Music
Jackson Cannon on mastering fate and comunity on his songwriting journey
After a life-changing win and a symphony of new collaborators, Cannon talks Red Bull Jukebox, advice for this year's competitors, breaking songwriting conventions, and why authenticity is everything.
Fate can take many forms.
26-year-old singer-songwriter Jackson Cannon was at his job as a contract specialist for the government on a random September day in 2025 when fate appeared in his inbox as an email. He had been selected as one of the three finalists of Red Bull Jukebox’s Songwriting Contest. Only a few months later, the Alabama native performed his submission “Never Been To Heaven” for the largest crowd he ever got to sing an original song in front of at The Pinnacle in Nashville as the winner of a competition he says is unlike any other for songwriters.
If you’re a songwriter interested in a life-changing opportunity, apply to the Red Bull Jukebox Songwriting Competition with an original song by September 28, 2026 at 11:59PM CDT.
Jackson Cannon performs at The Pinnacle
© Nick Tavares
There are a few contests here and there, but I think Red Bull Jukebox’s Songwriting Contest really goes about it in a different way. They really focus not just on the songwriting aspect but also on the artistry. And they focus on the connections.
In the five months since his November 15 win, Jackson has unlocked the power of community through two of his competition rewards. In mid-January, he learned how to pave his path to success by booking as many live shows and collaborations as possible during an invaluable coaching session with representatives from BMI, the largest performing rights organization (PRO) in America. A week later, and just one fateful day before a historic winter storm befell Nashville, Cannon was able to put that BMI advice into action by writing with Grammy Award-winning songwriter Ben Johnson. Three weeks later, Cannon was gracing the stage of Whiskey Jam, Nashville’s premiere talent showcase series, thanks in part to connecting with Whiskey Jam founder and 2025 songwriting contest judge Ward Geunther at the competition’s afterparty.
In the span of four weeks, the young man who has been chasing his dreams since he was 16 had taken his career to the next level. And that’s not even including the bond he’s struck with Gary Frost, 2024 Red Bull Jukebox’s Songwriting Contest winner, who Cannon considers “one of my buddies I can call on now in the music industry if I need some advice.” Before Red Bull, Jackson Cannon’s music was the product of one man’s vision. Now, that vision is the conductor in a symphony of collaborators.
Jackson Cannon wins the 2025 Red Bull Jukebox songwriting contest.
© Nick Tavares
“Before the contest, I was very adamant about wanting to write by myself. After the contest, after meeting everybody, and after gaining more experience in the music industry, I realize how much of a collaborative effort it is,” he says. “Sometimes you might have a great idea, but you don't know how to put it into words correctly. You might have a friend or a fellow writer who can help you get the right words together.”
Last year, entrants had to submit a song based on the theme of “breaking barriers.” Instead of centering his lyrics on his interpretation of the theme, Cannon decided to bend the conventions of how a country song and a pop song are constructed. He hears “Never Been To Heaven” as a mix between a traditional country song and a new pop that “pushes the boundaries of what the country industry and the pop industry had been seeing as of recently.”
This year, Red Bull’s songwriting competition welcomes solo songwriters and duos of all genres to throw their hat in the ring with an original song under the theme “Authenticity.” In the spirit of community and collaboration, the precocious lyricist has sage advice for future contestants. As a creative who has mined heartbreak recovery from a fresh haircut and truck maintenance before a first date, and generational wisdom from fishing with his father, he advises future entrants to draw from who they are intrinsically.
When songwriters are going for authenticity, just being true to themselves, putting out something that is as raw and as personable as they can get. That's the best pathway.
Jackson Cannon plans to spread the word of his music in places he never has before in the past. He'll be playing in Las Vegas for the first time as part of his and his band’s residency at Dawg House Saloon & Sports Book inside Resorts World Las Vegas from May 6th to May 10th. Before that, he’s performing two shows in Tuscaloosa and his hometown of Guntrsville on April 18th and 25th, respectively, after already performing two Mississippi shows in Starkville and Oxford. And he says that’s only the beginning.
Cannon is dedicated to putting himself in the best position to secure a publishing deal by stacking up songs. Besides planning to rerecord “Never Been To Heaven” when he visits Red Bull’s studio in Los Angeles as part of his third and final reward in mid-May, he’s looking forward to recording a new song. One of the possible unreleased songs he could soon be releasing is the smoldering love song “Want To” that he previewed on his Instagram account on December 15.
When he’s not conjuring up original compositions, social media as been where the amorphous talent has been flexing his vocal chops by releasing videos of him singing Elton John’s “Rocket Man” as a country song, covering fan favorite songs from Luke Combs, Riley Green, Parker McCollum, and Pink Floyd. They’ve been praised by former Miami Dolphins player Blake Ferguson and fellow country music peers Tank Anthony, Austin Bohannon, and Caleb Mills, among others.
The biggest misconception about fate is everyone recognizes it when it appears. If you don’t put the work in to manifest it like Jackson Cannon is planning to, the life meant for you will pass right by.
“I've been working as hard as I can over the past couple of years, and my goal is just to keep working harder. I want to outwork as many people as I can,” Cannon asserts demonstratively. “You have to work as hard as you can, do as much as you can, be as present as you can. That's how I've been approaching my career.”