Performing Songwriter Magazine

About Me

In 1993, Lydia Hutchinson founded Performing Songwriter out of sheer love of music. It all started in the guest bedroom of a little townhome in Nashville--there was no business plan, no financial backing and no staff. Just a belief that starting a magazine about something you love is totally possible. Its hard not to develop a reverence for the art and craft of songwriting when you live in Music City, USA. But in '93 there was no way to find out about the inspiration behind a song that your favorite artist sang, or the bits of trivia that all music lovers long for. Radio was just beginning its decline into corporate ownership, so we were missing out on great songs that were being written. And there wasnt a single place to go that felt like a community where creative people could support each other and find inspiration. Performing Songwriter was just a humble and heartfelt attempt at creating a place for songwriters to come together in a safe community where they're understood and supported and heard by those who love music. Soon the magazine had a loyal following who felt pride and a sense of ownership in it, and we were getting our little subscription checks from the likes of Lyle Lovett, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Joan Baez, Shawn Colvin, Carole King, Paul Simon and Bonnie Raitt. Performing Songwriter became the place where artists could keep in touch with their friends and peers, and reach out to their fans on a community level. Thirteen years later Performing Songwriter has grown into what it is today: a completely independent, smart, beautifully designed and widely distributed publication that informs and connects music makers with music lovers. Fully staffed by a group of committed, hard-working and enthusiastic people, it provides the place for everyone to feel a part of the community of passionate, opinionated and creative people who know the importance of music in all of our lives. And it just keeps getting better .

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 3/31/2006
Band Website: performingsongwriter.com
Band Members:
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

May Issue and More!

The May issue of Performing Songwriter is on newsstands now! In addition to our cover feature on Neil Diamond, the issue features interviews with Michael McDonald, Ray Davies, Kaki King, Death Cab fo...
Posted by Performing Songwriter Magazine on Fri, 02 May 2008 10:02:00 PST

Check out our updated website - with tons of exclusive content!

With our 100th issue currently on sale, we've updated our website to reflect all of the celebratory content that the issue's bursting with. Plus, we have exclusive extended interviews with the artists...
Posted by Performing Songwriter Magazine on Fri, 02 Mar 2007 08:55:00 PST

PS product tests on YouTube

Our intrepid assistant tech editor, Dave Jones, has kicked off a new project of sorts: videos of product and gear tests and our website and on YouTube! To check out the latest mic from our friends at ...
Posted by Performing Songwriter Magazine on Fri, 23 Feb 2007 08:51:00 PST

Issue 100 on the way...

So why has the PS MySpace blog been left abandoned for the past two months? Three words: our 100th issue. To call it a bear to put together would be putting it lightly; after three weekends of work an...
Posted by Performing Songwriter Magazine on Mon, 19 Feb 2007 07:49:00 PST

Finally - new blog entries on the PS website!

Well, after slogging through the 100th issue, our fearless leader Lydia - as well as Senior Editor Bill DeMain, Music Editor Abby White and Tech Editor Fett - has updated the the Blogs section of Perf...
Posted by Performing Songwriter Magazine on Fri, 16 Feb 2007 07:54:00 PST

Christmas craziness in the PS offices

Hey everybody! Hopefully everyone out there's already gotten out of work for the week to enjoy a holiday breather. Things are moving pretty slow in the PS offices today as we had our annual Christmas ...
Posted by Performing Songwriter Magazine on Fri, 22 Dec 2006 08:47:00 PST

Pre-order our Jan./Feb. Mary J. Blige issue

Worried about being able to find our Jan./Feb. issue which not only features the 99 Greatest Songs Ever feature, but our cover story on Mary J. Blige as well? Fear not! We're offering a special throug...
Posted by Performing Songwriter Magazine on Wed, 20 Dec 2006 08:02:00 PST

Hey hey hey, we're back!

Okay, it's been way too long since we've posted here on our trusty MySpace blog. For that we apologize. But we're putting the finishing touches on our January/February 2007 issue, and it's looking lik...
Posted by Performing Songwriter Magazine on Tue, 19 Dec 2006 07:33:00 PST

Performing Songwriter website updated!

Welcome to December! Hopefully most of you out there are keeping warm, and to our snowed-in friends in the Midwest, hang in there and be careful!This new month also brings a new issue of PS - the Keit...
Posted by Performing Songwriter Magazine on Fri, 01 Dec 2006 08:52:00 PST

What did our music editor eat for Thanksgiving?

We know you're all curious how Supreme Music Editor Abby White spent her Thanksgiving holiday, and since she was kind enough to blog about that very topic on the PS website, we thought we'd share the ...
Posted by Performing Songwriter Magazine on Wed, 29 Nov 2006 07:43:00 PST