Who is actually listening to your song

Keith started behind the glass, running a recording studio in Pennsylvania. Halestorm cut some of their earliest songs in that room, years before the Grammy. He also mixed a project for Rick Derringer, the guitarist behind "Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo."

Those years taught him the thing that still drives every review on this site. A song either holds up when the lights are on and the tape is rolling, or it does not. You learn to hear the difference fast when it is your board and your clock.

In the early days of the web, Keith created IndieHeaven, one of the first websites anywhere where independent artists could promote and sell their own music. It served thousands of musicians for over 20 years.

IndieHeaven was the first site to offer single-song downloads. Before Apple. Before MP3.com. A lot of the features that are standard on every music platform today started on that site. He spent two decades listening to independent songwriters and figuring out what actually helped them get heard.

Keith moved to Nashville in 2003. In 2006 he launched Nashville Rising Song, a songwriter competition staged at major Nashville venues. It ran for fourteen years, until 2020. Industry professionals judged every round and the audience voted. He also ran a second contest, Nashville Rising Star.

Kelsea Ballerini came through those contests. She is a Grand Ole Opry member now. So did Gayle, who wrote "abcdefu." So did Jason Wyatt, former lead vocalist of The Lost Trailers and co-writer of "We the People" with Kid Rock. So did Landon Wall.

This is the part that matters to you. Fourteen years of putting songwriters on stage in front of publishers, label people, and producers is exactly where the relationships on this site come from. Keith did not buy a contact list. He built one contest at a time, round after round, for fourteen years. That is why the phone gets answered when he calls about a song.

It is also why the direction runs the other way now. Industry people came to his events looking for new writers, and they come to this site for the same reason. He does not have to knock on doors. When he says come check out these songs, they show up.

When live venues shut down in 2020, Keith moved the whole idea online and launched Global Rising Song, the first crowdfunding songwriter contest anywhere. Fans voted by donating a dollar per vote, and the vote money went straight to the songwriters. Music industry professionals selected the winner of each contest.

It ran 22 contests over two years and raised more than $225,000 for writers around the world. With live music stopped, that money paid rent and kept the lights on for working songwriters.

Keith served as President and head of A and R for Broken Records, an indie label that combined publishing, promotion, and distribution under one roof. The label is no longer operating, but the A and R work is the same work he does here: listen, decide, and take the ones that are ready to people who can act on them.

Keith runs Nashville Song Pitcher and still listens to every song that comes through it himself.

He also created Free For All Music, a fan-voted contest for creators using AI in their music, at FreeForAllMusic.com. In January 2026 he launched SongRefiners.com, a platform that analyzes songs on composition, melody, production quality, and commercial potential.

He has had songs placed and cut by artists.