Brantley Gilbert writes all of the songs that he records, including his latest single, “The Ones That Like Me,” and over the years he has found a core group of writers that he loves to write with, some of whom he has known for years.  Brantley explains, “When it comes to guys that I write with, like I remember coming to Nashville years ago and Warner Chappell put me in a room and a lot of people and some of those people I still write with. It was kind of a hit or miss thing it was finding the people that you really relate to and you’re comfortable sitting with.”

Some people come into the writing room with pre-planned ideas, but Brantley says, “My favorite way to write is to have a conversation and see what comes out. It’s finding somebody that has a thought process that really, not mirrors your own, but complements it. I feel like if you have somebody with a very similar process you butt heads a lot. You know when you write with somebody that has a complementing thought process that helps me a lot.”

Brantley wrote or co-wrote every song on his latest album, The Devil Don’t Sleep, except for one, which is a Hank Williams, Jr. cover.

Brantley Gilbert – finding core songwriters  :46

“When it comes to guys that I write with, like I remember coming to Nashville years ago and Warner Chappell put me in a room and a lot of people and some of those people I still write with. It was kind of a hit or miss thing it was finding the people that you really relate to and you’re comfortable sitting with. It’s possible to write a song or somebody that’s your polar opposite I think but it can be more difficult at times. I feel like the more co-writes I do, you know when it comes to writing with somebody new it depends on what they come to the table with.  And really the way I like write, and my favorite way to write is to have a conversation and see what comes out. It’s finding somebody that has a thought process that really, not mirrors your own, but complements it. I feel like if you have somebody with a very similar process you butt heads a lot. You know when you write with somebody that has a complimenting thought process that helps me a lot.”