Songwriter Laura Veltz on How She Navigates Politics in Nashville

From at least around the pandemic, country music has been undergoing a distinct political and cultural fracture. Now, it’s unlikely you’d see certain artists collaborating with those across the aisle or joining tours that lean one way or the other (for instance, the recent Rock the Country festival drama). But Grammy-nominated songwriter Laura Veltz, who’s written hits with Jessie Murph, Dan + Shay, and Maren Morris, says it’s easy to bridge the gap in Nashville’s writers’ rooms — with some conditions.

“Short of violence, just full-on hate,” Veltz says on Rolling Stone’s Nashville Now podcast. “There are people like that. And I want to say they are not welcome in my writing room.”

However, she adds, the number of those folks is small. “There are so few of those people. Mostly everyone is just trying to get through, trying to put food on the table,” Veltz says. “For me, politics are not a make-or-break in the room. I’m always seeking out somebody’s heart and trying to figure out why they’re similar to me rather than why they’re different from me. I feel like that helps me.”

Veltz is nominated for Songwriter of the Year – Non-Classical at this Sunday’s 68th Annual Grammy Awards. While best known for her work with Morris on songs like “The Bones” and “Better Than We Found It,” and Dan + Shay’s massive hit “Speechless,” Veltz has written with names including Murph, Demi Lovato, Ingrid Andress, and Carly Pearce. She also co-wrote Tucker Wetmore’s feature on BigXThaPlug’s “About You.” Watch her full interview on Rolling Stone‘s Nashville Now below.

Download and subscribe to Rolling Stone’s weekly country-music podcast, Nashville Now, hosted by senior music editor Joseph Hudak, on Apple Podcasts or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts). New episodes drop every Wednesday and feature interviews with artists and personalities like Lainey Wilson, Hardy, Charley Crockett, Kings of Leon, Breland, Bryan Andrews, Gavin Adcock, Amanda Shires, Shooter Jennings, Margo Price, Ink, Halestorm, Dusty Slay, Lukas Nelson, Ashley Monroe, Old Crow Medicine Show’s Ketch Secor, Clever, and journalists Marissa R. Moss, Josh Crutchmer, and Mark Gray.

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