Hugh Loring Prestwood (born April 2, 1942) is an American Hall of Fame songwriter, whose work is primarily in

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

. He was discovered by Judy Collins, who gave him his first hit "Hard Time for Lovers", which was recorded in 1978. Prestwood has written number one songs for Randy Travis"

Hard Rock Bottom of Your Heart "Hard Rock Bottom of Your Heart" is a song written by Hugh Prestwood, and recorded by American country music singer Randy Travis. It was released in January 1990 as the second single from the album ''No Holdin' Back''. "Hard Rock Bottom of Your H ...

", which won BMI's Robert J. Burton award for Country Song of the Year. Prestwood’s song, “The Song Remembers When”, recorded by Trisha Yearwood, was picked as the Nashville Songwriters Association’s Song of the Year and also won a Prime Time Emmy for “Outstanding Achievement in Music and Lyrics. Other artists who have recorded his material include Shenandoah and

Alison Krauss Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer and musician. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of 8 and recording for the first time at 14. She signed with ...

(" Ghost in This House"), Highway 101 (" Bing Bang Boom"),

Barbara Mandrell Barbara Ann Mandrell (born December 25, 1948) is an American country music singer and musician. She is also credited as an actress and author. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, she was considered among country's most successful music artist ...

("Where are the Pieces of My Heart"), John Conlee, Tanya Tucker, Don Williams, The Judds, James Taylor and Jerry Douglas. Michael Johnson has recorded or performed over a dozen Prestwood-penned songs; his recordings ''That's That'', ''Michael Johnson'', and ''Departure'' each feature multiple Prestwood songs. Prestwood is also known for his song "Asking Us to Dance," which originally appeared on

Kathy Mattea Kathleen Alice Mattea (born June 21, 1959) is an American country music and bluegrass singer. Active since 1984 as a recording artist, she has charted more than 30 singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs charts, including four that reac ...

's album ''

Time Passes By ''Time Passes By'' is the sixth studio album by American country music artist Kathy Mattea. It was released in 1991 (see 1991 in country music) on Mercury Records. The album, like her last two studio albums before it, was certified gold by the R ...

''. Jimmy Buffett recorded "Savannah Fare You Well", on his '' Far Side of the World'' album. Three of Prestwood's songs have been nominated for Grammys in the "Best Performance" category: "Sound of Goodbye" performed by Crystal Gayle. "Hard Rock Bottom of Your Heart" performed by Randy Travis. "Ghost in this House" performed by Shenandoah. In 2006, along with Jimmy Buffett and Jim Weatherly, Prestwood was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters’ Hall of Fame. For over 20 years he taught Advanced Songwriting at Manhattan’s New School. Most recently, the English recording artist Rumer released her album, ''Nashville Tears - The Songs of Hugh Prestwood'' (2020). All 15 tracks of this album were written by Prestwood.

References

1942 births Living people American country songwriters American male songwriters musicians from El Paso, Texas Songwriters from Texas {{US-songwriter-stub