the kiss-off anthem that had everyone singing along, “ABCDEFU,” the smash hit that took the internet by storm for pop sensation Gayle.

Likewise, two stools to his left, Allison Veltz Cruz showcased one of her biggest songwriting accomplishments to open her part of the round with Tenille Arts #1 “Somebody Like That,” as well as then delivering Tenille’s most current release with Maddie & Tae, “Last Time Last.”

However, Veltz Cruz also gave us a look into the very near future when she delivered a brand-new song that had just been cut, as well as “First Time in the Rain,” turning Live Oak into an impromptu pitch meeting when she teased that the song had been on hold with everyone in town, but still needs a home (Hint Hint).

She connected personally with the crowd in a different light then only through her songs, though, opening her family photo album several times to invite us into her life by telling us about her kids and the first time that she met her husband.

With an incredibly large catalog of #1 hits, including those by superstar names such as Luke Bryan, Keith Urban, David Nail, Michael Ray, and Darius Rucker, choosing six songs to play for hitmaker Jon Nite became a matter of feeding off the energy of the crowd and upholding the overall vibe.

Inviting us to a mountain songwriting retreat with Dierks Bentley before playing “Living,” a late-night co-writing session on a Florida beach with Ashley Gorley, Jimmy Robbins, and Brett Young on Young’s smash “You Didn’t,” and straight into the writing room where a quick co-write led to A Thousand Horses completely shifting their original plans to instead debut with “Smoke” as their first single, Nite offered a full scope of what it looks like to be a songwriter in town.

And while Jake Owen’s “Beachin’” kept everyone swaying along with the cool breeze of the vibe, Nite also shared some of the anxiety that comes with writing songs when he told that when he wrote “Break Up in the End” he never thought anyone would cut it, and though it took a few years before someone did, Cole Swindell ended up taking it to #1.

Megan Moroney showcased her quirky personality and endearingly oversharing aura as she took us through real-life stories of broken hearts and bad exes, while skillfully promoting the release of her upcoming album LUCKY (due out May 5, 2023).

With a soft gentleness, she metaphorically slapped a cheating ex with “Sleep On My Side,” elicited cheers with undeniable sass embedded into the true story of her ex’s new girlfriend stalking her socials on “I’m Not Pretty,” and got very vulnerable during her upcoming song release, “Girl In The Mirror,” bringing the crowd to a deafening silence as they sat up and leaned in for a closer listen to each and every word.

There were two moments which memorably stood out during Moroney’s 6-songs. The first came through “Hair Salon” when she transparently admitted that it was the first song that she had written that she felt was fully complete, before telling how it gave her the confidence to do this whole songwriting thing.

However, her spotlight shining song moment arrived with “Why Johnny,” which Moroney told before playing is her favorite song on the record as she then sang us through a tender-hearted, open-letter to June Carter Cash that not only asked what it was about Johnny that made her stay with him even in the tough moments, but also masterfully pulled advice from the Johnny and June love story in an attempt to understand it more clearly so she could apply to her own similar love story in the here and now.

But key moments of the night came from each of the 4 songwriters on the stage, that surpassed even the songs themselves.

The reach back to generation next from Jon Nite and Megan Moroney, encouragingly told the songwriters in the crowd to keep writing and always put out the music because you never know which song will hit.

Moroney, before playing her breakout smash “Tennessee Orange,” shared that the song was never supposed to really be anything more than filler between her EP and album to hold over the fans, while Nite said before closing the entire round with Gabby Barrett’s “I Hope,” that at the time they wrote it, Barrett hadn’t yet signed her deal so they were simply writing what was fun to write that day.

Veltz Cruz encouragingly spoke of God and the power of prayer before closing her part of the round with Matt Stell’s #1 “Prayed For You,” earning an ovation when after she briefly mentioned that it’s been a couple of tough days in Nashville – referring to the tragedy that occurred the day before – boldly proclaiming that God is still good! That God is real! And that prayer is real!

An exclamation point, the core definition of what Tin Pan South is all about, came from Dave Pittenger before he tearfully played Billy Raffoul’s “A Few More Hours at YYZ.”

Like Veltz Cruz, he briefly mentioned the tragedy that took place, lamenting that it had been a s**tty few days in Nashville.

“It feels silly sometimes being up here and playing music after something like,” he said, before shifting to the power of a song. “But I think a lot of us cope through music. What I love so much about singers from the 1960’s and 1970’s is that they thought a song could change the world,” he told to a huge ovation, leaving a long-lasting impression of everyone’s hearts, even 11 songs later as the crowd was filing out of Live Oak and still talking about this moment amongst their peers.

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