A Q&A With the Heart Toppers Lyric Contest Promotion Winner, Nathan Chlumsky

Nathan Chlumsky is the Heart Toppers Lyric Contest promotion winner for his song, “Love Like a Slow Dance.”

“Growing up, I was bullied quite a bit, and I think because of that I always dreamed about finding that special, storybook kind of love—the high school-sweetheart kind of relationship where two people find each other, become best friends, and somehow keep falling more in love as the years go by,” Chlumsky told American Songwriter of his inspiration for the track. “The interesting thing is that I’m still single. I haven’t experienced the love story I wrote about in ‘Love Like a Slow Dance’—at least not yet.”

“I still believe my soulmate is out there somewhere, and I hope someday I get to experience the kind of love where everything else seems to disappear and time almost stands still,” he continued. “It’s just the two of you, moving through life together and somehow falling a little deeper in love with each passing moment.”

That feeling, Chlumsky said, “became the heart of ‘Love Like a Slow Dance.’”

“I wanted to capture a relationship where the world can be moving a hundred miles an hour around you, but when you’re with that one person, none of it matters,” Chlumsky said. “You don’t have to rush. You can just be present with each other.”

There’s a line in the song that says, “Yeah, the world moves fast, but with you, I never have to,” and I think that probably sums up what I was trying to say better than anything else. To me, that’s what finding the right person should feel like,” he added. “So, in a way, I wrote ‘Love Like a Slow Dance’ about a love I haven’t found yet—but one I still believe is worth waiting for.”

Keep reading to learn more about Chlumsky.

Nathan Chlumsky Q&A

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN SONGWRITING? WHAT GOT YOU INTO MUSIC IN THE FIRST PLACE?

I’ve always loved writing stories and poems. In high school, I entered a national “What America Means to Me” scholarship writing contest on a whim. I wrote my essay in about 10 minutes, ended up winning the local competition, and went on to place third at the district level. I think that was one of the first times I realized that something I wrote could connect with people beyond myself. I have since gone on to write and publish 17 books, which are all on Amazon.

Music was another outlet for that creativity. I was always making up new words or parodies to existing songs just for fun, but around 1999, I got the idea for what became my first serious original song, “Letting Go in the Name of Love.” At the time, I really didn’t know much about proper song structure, so I kept revisiting and rewriting it over the years. Last year, I finally felt that I had finished the song the way it was always supposed to be. I decided to take a chance and submit it to the American Songwriter Session 3 Lyric Contest, and it received an Honorable Mention. For a song that had followed me for more than 25 years, that recognition meant a great deal to me and encouraged me to keep writing.

As for what got me into music, I’ve simply loved it for as long as I can remember. I grew up in the late ’70s and ’80s, and some of my earliest musical memories are watching shows like Hee Haw and Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters. Then MTV came along, and I fell in love with ’80s rock, especially the music from about 1984 through 1989. I still love those big melodies and power ballads, so my musical influences have always been an interesting mixture of country storytelling and ’80s rock, as I am a huge fan of the late Jim Steinman.

Music also runs through my family memories. My maternal grandfather had a polka and waltz band, and I still have a vinyl record of him and his band. My mom, sister, grandmother, and I would spend hours dancing around my grandparents’ living room while Grandpa practiced his accordion and sang in Czechoslovakian. Those are some of my favorite childhood memories.

So, when I look back, storytelling and music were always there. It just took me a while to realize that songwriting was where those two parts of my life could come together.

WHY DID YOU ENTER AMERICAN SONGWRITER’S HEART TOPPERS PROMOTION? 

When I saw the Heart Toppers Promotion, I felt like several of my songs were a really good fit for what the contest was looking for. I write about a lot of different subjects and in different styles, but love and relationships have naturally become an important part of my songwriting catalog. I had songs that I genuinely believed belonged in this particular competition, so I thought, “Why not take the chance?”

By that point, American Songwriter had already given me some encouragement as a songwriter. “Letting Go in the Name of Love” had received an Honorable Mention in the Session 3 Lyric Contest, and “The Last Booth at Betty’s” later received an Honorable Mention as well in Session 4. Those recognitions gave me confidence that my writing could connect with people outside my own circle and encouraged me to keep putting my songs out there.

With Heart Toppers, I wasn’t trying to write something specifically for a contest. I already had songs that I believed fit what the promotion was celebrating, and “Love Like a Slow Dance” was one that I felt especially good about. It has the kind of romantic imagery and emotional storytelling that I love to write, and I originally wrote it with Keith Urban in mind because I could hear that kind of contemporary country sound and vocal delivery as I was writing it.

Ultimately, I entered because I believed in the song. Songwriting is very subjective, and you never know what is going to connect with someone, but nobody can recognize a song they never get the opportunity to hear. I figured the worst that could happen was that I wouldn’t win. This time, I did—and that still feels a little surreal.

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO SUBMIT THIS SONG OVER ALL THE OTHERS IN YOUR CATALOGUE? 

