TROY VERGES
EIGHT #1 RECORDS
BMI SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
GRAMMY & OSCAR AWARD NOMINEE
Troy Verges grew up in Louisiana and when he got his first guitar at age 10, his impulse wasn’t to learn other people’s songs but to make up his own. He played in bands from age 14 and listened to everything from 1960s folk to punk rock to traditional Cajun music. After high school, he was able to satisfy both his parents and a desire to pursue a music career by aiming for a music business degree. With no such program available in Louisiana, he moved to Murfreesboro to attend Middle Tennessee State University and then to Nashville to finish out his degree at Belmont. It was during those college years that Verges first discovered the profession of songwriting and the vast Nashville music publishing industry.
The early years weren’t easy, especially for somebody who won his first publishing deal before college graduation, but Verges stuck to his own vision. While paying hard dues, landing only a handful of cuts in his first three years, he’s now as in demand as any writer in Nashville. After he placed “Love Is A Sweet Thing” on Faith Hill’s “Breathe” album, a line formed to be the first to listen to his songs. Verges emerged as one of UMPG Nashville’s greatest success stories. Within a year of the Faith Hill record, he scored #1 songs on Jessica Andrews “Who I Am” and Martina McBride’s “Blessed” from her Greatest Hits collection both written with best friend and Music City Hit-Makers co-star Brett James. Those songs helped Troy take home Songwriter of the Year honors at the 2002 BMI Awards. Verges was also named NSAI (Nashville Songwriters Association International) Songwriter of the Year and Music Row magazine’s “Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year.”
In 2012 Verges scored another #1 smash with “Wanted” by Hunter Hayes. More successes include Carrie Underwood’s multi-week #1 hit “Wasted,” Kenny Chesney’s Top 5 record “You Save Me” and Kellie Pickler’s “Didn’t You Know How Much I Loved You.” In 2011, Verges received both Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations in the Best Original Song category for the song “Coming Home” from the feature film Country Strong performed by Gwenyth Paltrow and co-penned with fellow Hit-Maker Hillary Lindsey.
Troy’s songs can be heard on albums by such multi-platinum artists as Tim McGraw, Rascal Flatts, Faith Hill, Bon Jovi, Taylor Swift, Jason Aldean, Keith Urban and many more. Other recordings include artists as diverse as the Celine Dion, Il Divo, The Backstreet Boys and Paulina Rubio. 2013 has been another banner year for Verges scoring two more #1 Country singles with the songs “Beer Money” recorded by CMA New Artist of the Year Nominee Kip Moore co-written with Moore and long time friend Blair Daly and “I Want Crazy” his second #1 recorded by and co-written with Country rising star Hunter Hayes.