A Conversation With Blake Pendergrass
As country music continues to evolve, so does its creators. Among them, Blake Pendergrass stands out – his steady rise and undeniable success have quickly made him one of the genre’s most talked-about songwriters.
Since becoming Back Blocks Music flagship songwriter in 2021, the North Carolina native has notched 5 No. 1 songs, celebrated his first CMA Triple Play Award, been recognized on Billboard’s Hot 100 Songwriters and Country Songwriters charts, amassed more than one billion streams and most recently, received his first-ever ACM award nomination for Songwriter of the Year. He also holds songwriting credits for the only solo-penned track on Morgan Wallen’s ‘I’m The Problem’ with “The Dealer (feat. ERNEST)” and was chosen as our very own Songwriter of the Year in 2025.
While sometimes the writers behind your favorite songs go unrecognized, we chatted with Pendergrass to give him the spotlight and hear his perspective on the craft behind the music.
You’ve quickly become widely regarded as one of the most talked-about and respected songwriters in country music, having experienced a steady yet quick rise to success. How would you describe the power of a song, and what does the genre mean to you personally?
I think that a song can uniquely shape someone’s life experience. Nothing else can bring up a memory, capture a moment in time or a feeling quite like a song and I think that music is an unusually powerful thing for those reasons. Country music and its ability to change and adapt while still maintaining honesty and artistry is in a league of its own in my opinion. It offers a very rich musical environment to create within.
How has the community in Nashville shaped the writer you are? Did you always think you’d end up being a songwriter?
The Nashville community has had a huge impact on me. Coming up I got to know so many writers and publishers that gave me wise advice and I also studied the work of Nashville greats like Craig Wiseman early on to try and understand the craft of songwriting. I didn’t know that I would end up becoming a songwriter when I moved to Nashville and honestly didn’t even know it was a career. However, I have always found it best in music to try to walk through doors that seem to be opening the widest and so far that has been the songwriting door for me which I am very grateful for.
In this business, it all starts with a song. For many fans, they don’t know about the behind the scenes efforts of the industry. You’ve now notched 5 No. 1 songs – talk about the significant role of writers, and in general, the amount of songs that are written vs. how many actually get cut and climb the charts.
Writing a song can be a painstaking process at times and an incredibly easy process at times. The people behind the most successful songs have one thing in common and that is a deep care and consideration for the song in front of them. We are always trying to write a better song than yesterday, grow our abilities, learn from each other and create the next undeniably great song. That usually means writing anywhere from 150-300 songs a year with the hopes of maybe 20-50 songs coming out in a given year. From there only a select few get the spotlight of being a single but the best songs usually have their day to shine.
What’s the connection between artists and writers? Do you have a favorite memory of hearing one of your songs played live?
I am very fortunate to have great relationships with many of the artists I work with and have become close friends with them as a result of songwriting. There is nothing more beneficial to helping write a great song for an artist than knowing them personally. Hearing how they look at the world and getting to live life with them helps the music be more honest and helps me to have ideas catered specifically to them which usually makes for great songs. My favorite memory of hearing my song was when Morgan Wallen played “Ain’t That Some” in Milwaukee a few tours back. I got to watch it from the infield at the baseball stadium which was where all the pyro towers were and watching the fire during that performance was an awesome memory.
What songs do you feel really impacted the genre over the years?
I look back on country music and think there is a handful of artists that truly shaped the current day. When I started paying attention, to me it felt like Florida Georgia Line, Sam Hunt and Eric Church really stood out as artists that were going down incredibly unique musical paths that impacted the genre forever. All of the songs of that era I think influenced people in my generation in ways that we are now building off of.
How would you describe the community in Nashville in three words?
Supportive, ever-changing and welcoming.
