Episode 40: The Importance of Songwriting with Dove Award Winning Songwriter Sue C. Smith

Music for The Soul Podcast

Songwriting is an often underappreciated talent in the world of great music. Singers and musicians are celebrated for the emotion they capture in their performances, but songwriters can sometimes appear to be at the bottom of the music world's hierarchy. That is why we are so grateful to have Dove Award Winning Songwriter Sue C. Smith on today's episode of the Music for the Soul Podcast. Sue shares with us her journey into songwriting, growing up with a father who led music at his church despite no formal background in music. From there, she began writing songs and getting connected in the world of Christian Music. Since then she has written over 20 #1 songs and had her works cut by countless top artists. Sue talks about the importance of connection, communication and recognition in songwriting, and how she used those elements to create The Write About Jesus Conference in 2000. She explains the importance of having a conference that welcomes writers of all levels, both those that are award winning and those that are just starting, into a place where they can talk, eat and pray as one community. Who is Sue C. Smith?

Sue has written 20 #1 songs, including "Not For Long" (The Guardians) in March 2023, "Looks Like Jesus" (Brian Free and Assurance in 2022, and "Goliath" (Joseph Habedank) in 2021. A Daywind Music Publishing staff writer, she is deeply involved in writing music for the church and for church choirs, having written over 100 musicals which are presented annually in churches around the world. Sue is a five-time Dove award winning songwriter who has had cuts by Avalon, Jason Crabb, The Oak Ridge Boys, The Crabb Family, Sandi Patty, and many others. She and her husband John founded The Write About Jesus Workshop in 2000, They co-hosted it each year until John's passing 2020. Sue continues to host the workshop as well as mentor many other writers. The workshop has been the launch pad for the songwriting of dozens of fresh voices in Christian music.

Resources:

Learn more about The Write About Jesus Conference and how to register on their website: www.writeaboutjesus.com

Learn more about Sue's work in songwriting, read her blog posts and contact her at her website: www.suecsmithsongwriter.com