Artists + Songwriters

Hailing from a quaint town in Co. Cork, Ireland, Darren Kiely’s folk-infused pop sound originates from his inherited love of traditional Irish music, intertwined with modern influences such as The Lumineers, Mumford & Sons, and Noah Kahan. At just five years old, Darren learned the tin whistle, and at eight years old he picked up the fiddle, eventually teaching himself to play guitar as well. Darren began singing in 2019, quickly garnering attention for his raw and fervent vocals and emotive delivery. After winning numerous honors at a national level in Irish traditional music, Darren found his way to NYC in 2022 to continue developing his own music and sound, and soon after headed to the songwriting hub of Nashville.

Jake Rose is the frontman of the acclaimed alternative rock band New Medicine, which has over 1.9M monthly Spotify listeners, as well as a rising solo country artist. His first country single, “Sleeves,” debuted on CMT and Sirius XM’s “The Highway” and has had more than four million streams to date. As a songwriter, Jake has had cuts with Blake Shelton, Florida Georgia Line, Keith Urban, Ella Langley, Trey Lewis, Cooper Alan, James Barker Band, and more. His production credits include work with Brian Kelley, Redferrin, and Adelitas Way. 

Johnny Dailey discovered his love for country music as a kid riding around in his cousin’s truck listening to songs. When his dad gave him his first guitar at the age of 12, his destiny was all but set in stone. The rising country artist, with his traditional, feel-good, blue-collar brand of country music, signed his first publishing deal in 2019. His autobiographical song “Got Married” was #2 on Spotify’s Fresh Finds Country: Best of 2022. Johnny is currently working on his next release with acclaimed producer Frank Liddell. 

Hit songwriter and producer Jordan Schmidt’s roster of chart-toppers includes three #1 hits: “Watermelon Moonshine” (Lainey Wilson), “Bury Me In Georgia” (Kane Brown), and “wait in the truck” (HARDY ft. Lainey Wilson), for which he was recently honored as a CMA Triple Play Award recipient. He is also a co-writer on Kane Brown’s “Like I Love Country Music” and the 5-time Platinum-certified “What Ifs” (feat. Lauren Alaina), the ACM and CMA Single of the Year and Grammy Award-nominated “God’s Country” by Blake Shelton, Mitchell Tenpenny’s “Drunk Me,” and Jason Aldean’s “You Make It Easy” and “Lights Come On.” Jordan claims writing credit on recent releases by Cole Swindell, Nelly, Ernest, and others, and production credit on albums from Mitchell Tenpenny, Tyler Hubbard, The Band CAMINO, and more.

RECORDS Nashville multi-Platinum artist Matt Stell has quickly made his mark on country music as one of only eight new artists in the past six years to have consecutive #1s with two back-to-back chart-toppers: the 2-time Platinum “Prayed For You” and Platinum “Everywhere But On.” Speaking his truth for the first time in his autobiographical debut album, Born Lonely was released in June 2024. Amassing over half a billion global career streams, he’s the first-ever artist to receive a virtual plaque from the RIAA for his multi-week breakout “Prayed For You,” and is an ASCAP Pop and Country Most-Performed Song Awards winner. 

Nashville native Paul Sikes has been paving his way through Music City as a songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist since 2007. He has recently garnered success as a co-writer on Lainey Wilson’s #1 hit “Wildflowers and Wild Horses,” as well as her current single, “Hang Tight Honey.” Paul’s list of hits includes the #1 songs “Everywhere But On” (Matt Stell) and “Make Me Want To” (Jimmie Allen), and he has had cuts with Cody Johnson, Brian Kelley, Mae Estes, Dillon James, Drew Baldridge, Ryan Larkins, Jessie James Decker, and Kolby Cooper.

Ryan Plappert is a singer-songwriter currently based in Nashville. After being chosen for ASCAP’s GPS Project Class of 2013, he signed his first worldwide publishing agreement. His recent cuts include Drew Baldridge and Home Free, and he’s had sync placements in Netflix’s Selling Sunset, VH1’s Family Reunion Love & Hip Hop, ABC’s The Rookie: Feds, and The CW’s Kung Fu. In addition to writing, Ryan has spent years on the road touring with acts such as Maddie & Tae, Randy Houser, and Jon Pardi.

Travis Hill, known professionally as Scooter Carusoe, has lived and worked in the Nashville music community for over two decades and co-founded independent publishing company Carnival Music. He has had a hand in over 20 #1 hits, including Darius Rucker’s “For the First Time,” Brett Eldredge’s “Wanna Be That Song” and “Mean to Me,” and Kenny Chesney’s “Better as a Memory” and “Anything but Mine.” Notable releases co-written by Scooter include “You All Over Me” from Fearless (Taylor’s Version) by Taylor Swift, “Want That Back” (Eldredge), and “Some Habits” by Cole Swindell. He claims recent cuts by Eric Church, Tim McGraw, Keith Urban, Hailey Whitters, and more.

In 2011, Seth Alley drove the eighty-nine miles from his native Sparta, Tennessee, to Nashville to sell his CDs out of his dad’s Dodge minivan, and by 2013, he had signed his first publishing deal, record deal, and management contract. Recently, Seth has transitioned from artist to producer, working across multiple genres including country, pop, rock, and sync. He has had cuts with Nate Smith (three on his self-titled album), David Morris, Matt Stell, David J, New Medicine, Skeez, Jake Banfield, Troy Cartwright, and Svrcina. Seth is flourishing in the pop and sync spaces, working with heavy hitters like Rayelle, Sam Tinnesz, Tina Parol, Matt Bronleewe, and Que Parks. He has had significant placements in the hit shows Selling Sunset, Love Is Blind, and more.

Founding LANCO band member and songwriter Tripp Howell hails from Dalton, Georgia, in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains. In addition to serving as LANCO’s drummer, he has writing credit on many of the band’s cuts, including the singles “Rival” and “What I See.” Tripp also co-wrote “Big in a Small Town,” which is featured as the theme song of the Netflix series Titletown High. He joined the EMG family in February 2023.