Most impassioned artists move to Nashville inpursuit of the life, the lights, the sounds of fame and a worldwide fan following. Hillary Lindsey moved here for much of the same, but has drastically impacted this city through a less visible route: songwriting.

Originally from the small town of Washington, Georgia, Lindsey has co-written her way into pop country superstardom with hits like “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” sung by Carrie Underwood, “Blessed,” sung by Martina McBride and “Fearless,” the title track of Taylor Swift’s 2008 album.

“I started writing when I was really young. No one told me—I just did it,” Lindsey insists. “When I was 10 years old, I wanted to be anartist. That is why I moved to this town.”

Lindsey, who has written songs with and for artists like Miley Cyrus and Bon Jovi, recalls the humble beginnings of her now successful writing career. Before she became one of the most accomplished songwriters of recent years, Lindsey was a college student at Belmont University just trying to figure out what to do next.

“I was living on Ashwood Avenue in a house that was literally falling apart, where squirrels ate all of our food. But you know, it was college life,” she says. “I was going to school, and then I would come home and write.”

Then, in 1997, during Lindsey’s senior year at Belmont, she decided to take the semester off to wait tables, clear her head and write. She says her big break came during that semester. “My roommates were all great, except the squirrels. One [of my roommates] stole a tape of mine and turned it in to MCA Publishing,” she says. “I was so mad until I found out they liked it. A couple of weeks later Pat Finch took me to lunch, and that’s how it started.”

One month after dropping out of the Music Business program at Belmont, Lindsey found herself writing her own version of musichistory in three-and-a-half-minute form. “I always felt like I didn’t deserve it because I didn’t go beat down doors,” she says. “It just sort of happened. Sometimes life is like that—sometimes it just happens. I was pursuing it, but I wasn’t that aggressive.”

Lindsey signed with Famous Music Publishing and then sought aftera solo artist career of her own in addition to writing. In 2000, she signed with Epic Records out of New York.

“It was epic for about three months,” Lindsey jokes. “I didn’t even stick my big toe in the studio. I didn’t even turn in a song. I was 23, and it was dramatic. Everything is dramatic at that age.”

When her record deal didn’t pan out, Lindsey shifted her full attention back to writing, which quickly became worthwhile when “We wrote ‘Blessed’ for Martina McBride, which became her first No. 1 hit with Famous Music Publishing. “We wrote ‘Blessed’ specifically with Martina in mind,” she remembers. Though the song is an almost idealistic portrait of a woman listening to the laughter of her children,

relaxing on her porch swing and resting her feet on her hardwood floors as she’s kissed by the sun, Lindsey says it was no replica of her own life at that time. “I didn’t have a lot of the stuff that is in the song, and for me it was right during these dark times,” she says. “I remember thinking, ‘This so isn’t me.’ Listening to it later, I realized the song was about me. I have hardwood floors now and a front porch swing.”

Lindsey spent six years writing with Famous Publishing before deciding to go independent in November of 2003. Her independent career began with a desire to make it happen no matter the sacrifice. ThoughLindsey says she drove a car with a caving-in roof and several dents, she says it was worth it. “That’s what afforded me to go independent because I could live without a job,” she remembers.

Lindsey says the beginning of independent writing was a struggle both musically and financially. “The first year of going independent, I got all these cuts, but then none of them made the record,” she says. Not willing to see her dream fall away, however, she set a goal. “I told myself that I would give myself a year, and for that whole year I was living off of savings. It became about proving it. Not about proving it to anybody else—it was about proving it to myself,” she says. Then, Carrie Underwood cut “Jesus, Take the Wheel.” The song spent six weeks at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Chart. The country crossover hit propelled the careers of the American Idol star and Lindsey alike, landing both a Grammy Award for the song.

After “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” Lindsey enjoyed further success with “Wasted,” “So Small,” “Last Name” and “Just a Dream,” all of which became No.1 hits for Underwood.  Lindsey comments on “Jesus, Take the Wheel” and “Blessed” specifically, saying, “The letters you get and the response you get is just amazing because you don’t think you did it—it was something higher.”

Lindsey is a realist, though, and she has learned to ride the proverbial roller coaster of the industry. She speaks to the lulls of writing, saying, “It happens to all writers. You can be hot, hot, hot and then nothing for a year. It’s not that you don’t work. It’s not that you aren’t cranking out the same amount of songs. It’s just the cycle. I’m just happy that I can be in the cycle.”

The consistent thing about cycles is that they keep leading back to the same place, and for Lindsey, that place has been success. She gives insight about how inspiration comes for her, saying, “Sometimes I like to go home and have a couple glasses of wine. That’s when I feel inspired. You reach for inspiration when you can, knowing some days

you won’t get it, and that’s when you beat your head and guitar against the wall.”

This girl who came to Nashville to be an artist has learned how to live her dreams off the stage and seems to truly enjoy the life she now leads. “A songwriter’s life is so great,” she says. “I don’t know how much I would love all the things that come along with being an artist. Of course, when I go see Coldplay I want to be on stage.”

Lindsey says she has made some of her greatest friends during those nine-hour days of writing and insists that songwriting is more of a process than an instant thing. “Sometimes you have to say the stupid so that the good will come out,” she says. “Sometimes stupid is in the way of good, and sometimes what you think is stupid, they think is brilliant.” She adds, “You know when you have written something good. You can feel it, and most of the time other people can feel it, too.” Lindsey’s whole demeanor is one of thankfulness, and she gives insight to aspiring songwriters, saying, “Write, write, write, write, write, write, write. Follow your heart and gut. Don’t edit yourself too much in the beginning, and always have a record on. Listen to other writers.”

If songwriting is storytelling, then Hillary Lindsey is penning an exceptional one. She has found happiness and success in the same pursuit—in her role as a storyteller. And while it’s true that she didn’t have to pound her way through any doors to find success in this town, Lindsey is not a starry-eyed girl who haphazardly fell into her dream job. Skill and drive converge in this extraordinary talent, who continues to deliver day after day, paving the way for her career and speaking life into the songs you and I will soon join her in singing. ✪