I actually submitted several songs to the Heart Toppers Promotion—I believe five altogether—because I felt I had several songs in my catalog that fit what the promotion was looking for. But of the songs I entered, “Love Like a Slow Dance” was the one I felt was my strongest and the best overall fit.

There was just something about this song from the moment I finished it. I loved the central idea of comparing love to a slow dance—two people finding a place together where the rest of the world seems to disappear. It felt romantic without being overly complicated, and I thought the imagery and emotion captured exactly the kind of love song I wanted to write.

I also wrote the song with Keith Urban in mind. As I was writing it, I could hear that contemporary country sound and imagine the way he might approach the melody and emotion of the lyrics. When I eventually heard the demo come together, it captured much of what I had been hearing in my head when I wrote it.

So, while I believed in all of the songs I submitted, if you had asked me beforehand which one I thought had the best chance of connecting with the Heart Toppers judges, I probably would have pointed to “Love Like a Slow Dance.” Apparently, for once, I picked the right horse!

WHAT HAS WINNING MEANT TO YOU?

I am humbled beyond words. When I received the email saying that “Love Like a Slow Dance” had been selected as the Heart Toppers Promotion Winner, I honestly had to read it more than once and let it sink in, which led to a night of me not being able to sleep due to the excitement and fantasies of where winning could lead.

I still consider myself relatively new to songwriting in many ways. For years, writing songs was simply something I enjoyed doing because I loved telling stories and putting emotions into words. When “Letting Go in the Name of Love” received an Honorable Mention from American Songwriter, it gave me the confidence to think that maybe my songs really could connect with people. Then “The Last Booth at Betty’s” received an Honorable Mention, and that encouragement grew even stronger.

But actually winning something like Heart Toppers is different. To have people in the music industry hear something that came from my imagination and decide that it stood out among all the other songs submitted is incredibly humbling.

I think what means the most to me is knowing that a song about a kind of love I still hope to experience was able to make someone else feel something. That is ultimately what I want to accomplish as a songwriter. Whether I’m writing something romantic, heartbreaking, serious, or even funny, I want somebody listening to recognize a piece of themselves in it.

I’m incredibly grateful to American Songwriter for giving independent songwriters opportunities like this and for believing in “Love Like a Slow Dance.” I certainly never imagined when I started writing songs that someday I would be able to put the word “Winner” next to one of them. I’m still trying to get used to seeing it.

WHAT SONGWRITERS AND ARTISTS DO YOU COUNT AS YOUR BIGGEST INSPIRATIONS? WHY?

Jim Steinman would definitely be at the top of my list. I have always admired his ability to tell a story and the incredible imagination he brought to his songwriting. His songs could be huge, dramatic, theatrical, romantic, heartbreaking, and sometimes almost cinematic. He didn’t seem afraid to take an idea as far as his imagination would allow it to go, and I have always admired that.

More broadly, I’m inspired by songwriters and artists who can make me feel something almost immediately. There are certain songs where the opening notes begin, and suddenly I get a cold chill from head to toe. A melody or a lyric can bring back a memory I haven’t thought about in years or tap into a feeling I immediately recognize. To me, that is one of the most powerful things music can do.

Because I grew up loving both country music and ’80s rock, my influences come from both worlds. I love the storytelling tradition of country music, where a songwriter can take an ordinary moment or experience and turn it into a story that feels universal. At the same time, I love the emotional intensity of the great rock songs and power ballads I grew up listening to, where everything—the lyric, melody, vocal, and instrumentation—builds toward making the listener feel something.

That is what I strive for in my own songwriting. I want to hit that nerve. If one of my songs can give somebody that same cold chill, bring back a memory, make them laugh, make them hurt, or make them think about someone they love, then I’ve accomplished what I wanted to accomplish as a songwriter.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR PLANS IN 2026.

I definitely don’t plan on slowing down. I recently finished my 126th song, and my catalog now includes country, Christmas, Christian, southern rock, and songs that sometimes blur the lines between those genres. I already have several new song titles and ideas written down, so I have a feeling No. 127 won’t be too far away.

One of my biggest goals is continuing to get my music in front of the right people. I’ve had the opportunity to work with country artist Gil Grand and Nashville Song Plugger to pitch some of my songs within the industry, and I hope to continue pursuing opportunities like that. Like so many songwriters, one of my dreams is to turn on the radio someday and hear a song I wrote being performed by an artist. I don’t know when or if that moment will come, but I’m going to keep writing and giving my songs every opportunity I can to find the right home.

I would also absolutely welcome the opportunity to co-write. Most of my catalog has come from writing independently, but I think something is exciting about putting two creative minds in a room and seeing where an idea goes. I would entertain a co-write with anyone, whether it’s an established songwriter, an artist, or another songwriter trying to get that first break. Everybody brings different experiences, perspectives, and ideas to a song, and I would love to see what could come from that kind of collaboration.

