When songwriters for Carrie Underwood, Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert and more tell stories, you'd best sit down and listen. In fact, you may want to seek them out for not-so-tall tales about the how, where and who of many of country music's most well-known songs.

Hits from the last 20 years were on display as Brett James, Chris Stefano and JT Harding joined Cassadee Pope for the ASCAP Experience preview event at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville on Tuesday (Jan. 14). The four friends sat facing one another with drinks in hand or by their side as they sang songs you know, and songs you don't know — yet. The experimental nature of evenings like this are what makes the Bluebird special.

Below are eight highlights that may turn many of your favorite songs upside down — or at the very least allow you to appreciate them in new ways.

The 2020 ASCAP Experience is slated for April 1-3 in downtown Los Angeles. The 15th annual conference is a hub for established and aspiring songwriters, as well as music creators of any genre. Performances, educational panels and songwriter rounds make the event unique. All four writers who performed on Tuesday were affiliated with ASCAP and had played the ASCAP Experience, some several times.

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