by Timm Showalter
Oct. 2 – 4 over 35 songwriters will be rockin’ out at Pensacola Beach for the first ever Annual Pensacola Songwriters’ Festival.
For those who do not know exactly what a songwriter is: a songwriter is someone who writes the music that major artists then perform. Some of the songwriters attending this festival have worked on cuts for such musicians as the Rolling Stones, Alan Jackson and Jewel, said festival coordinator Reneda Cross.
These writers will be playing their music at the Sandshaker, Lillo’s Tuscan Grille, Paradise Bar and Grill, Sabine Sandbar and The Shell. There will also be a special guitar workshop at Blues Angel Music on Navy Blvd., Oct. 3.
Cross said the event is aimed at everyone. “We have anything from the 60’s to modern music. We really tried to get a full circle because we want to get all age groups.”
Although boasting a genre repertoire of rock n’ roll, blues, country, top 40’s, bluegrass, and folk, she did admit they were not able to scrounge up any hip-hop artists, but are not ruling it out as a possibility for next year.
“One thing about this festival that may interest most people is that anyone will be able to talk with these artists,” said Cross. “If you go to an Alan Jackson concert you won’t be able to talk to him, but if you come here you’ll get to sit down and talk with Jim McBride.” Jim McBride has written quite a few of Alan Jackson’s songs such as “Chattahoochee.”
Although the idea for this festival was just spawned in mid-August, Cross isn’t worried about the turnout at all. Some artists have promised to bring people from Birmingham Ala., Greenville Ala., and even Belgium to participate in the festival.
Cross has been coordinating the Frank Brown Songwriter’s Festival in Orange Beach since 2001. But, she realized that there is also a demand in Pensacola for a festival such as this.
While Cross was out to lunch with some friends, someone piped up and suggested doing a songwriters’ festival in Pensacola. To which she couldn’t help but reply, “Let’s do it!” The rest is soon to be history.