HUGH PRESTWOOD
Hugh’s songwriting career
A native of El Paso, TX, Hall of Fame songwriter Hugh Prestwood has been writing hits for three decades. He was discovered in 1978 by Judy Collins, who gave him his first hit (Hard Times For Lovers), and subsequently recorded five more of his songs.
Hugh has penned #1 hits for Randy Travis, Trisha Yearwood, Michael Johnson, Shenandoah, Crystal Gayle and Collin Raye. He has also composed hits for Highway 101, Anne Murray, Ty England and Kathy Mattea. Other artists who have recorded his songs include Conway Twitty, Lee Greenwood, Don Williams, Jackie DeShannon, Maura O’Connell, Tanya Tucker, The Judds, Jimmy Buffett, James Taylor, Jerry Douglas and Alison Kraus.
In 1991 Prestwood was honored at the annual BMI Awards with the 23rd Robert J. Burton Song of the Year Award for “Hard Rock Bottom of Your Heart”. He was also picked by Billboard Magazine as the #2 Country Songwriter that year. He made his recording debut on RCA Records in 1993 with the album “Signatures 3”, featuring five of Nashville’s top writers.
In 1994, he won a Prime Time Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music & Lyrics for his composition, “The Song Remembers When”, featured in the Disney special, “Trisha Yearwood - The Song Remembers When”. This song was also nominated for a CableACE Award for Best Original Song and was voted Song Of The Year by members of the Nashville Songwriters Association (NSAI).
Three of Hugh’s songs have been nominated for Grammys in the Best Performance Category: “Sound of Goodbye” by Crystal Gayle; “Hard Rock Bottom of Your Heart” by Randy Travis; and “Ghost In This House” by Shenandoah.
In 2006, along with Jimmy Buffett and Jim Weatherly, he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters’ Hall of Fame. Since the early 1980’s, Hugh has taught “Advanced Songwriting” for the New School in Manhattan, a short drive from his home in Long Island, NY. Also while in Nashville or other cities in the US, Hugh can be found teaching songwriting workshops for NSAI. With his steady stream of hits and willingness to share his craft, Hugh Prestwood is well-respected by his peers and singers alike. It is that friendliness that comes through in his songs.
If you are a fan of Hugh Prestwood’s songs, his recent album, “The Fate of Fireflies” has 15 well-done tracks that showcase a man with a strong baritone voice reminiscent of James Taylor.