Independent music publisher Downtown has acquired an interest in the catalogue of multi-award winning songwriter, producer, playwright, and musician, Wayne Kirkpatrick.
Highlights of the purchase include song copyrights such as “Every Heartbeat,” “Good For Me,” recorded by Amy Grant, “Place In This World” by Michael W. Smith and “Wrapped Up In You” by Garth Brooks.
The deal also includes Kirkpatrick’s interest in Grammy-winning Song of the Year “Change the World,” (1997) by Eric Clapton, which charted at No.1 on the Billboard chart for 13 weeks, and was featured on the soundtrack of the 1996 film, Phenomenon.
“Downtown is thrilled to add the works of such an acclaimed and entrepreneurial songwriter to our catalog and it’s an honor to represent these iconic songs, spanning multiple genres,” said Downtown Nashville’s Vice President, Steve Markland.
Kirkpatrick’s works have earned Grammy and Dove awards and cover Contemporary Christian, Country, and Pop styles.
His songs have been recorded by names such as Faith Hill, Garth Brooks, Babyface, Amy Grant, Joe Cocker, Eric Clapton, Tim McGraw, Kathy Mattea, Martina McBride, Wynonna Judd, Trisha Yearwood, Bonnie Raitt, Susan Ashton, Michael W. Smith, Jill Phillips, Michael Crawford, Peter Frampton, Casting Crowns and T-Pain.
“Downtown is the perfect home for these compositions. They are passionate and forward-thinking partners, something that is hard to find in a publisher.”
Wayne Kirkpatrick
He has also been a writer and producer for the Grammy-nominated country group, Little Big Town, yielding 4 top ten singles – “Boondocks,” “Bring it on Home,” “A Little More You,” and “Little White Church.”
Of the announcement, Kirkpatrick said, “Downtown is the perfect home for these compositions. They are passionate and forward-thinking partners, something that is hard to find in a publisher.”
In 2014, Kirkpatrick teamed up with his brother Karey to co-write the Broadway musical Something Rotten!, for which they received a Tony nomination for Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre.
Most recently, Kirkpatrick founded “The Junk Bunk,” a mixed media art collection, which gained popularity for signature clocks made from vintage board games.
Downtown was represented in this transaction by Peter Rosenthal at Ritholz Levy Sanders Chidekel and Fields, LLP.
Wayne Kirkpatrick was represented by Andrew Fromm at Fromm Consulting, LLC, and Gary Gilbert and Michael Rexford at Manatt Phelps and Phillips, LLC.
Since opening in Nashville in 2014, Downtown has signed agreements with songwriter/artists including Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson, Old Crowe Medicine Show, and John Moreland and acquired the catalogs of Charlie Black, Ray Whitley and VLS Music, which includes Lady Antebellum songs written-by Hillary Scott.
Its active Nashville songwriters including Andy Albert, Marc Beeson and Kelly Archer have written recent charted Country hits for Blake Shelton, Josh Turner, and Cassadee Pope.Music Business Worldwide
