Westhaven Songwriter Night with Kent Blazy & Cory Batten

Growing up in Lexington, KY, became musically inspired when he heard Roger McGuinn playing his Rickenbacker guitar on "Mr. Tamborine Man." This created a new choice and Kent traded in his baseball glove for a guitar. He began his musical journey with a series of bands all over the eastern half of the country. By the mid-70's, Kent was band leader, playing guitar and touring with Canadian legend, Ian Tyson. Sound advice and the timely first place win in a national songwriter contest persuaded him to move to Nashville in 1980. Kent's commitment was not to focus his efforts at the craft of songwriting. It was a very fine decision.

In 1982, sooner than expected, Gary Morris took "Headed For A Heartache" to #5 on the Charts. In the years that followed other artists, such as The Forrester Sisters, T. Graham Brown, Donna Fargo and Moe Bandy recorded Kent's tunes. In an effort to develop more knowledge of the recording side of music and for the benefits of a "day job," Kent opened a home recording studio. The studio offered an option for Kent's demos as well as a demo service to other writers. This studio introduced Kent to some of the new demo singers and songwriters of Nashville; names like Randy Travis, Billy Dean, Trisha Yearwood, Joe Diffie and Martina McBride, now well-known country artists.

In 1987, Kent was introduced to a new demo singer by Bob Doyle, then with ASCAP, soon to be the manager for this emerging talent, Garth Brooks. Garth became Kent's most requested demo singer and Bob Doyle also advised, "Garth writes a little bit too." The first song Garth and Kent penned together was "If Tomorrow Never Comes," which became the first #1 for both. The friendship and writing partnership continued as Garth included 8 more of their songs on his albums. Four more captured the #1 slot: "Somewhere Other Than The Night," "Ain't Goin' Down ('Til the Sun Comes Up)," "It's Midnight Cinderella," and "She's Gonna Make It."

​Garth's album, "The Lost Sessions," includes another Kent and Garth song, "For a Minute There," written for their fathers. Kent and fellow songwriter Pat Alger co-produced a album titled In The Beginning: A Songwriter's Tribute to Garth Brooks. This project is a collective of 6 other songwriters who composed songs on Garth's first two albums. The focus was to present the songs in the original acoustic and authentic sound form as Garth first heard them. The album was originally planned as a gift to Garth during his 100 million party in 2000. An independent recording label saw the potential and released the album in 2001, resulting in 50,000+ copies sold to date.

​An added benefit of the album included a tour in Ireland for Kent and 3 other Garth writers. In Ireland, Kent discovered that "If Tomorrow Never Comes" was released in Europe, Japan, Australia and The United Kingdom by an Irish artist, Ronan Keating. His recording became a successful #1 song in many countries. Kent's songwriter continues with established writing partnerships, as well as developing partnerships with new writers and artists. Many of his crafted works continue to be recorded by artists such as Kenny Chesney, Diamond Rio, Terri Clark, Clay Walker, Patty Loveless, Julie Roberts, Andy Griggs, and Blaine Larsen. Kent's latest #1 hit "Gettin' Your Home (The Black Dress Song)" was recorded by Chris Young.

Kent also has the title track on Reba's All The Woman I Am. It's also the name of her tour, TV special and her exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame. Look for Kent's latest cuts from Randy Houser ("The Power of a Song") and Jon Pardi's ("Empty Beer Cans.")

Was born and raised in Tucson, Arizona. He grew up in all sports but ended up focusing on swimming and cycling finishing the 111 mile El Tour de Tucson bike race twice. He graduated from the University of Arizona in 1996 with a degree in psychology, then moved to Nashville in1998 to pursue a career in music. He briefly moved back home to Arizona but his dream would bring him back to Nashville in 2000.

It wasn't long before Cory found success with his songs. From bluegrass sweetheart Rhonda Vincent ("Is the Grass any Bluer") to one of country's newest duos, Love & Theft (Thinking of You), to Crystal Shawanda (You Can Let Go), to “I Don’t Know What She Said” (Blaine Larsen) Cory's songs have been receiving a lot of attention. Cory's first #1, Blake Shelton's “She Wouldn't Be Gone” was closely followed by his 2nd #1, Chris Young's “Gettin' You Home." Cory's duet "The Call" was recorded by country stars Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood and featured on Garth’s Live from Vegas DVD.

Cory has recently landed cuts with new artists Runaway June and Jay Allen. Cory Live show is a must see full of stories heart and humor.

Host or Publisher The Westhaven Foundation