‘Every day is a chance to write another line

“I started coming to Nashville when I was in high school,” begins Satsuma, Alabama native Monty Criswell, about the initial pursuit of his dream—to become a professional songwriter. Success didn’t come right away. In fact, it was several years before he secured a writing deal—and many more years before he had his first Top Ten song. 

"I started getting cuts in 1995, and for the next 10 or 12 years, I was king of the album cuts," offers Criswell. A big hit remained elusive until 2007, when he had his first Top 10 record (“Tough” by Craig Morgan), followed by his first No. 1 song, “I Saw God Today” (George Strait), the latter of which he co-wrote with Rodney Clawson and Wayne Kirby.

"‘I Saw God Today’ was the big one,” he adds, a song that gave him the opportunity to go to the Grammy’s and to the Country Music Awards. 

More No. 1 songs followed, including “Five More Minutes” (Scotty McCreery) in 2018 and “Hell of a View” (Eric Church) in 2020, plus “Handle on You” (Parker McCollum) in 2023.  

Then, all that success was interrupted when he was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer. 

"At age 54, I did eight rounds of chemotherapy and a five-and-a-half-hour surgery. It all could have been avoided if I had gone for a colonoscopy at 45. Forty-five is the new fifty,” he notes, talking about the current recommended age for a colonoscopy. Colon cancer is relatively easy to prevent and relatively easy to cure—if it is caught before it spreads,” he advises. 

The good news is that Criswell is now a year-and-a-half into his recovery. 

"All scans and scopes have been clean, and blood work has been great, so I am on the path I need to be on. After three years, the chance of it coming back goes way down, and by year five, I'm back into the normal pool," he says. 

Meanwhile, his illness led him to pursue a new initiative.   

"When I had cancer, my case nurse said: 'You have a great attitude about this and a great perspective. If you could share this with people, it would help those in the same situation—and maybe help those not in the same situation,’” he recalls her saying. 

That led Criswell to build on his experience doing Songwriter in the Round events, in which he talks about the stories behind his songs. These days, he also does speaking engagements that feature a healthy dose of life coaching. 

"First, I talk about how I became a songwriter; second, is the stories behind the hits, and the last piece is about overcoming adversity at an elite level. There is also a lot of humor. I'm a very self-deprecating person. I have many flaws and faults, and I don't mind talking about them if I can make a point that might help people," he says.

"In fact, I had a lady come up to me after an engagement in Orlando. She said: ‘I felt like for 90 minutes I went to a rock and roll show, a Songwriter in the Round, standup comedy, and church, all at the same time.' I thought, that's perfect, that is exactly what I’m after,” he says, before highlighting a few core pieces of advice.

"I have been a professional songwriter for 32 years and I have been with multiple publishers, but I've never changed publishers because I was having a bad experience. I left publishers when things got comfortable, and there was a chance to do better (elsewhere). Getting out of your comfort zone and challenging yourself to be better is uncomfortable, but the end result could be great,” he says.

Criswell also encourages people to use the negativity of others as fuel to motivate yourself, recalling how a lot of observers expressed doubt that he would make it as a professional songwriter.

"Anytime I felt like things were getting difficult, I remembered I didn't want to go home (to Alabama) to face the doubters. I didn't want to hear, 'I told you so.' That makes you dig in and grind a little harder to get where you want to be. There are a lot of secrets to being successful, but the biggest one is not giving up,” he concludes.

That perhaps explains why Criswell says, "some of my favorite songs are the ones that haven't been cut yet—stuff that I can't find a home for. It excites me when I find an artist who is equally excited about a song I’ve written,” he adds, one reason why he is so amped up about his latest single, “Paper Umbrellas,” by Tim McGraw. 

And why his favorite song these days isn’t a collection of words set to music—it’s his day-to-day life.

"Every day is a chance to write another line or a different verse," he concludes. "My favorite song is this life I'm living. We'll see how it turns out."

Upcoming Monty Criswell Event:

88 Keys in 90 Minutes

Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025

Franklin Theatre 

419 Main St., Franklin, TN 

https://www.montycriswell.com/