Songwriter Spotlight: Natalie Hemby

The fact that Natalie Hemby scored her first pro credit — singing backup on Songs From the Loft, an early Nineties praise & worship collection from Amy Grant — when she was merely in her mid-teens ought to be a clue that she came up around the music industry.

Her dad, Tom Hemby, made his name in Nashville as a touring and studio guitarist for Grant, who also hired her mom, Deanna Hemby, as a personal assistant. And her uncle, Ron Hemby, sang in the gospel group the Imperials, before launching forgotten Nineties country trio the Buffalo Club.

But having family in......