O'BRIEN FINDS SUCCESS WITH THE ADKINS DIET

You can excuse ole songwriter Gerald O'Brien for feeling a little "high" lately, but placing one of your songs on a Trace Adkins album that has registered the best ever first-week sales performance for the artist will do that to you.

Trace Adkins' Dangerous Man topped the Billboard country music album charts upon its release, registering first week U.S. SoundScan sales of 114,706 copies and remaining atop the charts a second week.

"It's a great feeling," says the Canadian-born, Nashville-based O'Brien. "Although Trace has done several records in the past, his last record really elevated his status into the Top 10. I wasn't expecting it to come in at No.1

"So it was a little surreal, but great to know you're on a record that's getting that kind of attention."

O'Brien's been riding a bit of a hot streak lately: not only did he land "High" on Adkins' Dangerous Man, but he also recently delivered the title cut -- along with co-writers Gravitt and Rose -- of Ronnie Milsap's latest album My Life.

And he admits the high profile visibility involving both cuts is strongly due to the pitching and lobbying efforts of ole Nashville creative director Shane Barrett and creative manager Tammy Brown.

"They're nothing less than fantastic," says O'Brien. "Both Shane and Tammy are just right on top of their game. They're out pitching on a constant basis and coming up with new ideas and ways to try new things and just expand the territories overall. "

Barrett says O'Brien and other ole songwriters benefit from a pitching strategy that is relentless and doesn't end when a hold is secured.

"Tammy and I sit look closely at our in-house tip sheets and noting which artists are cutting the soonest," he explains. "We decide our priorities on the pitches right off the bat - and chances are with Gerald's song it's going to be put on hold right away.

"That doesn't stop us from strategizing our plan "B" and plan "C" line of attack with regard to an existing hold and in terms of getting that song cut. If that hold doesn't pan out, we're always thinking, 'What's the next step?'"

Barrett says he and Brown are constantly in contact with ole 's Los Angeles office for potential sync prospects.

"We're always considering Gerald's stuff for anything we might pitch for any opportunities that might come from Sean Mulligan in L.A. for synch and ad placement."

The pitching isn't restricted to acts on Music Row: Barrett, Brown and the rest of the ole team are regularly pitching O'Brien and other company songwriters' material to Canada, Australia -- through a sub-publishing agreement with Mushroom Music Publishing -- and the rest of the world.

But for the "High" and "My Life" writer, at least they don't have to stray too far: O'Brien's success has been spurring unprecedented interest in his song catalogue as well.

"I've been getting more calls," notes O'Brien, "And I've been getting a lot of holds -- six to eight holds just in one week from everyone from LeAnn Rimes and Carrie Underwood to Rascal Flatts and Reba McEntire; we've got holds with all those artists.

"I don't know if it's been directly related to having those cuts, but it seems awfully coincidental."

Shane Barrett states that Gerald O'Brien and other staff and affiliate writers are also profiting from accountability and an assertive system that has found team ole delivering over 5000 pitches so far in 2006.

"We have a very transparent system when it comes to pitching," says Barrett. "Our writers get detailed reports of what gets pitched every month. We stand behind our work and our pitch rate. As great as it stands, we want to increase that exponentially as well as we grow this company.

"We're just out there trying to be as aggressive as we can."

O'Brien says another sample of the company's exemplary service and commitment to its songs and songwriters is the accessibility of ole staffers like Shane Barrett and Tammy Brown.

"They're easy to get a hold of, which is wonderful," O'Brien explains. "When you have something that's pending that's very important that you need an answer on, it's never been an issue with o le ."

He's also still reeling over the ripples created by his participation in the First Annual ole/ASCAP Fishing Tournament held in Key West last May that hooked outside writing opportunities with D. Vincent Williams ("I'm Movin' On"-- Rascal Flatts) and Marc Beeson ("Phones Are Ringing All Over Town"-- Martina McBride.)

However O'Brien, whose varied past includes scoring numerous television properties, recording a number of best-selling albums with his instrumental duo Exchange and cowriting pop hits for Amanda Marshall ("Birmingham") and Daryl Hall and John Oates ("Don't Hold Back Your Love,") says he's looking forward to expanding his country music horizons with company collaborations as well.

"I'm very excited about the amazing and diverse core of writers within ole right now -from Jim Huff in L.A. and Ben Dunk in Toronto to Willie Mack, Bruce Wallace and Steve Mandile here in Nashville," says O'Brien.

"There's just a wealth of talent sitting under our roof that I want to tap into."