Centricity Publishing is making a mark on NBC’s reality-competition show Songland. Two of its staff songwriters, Steve Fee and Kyle Williams, were featured on last night’s episode, and Williams was the night’s winner with his song, “Getting Started.” In an exciting episode twist, Blacc also recorded and released Fee’s song, “Same Blood.” Watch Williams’ performance here and Fee’s here.
Songland is a unique music competition show that focuses on songwriters and their craft. GRAMMY award-winning writers/producers Shane McAnally, Ester Dean, and Ryan Tedder (also frontman of One Republic) serve as judges and work with three selected songwriter contestants to perfect their songs by reworking them and producing the track. Each episode also features an iconic guest artist, so far including John Legend, will.i.am, Kelsea Ballerini, the Jonas Brothers, Meghan Trainor, and last night’s artist Aloe Blacc. The guest artist chooses one song at the end of the episode to record and release.
Williams originally wrote “Getting Started” with fellow Centricity writers Justin Amundrud and Joel Rousseau, then collaborated with Tedder on Songland. Blacc not only recorded the song for his own release, but also for the soundtrack of the upcoming blockbuster film, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, which premieres in theaters August 2nd.
“Getting to present a song that you’ve co-written to three of the best producers/writers in the world was amazing,” Williams said. “Honestly, just being there was a win for me, but having my song chosen for Aloe and for the movie felt like confirmation of my songwriting. And it was awesome to share the experience with someone from the same neighborhood, [Steve Fee]. That just goes to show that Centricity has a lot of talent on our roster.”
Fee was an episode runner-up with “Same Blood,” for which he got to work with McAnally. But Fee also came out of the episode a winner, when Blacc decided to record his song too. Fee was also a writer on a song featured on last week’s episode, “All Over Again.” His co-writer Zachary Kale presented the song to the judges and guest artist Meghan Trainor.
“The experience of a lifetime…” Fee describes of Songland. “It’s a songwriter’s dream to write with Ester, Shane, or Ryan, and to get a shot to collaborate with all three of them is beyond amazing. The nature of a true songwriter is to champion great songs, no matter where they come from. So aside from the amazing opportunity of being on TV and sharing my song with Aloe Blacc— not to mention, the world! – it was special to share this journey with Kyle and Tate [another episode contestant].”
Both Williams’ and Fee’s songs are available on all digital outlets: “Getting Started” | “Same Blood”. You can watch their Songland episode and others here.