Zoom sessions “made writing a lot less personal and more business,” confides Shane McAnally. “Without all the small talk and going to lunches, the songs got written much faster, and surprisingly the quality didn’t drop off. I’ve been excited to get back into the room with people so you can feel that energy when you’re creating something. For me that’s always going to be preferred but now we know Zoom is an option. If I want to work with somebody in another city, it no longer requires a day of travel. I can jump on a Zoom for a few hours and get a great song.”

SMACK racked up a passel of #1s during the shutdown, including several co-penned by McAnally and Josh Osborne (the Blake Shelton-Gwen Stefani duet “Nobody but You,” Sam Hunt’s “Hard to Forget” and Morgan Wallen’s “7 Summers”); McAnally co-wrote Lady A’s “Champagne Night” and Osborne had a hand in chart toppers from Hunt (“Breaking Up Was Easy in the 90’s”), Darius Rucker (“Beers and Sunshine”) and Blake-Gwen (“Happy Anywhere”). Canadian #1s came from writers Emily Falvey and Matt McGinn (Mackenzie Porter’s “Seeing Other People”) and Nicolette Hayford (Ashley McBryde’s “One Night Standards”). Writer Lalo Guzman also joined the pubco’s roster.

“I was blown away by the production in this team,” marvels McAnally. It was actually the biggest year we’ve had from a cuts-and-releases standpoint. It’s a testament to our staff and the type of writers we’ve signed here, because last year it would’ve been easy to kick back and not do as much.”