With over a dozen Top 5 singles on the Billboard country chart, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Famer Tim Nichols has been a hit machine for years with songs such as “Heads Carolina, Tails California,” “The Man I Want to Be,” and "Live Like You Were Dying." EPISODE DETAILS: PART ONE Scott and Paul talk about their earliest concert experiences. PART TWO -  8:09 mark Scott and Paul get on the phone with Tim to find out how he went to a bunch of free country shows when he was a kid; why he says the story of his career is a cross between Forest Gump and Lemony Snicket; how Mike Wallace and 60 Minutes led to his big break; why he had to wear a Daniel Boone cap on his way to becoming a successful songwriter; what he was feeling when his first hit came from a non-living artist; how an audiobook gave him the idea for one of his biggest hits; and how he looks back now on the day that he wrote THAT classic song. ABOUT TIM NICHOLS

Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee Tim Nichols has written more than a dozen Top 5 country hits, including “I’m Over You” by Keith Whitley, “Heads Carolina, Tails California” by Jo Dee Messina, “(This Ain’t) No Thinkin’ Thing” by Trace Adkins, “I’d Rather Ride Around with You” by Reba McEntire, “I’ll Think of a Reason Later” by Lee Ann Womack,” “That’d Be Alright” by Alan Jackson, “Girls Lie Too” by Terri Clark, “I Still Miss You” by Keith Anderson, “The Man I Want to Be” by Chris Young, and “Cowboys and Angels” by Dustin Lynch.    Nichols is perhaps best known as the co-writer of Tim McGraw’s “Live Like You Were Dying,” which stayed at #1 for seven weeks, won a Grammy for Best Country Song, and was named Song of the Year by the Country Music Association, the Academy of Country Music, BMI, ASCAP, Billboard magazine, and the Nashville Songwriters Association International. It remains the only song to have won every major song award presented for country music.   The list of other artists who’ve recorded Nichols’ songs includes Blake Shelton, Faith Hill, Jason Aldean, Patty Loveless, Vince Gill, Montgomery Gentry, Kenny Chesney, Lonestar, Rascal Flats, Brad Paisley, Kenny Rogers, Tracy Byrd, Gretchen Wilson, Ronnie Milsap, and many more.