It’s not often that Nashville gets to boast an Academy Award nominee as one of our own, but songwriter and musician Sam Ashworth joined the ranks of Hollywood’s elite back in the winter. His work co-writing the song “Speak Now” for the Oscar-ready film One Night in Miami ... with Leslie Odom Jr. got Ashworth nominated in the Best Original Song category. Oftentimes, nominees in this category get some eyerolls for their saccharine or underwhelming compositions, but Ashworth’s powerful ballad for change crested the film nicely and was very much the best one in this year’s group. He might not have walked away with a little gold man (“Fight for You” from Judas and the Black Messiah landed that honor), but he’s a winner in our eyes.
