Songwriters invade NYC

Bill Anderson, Dean Dillon, Steve Wariner and Craig Wiseman will join host Bob DiPiero at Joe's Pub on Wednesday, May 11. "Songwriting is what lured me into country music in the first place," said Anderson. "So, being able to do a little pickin' in New York with some of my Nashville writer friends is going to be extra cool for this whisperin' hillbilly." Anderson is the first member of the Country Music Hall of Fame to perform at the CMA Songwriters Series.

"I'm so excited to join the CMA Songwriters Series," said Wariner. "They say that you're known by the company you keep, and in this case I'll be in the great company of my friends Bill Anderson, Dean Dillon, Craig Wiseman, and Bob DiPiero. It's not every day that I get to hang out with all these guys together, so I'm looking forward to listening to them and sharing some of my own songs.

Tickets for the May 11 CMA Songwriters Series at Joe's Pub are $30 each and go on sale Wednesday, March 30.

With a career spanning more than 50 years, Anderson charted his first hit in 1959, Anderson wrote and performed City Lights and Once a Day. Anderson has two CMA Song of the Year award winners, Whiskey Lullaby, recorded by Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss, and Give It Away, recorded by George Strait as well as writing the The Guitar Song, the title track of Jamey Johnson's latest release. Responsible for penning many Strait classics including The Chair, Unwound and She Let Herself Go, Dillon has been writing for more than 30 years. The Tennessee-born songwriter has also written songs recorded by Kenny Chesney (A Lot of Things Different), Lee Ann Womack (Twenty Years and Two Husbands Ago), and Toby Keith (A Little Too Late).

Beginning his career as a professional musician at the age of 17, Wariner is known as much for his mastery of the guitar as well as for his songwriting expertise. Having written and recorded such hits as Life's Highway, Two Teardrops and the 1998 CMA Single and Song of the Year winner Holes in the Floor of Heaven, Wariner has also penned songs recorded by Garth Brooks (Longneck Bottle) Keith Urban (Where the Blacktop Ends) and Clint Black (Nothin' But the Taillights).