The Franklin Theatre Songwriters Series returns in October with "An evening with Trey Bruce and friends: Richard Marx and Matraca Berg!"
Trey Bruce
Emmy Award Winning, hit songwriter Trey Bruce moved from Memphis to Nashville in 1989, specifically to be a songwriter. Trey’s had over 100 cuts, is a 15 times ASCAP Award Winner for the most played songs on radio, he’s an ACM Song of the Year Nominee, and has had songs in more than 80 TV series’. Trey Bruce’s craftsmanship lies in his chameleon-like ability to amplify each artist’s voice while delivering distinctive lyrics, across multiple genres.
As a result, he has written with a wide variety of artists from Carrie Underwood, LeAnn Rimes and Randy Travis, to Billy Gibbons (zz top), Duff McKagan, Richard Marx, Maren Morris, Peter Frampton, Lzzy Hale, Katherine McPhee, Chris Janson and Lynyrd Skynyrd, to name a few.
Web: https://www.treybruce.com
Email: treybruce1@me.com
Phone: 615.210.9285
Richard Marx
Richard Marx is a Grammy-winning singer, songwriter, and producer whose career has spanned four decades of chart success and creative reinvention. With over 45 million albums sold, one billion streams, and fourteen No. 1 singles to his name, Marx remains one of the most enduring and versatile talents in modern music. He is the only male artist in history to have his first seven singles reach the Top 5 on the Billboard charts, and one of only two artists—alongside Michael Jackson—to write a #1 song in four different decades.
Marx's hits as a performer, including "Right Here Waiting," "Hazard," "Hold On to the Nights," and "Satisfied," have become timeless staples. Behind the scenes, his songwriting and production credits include career-defining tracks for Luther Vandross (the Grammy-winning "Dance with My Father"), Keith Urban, NSYNC, Barbra Streisand, Kenny Rogers, and many others.
A bestselling author, Marx released his memoir Stories to Tell in 2020, followed by his critically acclaimed 2023 album Songwriter, a genre-spanning collection featuring collaborations with both legacy artists and rising stars. In 2024, he headlined a sold-out show at London's Royal Albert Hall and continues to tour internationally.
2026 will bring a brand new album in a different direction from Marx's previous catalog. After Hours consists of an even mixture of standards from the Great American Songbook and new original songs written in the same retro vein. Quite uniquely, the album was recorded entirely live with 24 musicians and consists of all complete takes.
Says Marx, "I never seriously considered doing a standards or covers album before because at heart, I am a songwriter, first and foremost. The challenge of writing songs as if I were pitching them to Frank Sinatra in 1948 really appealed to me. Creating these songs was more fun than I could've imagined, and singing them all live in the studio with the whole band, just like Frank and Dean used to do, was the thrill of a lifetime."
Marx performed the album's lead single, "Magic Hour," on the 2025 season finale of the Australian Dancing With the Stars and, alongside Hugh Jackman, performed another of the album's songs, "Big Band Boogie," at three shows from Jackman's sold-out Radio City residency. This year, Marx also joined The Voice Australia as a coach alongside Melanie C (aka Sporty Spice), Ronan Keating, and Kate Miller-Heidke.
Beyond music, Marx is known for his philanthropy and candid, witty presence on social media. He lives in Miami and Los Angeles with his wife, Daisy Fuentes, and is currently developing a slate of TV and digital projects, including the current companion podcast and video series Stories to Tell.
Matraca Berg
Matraca Berg made the biggest decision of her life while she was still a kid. The 2008 Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee was a high-school student in Music City when she decided to devote her life to writing songs and singing.
"I knew I wasn't gong to college, so I just decided to get going on this as soon as I could," she recalls. "I just knew I had to get out there and DO it. And I knew that this was the only thing I wanted to do - there was never any question in my mind."
The fact that only a miniscule number of songwriters actually get to practice their craft successfully didn't faze her: "I think it was just youthful exuberance and fearlessness," she says of her decision. The result of that choice was that Matraca Berg had her first No. 1 record s a songwriter at age 18.
That first hit was "Faking Love," as sung by T.G. Sheppard and Karen Brooks. In the years since, Berg's songs have practically become the soundtrack of contemporary Nashville. Reba McEntire's "The Last One to Know" (1987), Patty Loveless' "I'm That Kind of Girl" (1991), Trisha Yearwood's "Wrong Side of Memphis" (1992), Marinta McBride's "Wild Angels" (1996), the Dixie Chicks' "If I Fall You're Going Down With Me" (2001), Kenny Chesney's "You and Tequila" and more than 100 other recordings of her songs make her one of the most recorded composers in Music City.
Matraca Berg's songs have been sung by Randy Travis, Faith Hill, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Linda Ronstandt, Tanya Tucker, Pam Tillis, Keith Urban, Dusty Springfield, Clint Black, Loretta Lynn and dozens of others. Her cowritten "Strawberry Wine," as performed by Deana Carter, was named the Country Music Association's Song of the Year and NSAI Song of the Year in 1997. The two-time Grammy nominee has earned a dozen BMI songwriter awards.
Upon hearing about her induction into the Hall of Fame, her initial response was "Wait a minute! I haven't done everything I want to do." As one of the most respected songwriters of her generation, it is quite obvious Matraca Berg has much more to do.