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This year's selections include such renowned BMI songwriters and composers as Herbie Hancock (Head Hunters), Michael Jackson (Thriller), Roy Orbison ( “Oh Pretty Woman”), Kitty Wells (“ It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels”) and Art Tatum (“Sweet Lorraine”). Almost 70% of the PRO-affiliated works on this year’s list are part of the BMI repertoire. View images and and listen to brief clips of these selections.

The National Recording Preservation Board, comprising experts from the music industry and preservation field, culled its list from nominations made by the public for recordings considered "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant." Recordings must be 10 years old to be considered for preservation and final selections are made by the Librarian of Congress, James H. Billington.

The National Recording Registry was created by the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, legislation that promotes and supports audio preservation. The registry celebrates the richness and variety of the nation's audio legacy and underscores the responsibility to assure the long-term preservation of that legacy for future generations.

This year’s selections include (*indicates BMI entry):

1. The first Trans-Atlantic Broadcast, March14, 1925
2. “Allons a Lafayette,” Joseph Falcon*
3. “Casta Diva,” from Bellini’s Norma
4. “If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again,” Thomas A. Dorsey*
5. “Sweet Lorraine,” Art Tatum*
6. Fibber McGee and Molly
7. Wings Over Jordan
8. Fiorello LaGuardia reading the comics
9. “Call it Stormy Monday but Tuesday is Just as Bad,” T-Bone Walker*
10. Harry S. Truman Speech at the 1948 Democratic Convention
11. The Jazz Scene, Various Artists*
12. “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels,” Kitty Wells*
13. My Fair Lady, Original Cast Recording
14. Navajo Shootingway Ceremony Field Recordings
15. ‘Freight Train’ and Other North Carolina Folk Songs, Elizabeth Cotton*
16. “Oh Pretty Woman,” Roy Orbison*
17. “Marine Band Concert Album to Help Benefit the National Cultural Center (1963)
18. “Tracks of My Tears,” Smokey Robinson and the Miracles
19. “You’ll Sing a Song and I’ll Sing a Song,” Ella Jenkins
20. “Music From the Morning of the World,” David Lewiston
21. “For the Roses,” Joni Mitchell
22. Head Hunters, Herbie Hancock*
23. Ronald Reagan Broadcasts
24. “The Sounds of the Earth,” Voyager Spacecraft
25. “Thriller,” Michael Jackson*

Luckily, it didn’t come to that. Miller instead became a top-rank songwriter whose hits include chart-toppers for stars like Terri Clark (“I Just Wanna Be Mad”) and Trace Adkins (“You’re Gonna Miss This”).

But when the classically trained multi-instrumentalist headed south from his native Nicholasville, Kentucky, he didn’t think of himself as a songwriter. He discovered his true calling with the encouragement of associates like BMI’s Thomas Cain. “He said, ‘You’re not reinventing the wheel as a musician or singer, but you might be able to write songs’,” Miller remembers.

Ken Mellons recorded two of his songs, and soon Miller was getting cuts regularly. BlackHawk took his “Days of America” to the Top 40 in 2002, and a few months later Joe Nichols’s rendition of “The Impossible” went all the way to the top. “That changed everything,” Miller recalls. “It was suddenly easier to get people to listen — and honestly, I think it gave me more confidence.”

That breakthrough began a hot streak that continues today. Miller has branched out into production work with artists including Steve Holy and Amy Dalley, but songwriting remains his top priority.

“I’m living a fantasy,” he declares. “I’m a father of four with a wife I’ve been married to for 16 years, and I make stuff up for a living. I’m the happiest person in the world.”

Registration is conducted the same day of each workshop, with no prior registration necessary. 50 participants will be admitted each session, with registration beginning promptly at 9 a.m. in BMI's main lobby. Numbers will be handed out on a first-come, first-served basis, until all 50 seats are filled. Please email NashvilleWorkshops@bmi.com with any questions regarding the workshop.

Leading in nominations are Stew (Mark Stewart) and Heide Rodewald, co-creators of Passing Strange, a rock-oriented, atypical Broadway hit. The duo have been nominated for Best Original Score and Best Orchestrations, while Stew received nods for Best Book of a Musical and Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical. Passing Strange also received a Best Musical nomination and was also recently awarded the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Musical.

Award-winning composer and pianist Alan Menken is up for Best Original Score for The Little Mermaid; lyricist Mark O’Donnell received a Best Book of a Musical nod for Cry-Baby, as did playwright Quiara Alegria Hudes for In The Heights.

Addition recognition goes to songwriter John Farrar for his contributions to Xanadu, which received a Best Musical nod.

Jorge Villamizar performs his single “Ninguna.”

BMI’s Anne Cecere, Casey Robison, Marissa Lopez and Tracie Verlinde; Jorge Villamizar; BMI’s Claudia Billen, Delia Orjuela, Angelica Mejia, Erica Ramon, Ray Yee, Barbara Cane and Maria Elena Perez.

Photos by Marlene Meraz