Billy Kirsch is an American songwriter and consultant.

Early life

Billy Kirsch attended Wesleyan University before leaving college to become a musician, focusing on a career as a jazz musician. After living in New York City, he moved to Nashville to enter the country music industry.[1]

Songwriting

Kirsch then became a songwriter for country music artists, working for publishers including Kidbilly Music and Nocturnal Eclipse Music.[2] The first major performer to record a song of his was Kenny Rogers,[3] and he wrote the song “Is It Over Yet” performed by Wynonna Judd.[1]

1998 Kirsch co-wrote the song “Holes in the Floor of Heaven” with Steve Wariner,[4] which received the Song of the Year prize from the Academy of Country Music that year.[5] It also received the Country Music Association Award Song of the Year prize[6][7] and a Grammy nomination[8] for Best Country Song.[9] The story behind Kirsch's writing of the song was published in the book Chicken Soup for the Soul: Country Music: The Inspirational Stories behind 101 of Your Favorite Country Songs.[10]

In 2002 Kirsch's song “I Believe In The Mystery” was nominated for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Song.[11] In 2003 Kirsch co-wrote the song "Stay Gone" with singer Jimmy Wayne, which was named one of BMI's 2003 songs of the year on American radio and television.[12] Additionally he has written and published songs for artists including Rogers,[13] Alabama,[14] Engelbert Humperdinck, Tim McGraw, and Lee Greenwood.[15]

Consulting

In 2006 Kirsch created the “team building through song” concept and began a business consultancy. Clients that he has worked with through the company have included Walt Disney, Microsoft, L’Oréal, Harley-Davidson, and Pfizer.[16] Kirsch is the president of the firm, Kidbilly Music Team Building.[17]

References

  1. ^ a b "Nashvilles Jewish cowboy lives the good country life". J Weekly. January 2, 2009.
  2. ^ Inc, Nielsen Business Media (14 October 1995). "Billboard". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. – via Google Books. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  3. ^ https://www.pressreader.com/canada/toronto-star/20090326/282883726643708 – via PressReader. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ^ "Story Behind the Song: 'Holes in the Floor of Heaven'". The Tennessean.
  5. ^ Inc, Nielsen Business Media (22 May 1999). "Billboard". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. – via Google Books. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  6. ^ "Homepage". CMA Awards.
  7. ^ Netemeyer, Sarah (15 November 2018). "2018 CMA Awards: Song of the Year Winner Unveiled". countryfancast.com.
  8. ^ Inc, Nielsen Business Media (27 February 1999). "Billboard". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 10 – via Internet Archive. {{cite magazine}}: |last= has generic name (help); Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  9. ^ "Billy Kirsch". GRAMMY.com. 17 March 2014.
  10. ^ Canfield, Jack; Hansen, Mark Victor; Rudder, Randy (6 September 2011). Chicken Soup for the Soul: Country Music: The Inspirational Stories behind 101 of Your Favorite Country Songs. Simon and Schuster. p. 152. ISBN 9781611591903 – via Google Books.
  11. ^ "Daytime Emmy Awards (2002)". IMDb.
  12. ^ Inc, Nielsen Business Media (20 November 2004). "Billboard". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. – via Google Books. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  13. ^ Inc, Nielsen Business Media (24 May 2003). "Billboard". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. – via Google Books. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  14. ^ "JUF News : Blog". JUF News.
  15. ^ Hutchens, David (2 July 2015). Circle of the 9 Muses: A Storytelling Field Guide for Innovators and Meaning Makers. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9781118974117 – via Google Books.
  16. ^ Staff, VoyageLA (30 May 2017). "Meet Billy Kirsch of Kidbilly Music - Team Building Through Song in Hollywood - Voyage LA Magazine - LA City Guide".
  17. ^ "12 Fun Facts About Our Small Agency Conference Speakers". adage.com. 12 June 2017.
No tags for this post.