Jim McCormick (songwriter)

Jim McCormick is a Grammy- and CMA-nominated, multiplatinum-selling songwriter. He is currently a staff writer at Eclipse Music Publishing.

Jim McCormick
Background information
Born	New Orleans, Louisiana
Genres	Country, pop, rock
Occupation	Songwriter
Years active	2000–present

In 2021, his song "The Good Ones" was nominated by the Country Music Association for Song of the Year.^[1] That same year "The Good Ones" won the Favorite Country Song category at the American Music Awards.^[2]

McCormick has celebrated three #1 songs on the Billboard Country Airplay chart: Gabby Barrett's "The Good Ones" and Jason Aldean's "Take A Little Ride," both of which spent three weeks in the #1 position; and Brantley Gilbert's "You Don't Know Her Like I Do."^[3] Current releases written by McCormick include Trace Adkins' "Welcome To," Luke Bryan's "All My Dreaming There," Jason Aldean's "When The Lights Go Out," Harry Connick Jr.'s "I Do Like We Do," Jon Pardi's "Lucky Tonight," and Trace Adkins's "Jesus and Jones." His songs also have been recorded and performed by Tim McGraw, Keith Urban, Kelly Clarkson, Jeff Tweedy, Trisha Yearwood, Randy Travis, Ronnie Milsap, Jamey Johnson, Samantha Fish, Smash Mouth as well as many others.^[4]

Early life and education

McCormick was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana.^[5] He attended Jesuit High School where he formed a band with his classmate Ed Conway.^[6] Initially a communications major his freshman year at Loyola University, he transferred into the School of Business at Georgetown University his sophomore year.^[7] While at Georgetown, McCormick enrolled in a poetry workshop led by the poet Roland Flint and became enamored with the art form, eventually switching his major to English and earning a Lannan fellowship and the Academy of American Poets "Poetry Prize."^[8] After graduating from Georgetown in 1990 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, McCormick moved back to New Orleans where he received a Masters of Fine Arts in poetry while teaching freshman composition at the University of New Orleans.^[9][10]

Musical career

While in high school, McCormick had formed the band Resonance with classmate Ed Conway. In 1991, the two formed The Bingemen: Marc Funti (drums), Cleaver Schmidt (bass and vocals),^[11] Conway (guitar), and McCormick (vocals).^[12] Playing primarily in a roots rock style, the band toured extensively with bands such as the Continental Drifters, Better than Ezra, the subdudes, Pat McLaughlin, Dash Riprock, and Cowboy Mouth.^[13][14] The band released their debut EP "Motor in the Ocean" in 1991 and a full-length self-titled album in 1996. In the same year the band performed at South by Southwest and at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. They broke up in 1999.^[15]

As a solo artist, McCormick has released four albums: 2001's Jim McCormick, You Can't Drown Your Sorrows in 2004, Live at Jazz Fest in 2012, and The Middle of the River in 2013.^[16]

McCormick has served as a board of governors' vice-president for the Recording Academy and on the board of the Nashville Songwriters Association International. For more than a decade, McCormick has been an adjunct faculty member in the Music Industry Studies program at Loyola University in New Orleans as well as lectured on the craft and business of songwriting at Berklee College of Music, Georgetown University, Vanderbilt University, Belmont University, and Tulane University, as well as at GrammyPro and NSAI events.^[17] He is a member of Nashville's Leadership Music class of 2013 and a recipient of the Academy of American Poets "Poetry Prize" and the Cutting Edge Music Conference's Lifetime Achievement Award.

Along with notable New Orleanians PJ Morton, Jay Weigel, Raj Smoove, and others, he formed the New Orleans Music Economy (NOME) initiative in 2018 in partnership with Greater New Orleans Inc. to help promote music copyright infrastructure in his hometown.

