David "Dave" Pahanish is an American singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

. He co-wrote the No. 1 Billboard country music

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 singles "Do You Believe Me Now

Do You Believe Me Now (song)

"Do You Believe Me Now" is the title of a single by American country music singer Jimmy Wayne. It is the first single released from his second album, also titled Do You Believe Me Now, which was released on August 26, 2008...

” by Jimmy Wayne

Jimmy Wayne

Jimmy Wayne Barber is an American country music singer and songwriter. He released his self-titled debut album in 2003 on the DreamWorks Records label. Four singles were released from it, including "Stay Gone" and "I Love You This Much", which both reached Top Ten on the Billboard country charts...

, "American Ride

American Ride (song)

"American Ride" is the title of a country music song written by Joe West and Dave Pahanish, and recorded by country music artist Toby Keith. It is the lead-off single and the title track for Keith's 13th studio album, released in October 2009. Released in July 2009 as the 47th single of his career,...

" by Toby Keith

Toby Keith

Toby Keith Covel , best known as Toby Keith, is an American country music singer-songwriter, record producer and actor. Keith released his first four studio albums — 1993's Toby Keith, 1994's Boomtown, 1996's Blue Moon and 1997's Dream Walkin, plus a Greatest Hits package for various divisions of...

, and "Without You

Without You (Keith Urban song)

"Without You" is a song written by Joe West and Dave Pahanish, and recorded by New Zealand country music artist Keith Urban for his 2010 album Get Closer...

" by Keith Urban

Keith Urban

Keith Lionel Urban is a New Zealand-born Australian, country music singer, songwriter and guitarist whose commercial success has been mainly in the United States and Australia. Urban was born in New Zealand and began his career in Australia at an early age...

. Pahanish has also had songs recorded by Tim McGraw

Tim McGraw

Samuel Timothy "Tim" McGraw is an American country singer and actor. Many of McGraw's albums and singles have topped the country music charts with total album sales in excess of 40 million units in the US, making him the eighth best-selling artist, and the third best-selling country singer, in the...

.

A native of Southwestern Pennsylvania

Western Pennsylvania

Western Pennsylvania consists of the western third of the state of Pennsylvania in the United States. Pittsburgh is the largest city in the region, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic and cultural center. Erie, Altoona, and Johnstown are its...

, Pahanish lived in Rices Landing

Rices Landing, Pennsylvania

Rices Landing is a borough in Greene County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 443 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Rices Landing is located at ....

 in Greene County

Greene County, Pennsylvania

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 40,672 people, 15,060 households, and 10,587 families residing in the county. The population density was 71 people per square mile . There were 16,678 housing units at an average density of 29 per square mile...

, as well as South Park and Peters Township

Peters Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania

Peters Township is a township in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 17,566 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...

. He regularly performed folk rock

Folk rock

Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...

 on the stages of Pittsburgh for over 15 years. His songs appeared in television series and he collaborated with Nashville

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

-based songwriter Michael Garvin.

Pahanish relocated from California, Pennsylvania

California, Pennsylvania

California is a borough in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States, along the Monongahela River. The population was 5,274 as of the 2000 census. California is the home of California University of Pennsylvania. Founded in 1849, the borough was named for the territory of California following...

 to Nashville in late 2006. Within weeks, he was offered three music publishing deals, and signed with 3 River Publishing, owned by songwriters Hillary Lindsey

Hillary Lindsey

Hillary Lindsey is a country music singer-songwriter. As a songwriter, she has written songs with or for Faith Hill, Martina McBride, Sara Evans, Carrie Underwood, Kellie Pickler, Bon Jovi, Taylor Swift, and Tim McGraw. One of her compositions, Underwood's Number One hit "Jesus, Take the Wheel",...

, Dallas Davidson

Dallas Davidson

Dallas Davidson is an American country music singer-songwriter.Davidson moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 2004 and joined Broadcast Music Incorporated for performing rights representation and signed a publishing deal with Big Borassa Music, which is administered worldwide by Third Tier Music.Trace...

, and Cole Wright. Pahanish wrote the majority of songs on Moon Township

Moon Township, Pennsylvania

Moon Township is a township along the Ohio River in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. Moon is a part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area and is located northwest of Pittsburgh. The origin of its name is unknown for certain, although it has been suggested that it derives from a...

 country singer Sarah Marince

Sarah Marince

Sarah Marince is an American country music singer from Moon Township, Pennsylvania. Active as a singer since childhood, she self-released one album in 2008...

's debut CD, Somebody Like You. He also co-wrote and co-produced the Top 40 Billboard Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...

 charting single, "I Will

I Will (Jimmy Wayne song)

"I Will" is a country music song written by Dave Pahanish and Rory Lee Feek, and recorded by Jimmy Wayne. It is the second single from Wayne's 2008 album Do You Believe Me Now, his sixth Top 40 country hit, and his eighth overall single release.-Content:...

", by Jimmy Wayne

Jimmy Wayne

Jimmy Wayne Barber is an American country music singer and songwriter. He released his self-titled debut album in 2003 on the DreamWorks Records label. Four singles were released from it, including "Stay Gone" and "I Love You This Much", which both reached Top Ten on the Billboard country charts...

.

Pahanish co-wrote the single, "Without You

Without You (Keith Urban song)

"Without You" is a song written by Joe West and Dave Pahanish, and recorded by New Zealand country music artist Keith Urban for his 2010 album Get Closer...

", with Joe West, recorded by Keith Urban

Keith Urban

Keith Lionel Urban is a New Zealand-born Australian, country music singer, songwriter and guitarist whose commercial success has been mainly in the United States and Australia. Urban was born in New Zealand and began his career in Australia at an early age...

 on his 2010 album, Get Closer

Get Closer (Keith Urban album)

Upon its release, Get Closer received generally positive reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 76, based on 7 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable...

. Urban chose the song because of how closely the lyrics and message fit in with his own life, stating: "it's the most autobiographical song I never wrote." Pahanish wrote the song after meeting his wife’s family for the first time, without realizing any similarities to Urban’s life. The song became Urban's 12th No. 1 single and Pahanish and West's third No. 1 song.