Nominated for Songwriter of the Year at the 2024 GRAMMY Awards, Jessie Jo Dillon is today’s Music Daily Rediscovery. The songstress co-wrote “Memory Lane,” the Number 1 hit recorded by Old Dominion. Though she did not win, her acknowledgment by the Academy is a testament to her songwriting.
Down “Memory Lane” with Jessie Jo Dillon
In a story she wrote for American Songwriter, Dillon discussed the meaning behind the hit song.
“This one poured out of us in probably under two hours and is my latest number-one song. It was written around the same time I wrote “Buried” and I know exactly the house I am picturing when we settled on… ‘If I could buy a house on memory lane…’
I still ask myself ‘What would my Dad Say?’ Except now, it sounds more like ‘Does he feel me and hear my thread in this song? Did my co-writers and I land the hook how WE set out to land it? Is the song honest? Would he be proud of me and proud of this song?’ So, to any aspiring songwriters who ever get stuck, whether it’s your dad, your heroes, or both looking over your shoulder in your mind, remember to be true and to be yourself. That alone will make them proud.”
Dillon wrote “Memory Lane” with Matthew Ramsey, Trevor Rosen and Brad Tursi.
2024 GRAMMYs
Jessie Jo Dillon is no stranger to the GRAMMY Awards. This was her second nomination this year. She was also up for Best Country Song with Brandy Clark’s “Buried.” Dillon earned her first-ever nomination in 2010 with George Strait’s “The Breath You Take.” She wrote the tune with her father, Dean Dillon and Casey Beathard.
