Smoky Mountains Songwriters Festival in Downtown Gatlinburg

photo credit: Keoni Cabral via photopin cc

Gatlinburg will be celebrating its Appalachian musical roots as it hosts the third annual Smoky Mountains Festival from August 21st to the 24th. For four days, songwriters will perform and tell stories about songs heard on the radio. Venues throughout Gatlinburg will house the artists’ presentations. The public is invited, and the live music is free.

All music genres are welcome. Participant competitions require that songs are the artist’s original music. Songwriter opportunities include a Workshop series, Stage Spots, Band Playoff and Song Competition.

The festival is held to help and promote songwriters so that their songs and talents are discovered by producers, publishers, and fans. This festival occurs during the last two weeks of August, rain or shine. The craft of songwriting is presented by hit songwriters.

The Smoky Mountains Songwriters Festival provides a platform for original songs to be performed by their creators. Many songs will be recognized from ‘Hit” lists. The stories behind the songs are told by the performers. It is one of the best free live entertainment venues provided anywhere.

The public can bring instruments and songs of their own. Open jam spots will be available for musicians. Instruments and songs are not a requirement. People whose only interest is to enjoy good music can attend.

Participation in the festival events comes about in one of three ways. 1) Participants are invited. 2) An audition process allows Stage Spots to be purchased. 3) Participants may enter the Songwriter Contest.

Three songwriters who wrote songs that became big hits for top performers will be in concert on Saturday night of the festival. They are Whispering Bill Anderson. Steve Dorff and Bobby Tomberlin. Anderson wrote, “Whiskey Lullaby” that became a Brad Paisley hit. Dorff wrote, “Every Which Way But Loose” that is performed by Eddie Rabbit. Tomberlin is responsible for “One More Day” that is sung by Diamond Rio.

Songwriter Opportunity

The hit writers Jim McBride, John Condrone, Doug Johnson, and Kim Williams will be conducting two three-hour group writing sessions. Small groups of, possibly seven and hopefully no more than ten, songwriters will be chosen as co-writers with these celebrities in the Rocky Top Co-writing Experience during the festival. The accepted number depended on the number that applied. An overabundance of applications would have triggered more hit writers to be asked to participate. All participants will be offered a cherished co-writing experience. Applications had to be in by July 25, 2014.

Song Competition

On Saturday afternoon, the Song Competition Performance Finale and Awards Show will be held. There were 276 entries. All but 60 songs scored in the upper 50 percentile. The finalists and the Honorable Mentions will be announced. Honorable Mentions are songs that scored in the top ten scores of each song category.

Here is a list of the finalists:

Bluegrass

• Anne Buckle “Somewhere In The Gray”
• Jeff McClellan “Molly Dear”
• Scott Parker “How Mama Raised Me”
• Doug Smith “She’s Lying (In The Cold, Cold Ground)”

Country

• Anne Buckle “Rock Paper Scissors”
• Jonathan Helfand “Moving To China.”
• Lee Johnson “This Ole’ T-Shirt” and “”This Side of Dirt”

Folk

• Joe Beeler “Orphan Train”
• Anne Buckle “Depends on the Weather” and “Ballad Of A Broken Heart.”
• Fish Fisher “Wiley Oakley”

Gospel/Inspirational

• Betty Brennan “The More I Get To Know My Lord”
• Doug Smith “Losing Me and Finding You.”
• Mitch Townley “Passion of the Lamb” and “Harvest of Hope”

Pop/Rock

• Anne Buckle “Away”
• Jonathan Dean “Yours”
• Charlie Katt “Long Time To Be Nowhere” and “The Music Doesn’t Judge Me.”

Lyric Only

• Peter Gilman “The Betting Man”
• David Lauver “Nobody Does It Like Ella.”
• Sarah Motes Ashley “Mommy Needs a Timeout.”
• Michael Sledjeski “Del Rio (With Your Misty Mountain Highs)”

The information is not privileged. The winners and Honorable Mentions have been noted elsewhere. It is included here to highlight some exceptional talent. Anne Buckle is a finalist in four categories. Some categories contain two of her creations. Doug Smith has also been honored in more than one category.

The festival has been blessed with the panel of judges for this year’s Song Competition. The panel consists of Larry Beaird, Bill Whyte, Kim Williams and Doug Johnson. Beaird has a music group in Nashville. Whyte is an announcer for WSM Radio, who was an inductee into the Broadcaster Hall of Fame in 2012. Lisa Johnson runs Razor & Tie Nashville. Williams has the honor of being chosen as a Hall of Fame Songwriter and Grammy Award Winner. Doug Johnson hails from A & R Black River Entertainment. Cash awards will be given to the competition winners at the Song Competition Finale and Awards Show during the festival.

Workshops

The workshops that are being offered to songwriters are listed here:

• Larry Beaird will present “Arranging The Hit.”
• Stephanie Orr-Buttrey will deliver a workshop entitled “Plugging Your Name NOT Just Your Music Online.”
• Doug Johnson, Kim Williams, and Lisa Johnson are teaming up to provide a workshop called “Music: The Whole Shebang – Songwriting, Recording, Publishing.”
• Marty Dodson will bestow information about “Developing A Hit Idea Into a Hit Song.”
• Clay Mills will dole out information he titled “Writing Songs Artists Want to Record.”
• Karen E. Reynolds will hand down advice that will “Increase The Odds For Your Song.”

Stage Spots

The Stage Spots are limited and will be given out on a first-come-first-served basis. Spots were planned for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Sunday Stage Spots will be a priority for Gospel Submissions. Thirty minutes of playing time costs $45. An hour costs $75. There is a processing fee that applies toward awarded spots.