Songwriting

After a visit to Nashville in 2000, McCormick began to consider using his formal training in poetry to write songs.^[18] He spent the next four years splitting time between New Orleans and Nashville, where he'd sleep on friends’ couches while writing three to four songs a day.^[19] In 2003, McCormick signed his first publishing agreement with James Stroud and Jimmy Metts at Generator Music Publishing Company, where he wrote for two years before signing with Warner Chappell Music. From 2010 to 2020, he held a publishing deal with BMG. In April 2020, he signed with Eclipse Music Group.^[20]

McCormick currently splits his time between Nashville and New Orleans.^[21]

Songs Recorded	Artist	Release Date	Peak Chart Positions				Certifications
			US	US Country Songs	US Country Airplay	World
The Good Ones	Gabby Barrett	2020	19[22]	1[23]	1[24]	96[25]	RIAA: Platinum[26]
Cowboys Are My Weakness	Trisha Yearwood	2020[27]
Lulaby	David Osmond	2019[28]
Right Once	David Osmond	2019[29]
You Wanted Me	David Osmond	2019[30]
Good Times Ain’t What They Used To Be	Jamey Johnson	2018[31]
Live to Love Another Day	Smash Mouth	2018[32]
Noise	Shenandoah	2017[33]
Lucky Tonight	Jon Pardi	2017[34]
We Rode In Trucks	Luke Bryan	2017			33[35]		RIAA: Gold[36]
The Cowboy's Mine	Joey Martin	2017[37]
Louisiana	Tim McGraw	2016[38]
Jesus And Jones	Trace Adkins	2016[39]			44[40]
Blame It On A Woman	Shane Owens	2016[41]
Nobody Does I Do Like We Do	Harry Connick Jr.	2015[42]
Good Lookin’ Girl	Luke Bryan	2014[43]
Noise	Radney Foster	2014[44]
Cold Beer Drinker	Luke Bryan	2013[45]
I'm In Love With The Girl	Luke Bryan	2013[46]
Sorority Girl	Luke Bryan	2013[47]
Slow Moving Memory	Ty Herndon	2013[48]
The Shake	The Elms	2013[49]
Unless God Appears First	The Elms	2013[50]
The Wildest Heart	The Elms	2013[51]
The Little Ways	The Elms	2013[52]
Lily	The Elms	2013[53]
Saturday High	Cowboy Mouth	2013[54]
Take A Little Ride	Jason Aldean	2012	12[55]	1[56]			RIAA: Platinum[57]
When I Get It	Craig Campbell	2012[58]
Country Life	Brian Milson	2012[59]
Love Like This	Cory Morrow	2012[60]
You Don't Know Her Like I Do	Brantley Gilbert	2011	49[61]	1[62]	1[63]		RIAA: Platinum[64]
Georgia Mud	Joanna Smith	2011[65]
A Little Bit Of Missing You	Trace Adkins	2010[66]
Like Father, Like Son	Hollywood "Wolf" Yates	2010[67]
Good Southern Girl	Amanda Shaw	2010[68]
Cruise	Amanda Shaw	2010[69]
A Girl Could Get Hurt This Way	Lindsey Mendez	2010[70]
Dirt Road Dancing	Matt Stillwell and Colt Ford	2010[71]
Here In Louisiana	Hip Boot Joe	2010[72]
Every Time I See You	Luke Bryan	2009[73]
You Didn't Have A Good Time	Randy Travis	2009[74]
Changes	Jaryd lane	2009[75]
One Thing	Jeff Bates	2009[76]
Still Remains	Cartel	2009[77]
Roadside Sandwich	Jessie Farrell	2009[78]
Girls With Girlfriends	Chris Cavanaugh	2009[79]
You Just Want Me	Hannah Weeks	2009[80]
Girls With Girlfriends	Liam Brew	2009[81]
Dirt Road Dancing	Cooper Boone	2009[82]
Happy To Be Here	Trace Adkins	2008[83]
Pretty Runs Out	Amanda Shaw	2008[84]
Rock n Roll & Pensacola	Joshua Stevens	2008[85]
It's All Coming Back To Me Now	Ronnie Milsap	2006[86]
Right For Me	Dayna Kurtz	2006[87]
Time Well Spent	Bobby Pinson	2005[88]
You Can't Drown Your Sorrows	Kim Carson	2004[89]
Young Animal	Mulebone	1998[90]
Around The Lakeside	Kim Carson	1998[91]