Beyond that, I just want to keep writing. Winning the Heart Toppers Promotion has given me even more motivation to see where this journey can go. I still have plenty of stories I want to tell, plenty of titles waiting to become songs, and probably a few ideas I haven’t even thought of yet. And hopefully, somewhere among them is the one I’ll hear on the radio someday.

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST CAREER DREAM?

I actually have two career dreams that represent two very different sides of my life. Academically, I recently earned my Ph.D. in Education, and one of my biggest goals is to become a professor at a major university, where I can teach, conduct research, mentor students, and hopefully make a difference in their lives.

But if we’re talking about my biggest dream as a songwriter, I can dream pretty big.

Hearing one of my songs on the radio would be an incredible moment. Hearing several of them would be even better! But the ultimate dream would be sitting at the ACM Awards, CMA Awards, or the Grammys and hearing the title of a song I wrote announced as Song of the Year.

There is something particularly meaningful to me about Song of the Year, because it recognizes the songwriting itself. I love the idea that something could begin as a title or a few words scribbled down because an idea suddenly popped into my head, become a complete song, find the right artist, connect with listeners, and eventually reach a stage like that.

Would winning an ACM, CMA, or Grammy for “Song of the Year” be an enormous dream? Absolutely. But I’ve learned that there’s nothing wrong with dreaming big. Not too long ago, winning an American Songwriter competition would have sounded like a pretty big dream, too. Now I know what it feels like. So, I’ll keep writing and see just how far the next song can go.

WHAT WOULD YOU TELL OTHER ARTISTS WHO ARE CONSIDERING ENTERING THE CONTEST?

Just do it. Take the chance. One thing I’ve learned through this experience is that you never know what can happen unless you’re willing to put yourself and your work out there. Songwriting is incredibly subjective. The song you’re questioning or wondering whether anyone else will connect with might be the exact song that resonates with someone.

Don’t talk yourself out of an opportunity because you’re afraid you won’t win. I certainly didn’t know what was going to happen when I started submitting my songs to American Songwriter. I took a chance, received two Honorable Mentions, kept writing and submitting, and now I’m answering these questions because “Love Like a Slow Dance” won the Heart Toppers Promotion. None of that could have happened if I hadn’t been willing to submit that first song and continue to learn and grow from there.

There’s a quote from T. S. Eliot that I’ve always liked: “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far it is possible to go.”

I think that applies perfectly to songwriting. Write the song. Finish it. Believe in it enough to let somebody else hear it. Enter the contest. Take the chance. You may not win every time—but you’ll never find out how far your song can go if you never give it the opportunity.

Read Nathan Chlumsky’s Contest-Winning Lyrics for “Love Like a Slow Dance”

Barefoot in the kitchen old records spinnin’ slow
Your head against my chest while the midnight windows glow
Outside the world keeps runnin’ everybody’s chasin’ time
But here with you beside me everything slows down just right
We laugh at nothin’ happily while the coffee pot still hums
Half-asleep conversations ’til the mornin’ finally comes
And underneath that porch light while the fireflies still danced
You and I found forever in our love…like a slow dance

Through the shadows of the night we share our dreams
This unconventional love ain’t always what it seems
But somewhere in your arms all the chaos fades away
Like the whole world finally learned how to sway

Love like a slow dance movin’ to our own beat
Like headlights through the rain on an empty little street
In the arms of forever hearts beatin’ outta time
Just holdin’ onto moments most people leave behind
Yeah the world moves fast but with you I never have to
Every touch feels honest every silence feels true
And when your body finds mine even our love feels brand new
Baby love feels different when it moves the way we do

There were nights we made love underneath a thunderous sky
Rain fallin’ on our skin while lightning lit up your eyes
No music in the background just your fingers holdin’ on tight
Swayin’ there together in the middle of the night
Now the years don’t scare me like they used to anymore
Not with your faded blue jeans lyin’ there on the floor
And every quiet little moment somehow feels like fate
Like this life was worth the wait

Yeah we’ve got our scars and a little bit of rust
But what we built together still feels bigger than both of us
And every time you pull me close the whole world disappears
Like we found peace somewhere through the years

Love like a slow dance movin’ to our own beat
Like headlights through the rain on an empty little street
In the arms of forever hearts beatin’ outta time
Just holdin’ onto moments most people leave behind
Yeah the world moves fast but with you I never have to
Every touch feels honest every silence feels true
And when your body finds mine even our love feels brand new
Baby love feels different when it moves the way we do

This ain’t fireworks burnin’ out in the dark
It’s your hand findin’ mine without lookin’ too hard
It’s old songs soft skin messed-up sheets and trust
Two tired hearts finally slowin’ down enough

Love like a slow dance easy as your smile
Like holdin’ onto heaven for a little while
With your head on my chest while the rain rolls through
I swear the whole world disappears when I’m with you
Yeah maybe real love ain’t loud like people say
Maybe it’s just two souls swayin’ life away
And if forever feels like this I don’t need nothin’ new
’Cause every road led me right here to you

Love like a slow dance…
Baby that’s me and you

Photo by Lifetouch Photography

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