The gift of song writing: New music event brings national talent to 30A in January

When you’re holding a music festival on South Walton’s 30A, finding performers isn’t that difficult, says Jennifer Steele Saunders of South Walton’s Cultural Arts Association.

“The beach is an easy sell, really,” Saunders said. “Artists are excited at the prospect of coming to the most beautiful beaches on earth to create and collaborate with other artists while staying in beautiful accommodations, eating great food and being inspired by their surroundings.”

As a result, the first 30A Songwriter’s Festival had more offers to participate than they could accept, Saunders said, “which was a great problem to have our first year!”

The Jan. 15 to 17 festival will include performances up and down 30A from singer-songwriters Emily Saliers of the Indigo Girls, Gary Louris of the Jayhawks, Shawn Mullins, Matthew Sweet, Chely Wright, Jeffrey Steele and Jessi Alexander, who co-wrote Miley Cyrus’ hit “The Climb.”

Saunders said she and fellow music lovers Paige and Mark Schnell came up with the idea a year ago: “Paige and Mark brought the idea to me as they were inspired by other songwriters’ festivals they had attended and thought this type of festival could be successfully supported by locals and tourists. Since our community currently has no large-scale music venue, we thought this event could take advantage of the great intimate settings 30A  is known for — restaurants and bars like Stinky’s Fish Camp and Shorty’s Surfside, our local theater and music clubs like Bluz. As soon as we started talking about it last January, there was buzz and the community wanted to get involved.”

The festival includes a Friday reception at Bud & Alley’s in Seaside and performances in Seaside, Alys Beach, Rosemary Beach, Miramar Beach, WaterColor and Grayton Beach.

Saunders said the CAA used contacts in the music business to invite some of the established musicians, invited up-and-coming performers to submit their work at Sonic Bids and rounded things out with 30A’s local musical talent. She said Kim Jameson of Rosemary Beach brought in performers for that town through her contacts in Nashville, while Russell Carter, an artist-manager with a second home in Grayton Beach, used his connections as well.

“This is the first songwriters festival of this magnitude to take place on 30A,” Saunders said. “This event is unique in that it will be staged in multiple beach communities along one highway, combining famous performing artists, professional songwriters, local talent and select newcomers.”

WANT TO GO? The 30A Songwriters Festival is scheduled for Jan. 15 to 17. Tickets cost $40 for a three-day pass or $20 for Friday. For more information, visit 30asongwritersfestival.com or contact Cultural Arts Association Executive Director Jennifer Steele Saunders at (850) 622-5970.