Olson making it big on world songwriting stage

Who would have guessed?
 A guy born and raised in Weiser, Idaho. A guy who is known as a best-selling author and who is now winning awards as a songwriter, recording demos with some of the top names in the country music industry.
 Nobody believed he could do it.
 But that’s Tony Olson for you: a guy who believes anything is possible if you set your mind to it.
 At 63, Olson has cut deeper into the business than most of the young people who show up in Nashville with a guitar and a dream. Nashville is full of them, kids really, stepping off Greyhounds, stars in their eyes, looking to make contact with someone, anyone, that can help make those dreams come true.
 But Olson’s dream began in Weiser where he decided to write a book about politics, which, ironically, led him to begin writing country songs.
 “It became a best seller on Amazon in five categories and it kind of made me think maybe I’ve got some writing talent,” he said, sitting back in a chair on the patio at Rolling Hills Golf Course in Weiser. “I wrote a little bit when I was young, in my late teens and early 20s, but I didn’t have money to do demos. I eventually got into a banking career and was real successful. I throw myself into whatever I’m doing and in this case, banking was my career and everything else just kind of got pushed to the side, and I always wondered if I was good enough to write with the big guys.”
 The answer to that question came at the age of 60 when he became acquainted with Dave Nudo, an award-winning singer/songwriter from Boise. Nudo won the 2020 Josie Award for Best Musical collaboration for his duet “Like You Were Forbidden” with artist Dusty Leigh. He also was nominated for the Josie Award Song of the Year for his tune “Ninety-Nine Halos” performed by Leigh.

“Dave had just recorded some songs in Nashville and he played a song during an interview. I had been wanting to write a song for veterans, so I asked Dave if I could borrow his tune, alter it to some degree, for my veterans song, and he said sure,” Olson explained.
 “Well that song kind of caught on and it got on TV on the east coast. It made me think maybe I should do more of this. Dave told me I needed to go to Nashville and record.”
 It just so happened Olson has a friend, Jeff Parsons, that worked for country music star Blake Shelton who is also a judge on the hit television show The Voice.
 Parsons, who has won two CMA awards for sound, told Olson he’d have someone contact him to help with demos.
 Not long after, Shelton’s bandleader, Rob Byus, called.
 “He told me, ‘If you’re a friend of Jeff’s, you’re a friend of ours.’ He said they would do my demos and I said, ‘You mean I could get some of Blake’s guys on my demo?’ and he said, ‘No, you get all of Blake’s guys on your demo.’ I got the entire band,” Olson said. He then found his way to a producer, Nashville icon Dave Demay, a former Star Search winner and founder of Song City, a master-level production service and class A studio.
 “He’s been a mentor to me, like a brother since we met. He’s produced all of my stuff and he found a vocalist for me, Adam Cunningham, a finalist on The Voice in 2017,” Olson said. “Dave asked if I wanted him and I said, ‘Hell, yeah!’
 “All of a sudden, I went from nothing to having Blake Shelton’s band and a singer from The Voice. It was crazy.”
 Olson also spent time with musician, producer, and songwriter the late Ralph Murphy who wrote a book on songwriting.
 Olson’s efforts so far have led to two Golden Music Awards, four American Track Awards, and two World Song Writing Awards. Twice, he was a finalist in song writing contests in the U.K.
 Last August, he hit it big when he won the award for Male Songwriter of the Year at the 2021 International Singer Songwriter Awards, which is usually a red-carpet event held in Atlanta, Ga. This year it was held online due to the pandemic.
 More than 15,000 songwriters the world over vied for a chance at the title, about 3,500 of them male songwriters from the U.S. Only 84 were nominated and only 15 were finalists, Olson taking home the prize.
 And, nobody thought he could do it.
 Just like when he decided to become a boxer at 49, knocking out a 20-something kid 58 seconds into the first round. That was before he found out he had bleeding on the brain due to an accident, which required surgery.
 “Initially, everyone just said, ‘Well, isn’t that sweet, you’re following your dreams,’” Olson said of his songwriting. “I don’t think there were a lot of people that gave me much of a chance, so I kind of had to prove them all wrong.”
 “He charged into songwriting the same way he charged into boxing, and when he charges into something, he gets dead damn serious about it.” Demay said. “He’s like a bull. But the guy is amazingly talented, the book he’s written and his ability to craft and turn phrases and come up with clever lines is really through the roof.”
 Olson recently hung out with Effron White in Weiser. White is a legendary award-winning singer/songwriter.
 “Tony is a great writer, he has more of a clamp on the commercial side of country music,” White said. “He has a better understanding of that than I do. I write more deep stuff, introverted. The difference is that I write for myself and he doesn’t, which works out well – not so selfish, I guess.”
 Olson, who wrote a song about Weiser entitled “Barnyard Boulevard,” said he hopes artists begin picking up his music, which would mean royalties.
 He is currently working on a Christmas song with Johnny Garcia, a guitar player for Trisha Yearwood.
 For information about Tony Olson, visit his site at www.tonyolsonmusic.com.