Florida Panhandle To Host 6th Annual Songwriters Festival

The 6th Annual 30A Songwriters Festival has been set for Jan. 16-18 in South Walton County, Fla., featuring an initial line-up including Graham Nash, Jason Isbell, Sara Watkins (Nickel Creek), Jeffrey Steele, Chely Wright, Kyle Jacobs, Joe Leathers, Billy Montana, Bobby Bare Jr., Angaleena Presley, Hayes Carll, Leon Russell and Deana Carter.

More than 200 shows will incorporate unique listening room environments throughout the weekend in the 25 venues that partner with the festival, ranging in capacity from 75 to 3,500. Net proceeds benefit the Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County, supporting the arts.

Four course VIP dinners from award-winning chefs are offered on Saturday and on Sunday, including wine pairings and special musical guests. Those upgraded packages offer preferred seating, personal town car or limousine transportation, complementary lunch, beer and wine at Gulf Place Amphitheater in a VIP tent.

“There is a very special excitement and vibe that is palpable every year throughout 30A in January, the month of the Festival,” says Russell Carter, a festival producer. “We are all moved and informed by musical expressions, showmanship, glamour, humor, and outright drama – it is high art on 30A! ”

“Each year we build on the success of the prior year,” says Jennifer Steele, Executive Director of the Cultural Arts Alliance and festival producer. “The 30A community of businesses and individual volunteers take personal pride in producing an event unique to the culture and geography of our Gulf Coast community in South Walton.”

Festival weekend passes are now available for $200 alongside VIP packages at 30asongwritersfestival.com or at the Cultural Arts Alliance office and at Central Square Records in Seaside, Fla.

Additional 2015 performers include Vicki Peterson and Susan Cowsill (Psycho Sisters), Toby Lightman, Liz Longley, Heather Maloney, Charlie Mars, Randall Bramblett, Griffin House, Old Salt Union, Gabriel Kelley, Brigitte DeMeyer, Craig Fuller (Pure Prairie League), Rusty Young (Poco), David Olney, Pierce Pettis, Grant Peeples, Pete Sallis, Gretchen Peters, The Smokin’ Novas, David Berkeley, Jeff Black, Jaren Johnston, Crystal Bowersox, Callaghan, Grayson Capps, Adron, Robbie Hecht, Ruston Kelly, Phil Madeira, Jonathan Singleton, Jeremy Stover, Tommy Talton, Reed Waddle, Daphne Willis, Webb Wilder, Cooper Carter & the Royal Senders, Nicole Witt, Alan Rhody, Indigo Girls, Shawn Mullins, Will Kimbrough, Glen Phillips (Toad the Wet Sprocket), Steve Poltz, Over the Rhine, Jesse Harris, Mary Gauthier, Bob Schneider, Ellis Paul, Allison Moorer, Peter Karp & Sue Foley and David Ryan Harris.