The 4040 is a writers round hosted by Franklin Christian Church in Franklin, TN, established in 2022. This monthly series is built on original music presented by up-and-coming songwriters, along with established hit songwriters. The mission of the 4040 is to highlight Contemporary Christian Music in the greater Nashville area while providing opportunities for people to experience community and belonging through the offering of live music.
Nick Schwarz was born and raised in beautiful Colorado Springs, Colorado. He has always had a passion for music ever since he was little. In 2009, when it came time for college, Nick made the move to Nashville to attend Trevecca Nazarene University. He played in several bands while he was at Trevecca alternating between drums and guitar. Although he loved both instruments, when he was playing drums, he wished he was playing guitar, and when he was playing guitar, he wished he was playing drums. Halfway through his sophomore year, he discovered that music production was a career option and was the perfect marriage of the instruments he loves. After graduating Trevecca, Nick got a job at the Adventure Science Center in Nashville, Tennessee. This was a completely random year for Nick, but a very pivotal one. The job was fixing the exhibits when they would break. Something he knew nothing about. But through that, he learned that if he put his mind and efforts into something, chances are he could succeed. Not only did he learn that lesson, he met his future wife, Christina. After a year at the Adventure Science Center, Nick decided to pursue his career in music production and songwriting full-time. After three years of building a brand and a client base, Nick knew he needed a mentor. One of Nick’s favorite producer/songwriters in Nashville is Chris Stevens. Chris has won 5 Grammys and 15+ Dove awards and has mentored some of music’s best producer/songwriters. Nick studied under Chris Stevens for two years in conjunction with writing music with several of the industries finest songwriters. Through all of this, Nick was making music that garnering the industry’s attention, and it wasn’t long until he had publishing deal offers from three separate labels. In March 2019, Nick signed his first publishing deal with Essential Music Publishing at Provident Label Group under Sony Music. In the first year of his deal, Nick wrote hundreds of songs and had several cuts. One of which was Rise Up (Lazarus) with the artist CAIN. Which became a multi-week number one for the group. He is currently still writing Christian music, Country music, Pop music and Film and TV music.
Daniel Doss is a worship leader, artist, songwriter, and producer. He was a staff writer at Curb/Word on music row from 2016-2019 and an artist/songwriter at Sparrow/Worshiptogether (EMI/Capitol) in the late 2000’s. He has written with worship leaders from Passion City Church, Northpoint Community Church, Vertical Worship, Life.Church, Housefires, Maverick City Music, Iron Bell, Red Rocks Worship, Crosspoint, New Vision, Long Hollow, Brave Worship, Kingdom Songs, Exponential Conference, and many more.
He and his wife Emily, of 22 years have helped plant two churches and currently live in Murfreesboro where he leads most Sundays at New Vision Church and she homeschool’s their two boys Manny (13) and Oakley (10). When Daniel is not leading at New Vision or on the road at other churches he is songwriting and producing artists in his home studio. He recently released a full-length album entitled “Revival”. It is currently available on Compact Disc and will on vinyl this fall. Half of the album has been released as singles digitally with more to come throughout 2023.
Bella Raye is an up-and-coming country singer/songwriter based in Nashville. Originally from Bristol, her love of music could be seen at an early age. As a toddler, she swayed along to songs in her stroller, and she gave her first performance in front of an audience in elementary school. Today, after years of dedication and pure passion, she has established a respectable name for herself in Music City. Bella has worked with some of the best talents in the industry to improve her songwriting and to master her voice.
Bella is known for her vivid storytelling, authentic voice, and electrifying performances. More than anything, Bella loves connecting with her fans, and maintaining a fun and active social media presence daily. She is always happy to hear how her songs have connected with listeners. Fans have described Bella as a ‘country princess’ due to her combination of poise and power as she rocks the stage.
Brandon Ellis is a singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and artist originally from Wichita, KS. His formative years as a musician began in local churches. It was in high school that his love for guitar and songwriting came to life, and he joined various bands that allowed him the opportunity to begin playing live and record original music. He attended Friends University, graduating with a Bachelors in Music Performance. Upon moving to the greater Nashville area in 2019, Brandon began serving as the music minister at Franklin Christian Church until fall 2022.
As an artist Brandon has played sold out shows at The Listening Room Cafe and The Basement in Nashville. As a guitarist and sideman he is very active in both touring and session work for artists signed to Big Machine Label Group and Virgin Music, and has played on the Today Show and the Grand Ole Opry. He is also very passionate about his involvement in the local songwriting community, and in 2022 helped form a CCM-focused writers round called The 4040 Presents based in Franklin, TN.
Brandon has released numerous singles since moving to the Music City, all of which are available on Spotify and Apple Music. He plans to release more music in the days ahead with a pair of singles and an EP slated for release in summer 2023.
“Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.” – Psalm 33:3
