(L to R): Mark Hudson, Garth Brooks, Victoria Shaw on the Musicnotes Stage, Analog/Hutton Hotel. Photo credit: NSAI
If you were able to attend the history-making 2023 Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival, then you were a lucky human. From hearing the stories behind the songs that included: ‘The Dance”, “Amazed”, ‘Check Yes or No”, “The Most Beautiful Girl”, “Ships That Don’t Come In”, “The River”, “Beer With Jesus”, “Daddy Wasn’t The Cadillac Kind”, “She Had Me At Heads Carolina”, “All About That Bass” “Whiskey Glasses” and I could go on for days… :D. If there was a place where GOOSEBUMPS came from, it might be a Tin Pan South show…
World’s largest songwriter fest back in-person after pandemic hiatus
By Preshias Harris
The 30th Annual Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival is now one for the history books and will be long remembered by the enthusiastic audiences that enjoyed the shows and the songwriters who entertained them across Nashville.
(L to R) Songwriters Shane Minor, Caitlyn Smith, Chase McGill, Brad Tursi of Old Dominion, appearing at The Listening Room. Photo credit: Preshias Harris
Tin Pan South – the largest songwriter festival in the world – was established in 1993 by the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI). The Festival was once again presented by Regions Bank and back on track after a two-year pandemic-related hiatus. Over 400 uniquely talented songwriters spanning multiple genres played live, showcasing their hit songs, sharing the stories behind them, and premiering new and unreleased songs in intimate settings over nine venues across Music City.
To truly pick ‘highlights’ from this year’s Festival is an impossible task: the phrase, “You had to be there” really applies to Tin Pan South. With multiple shows running concurrently at different venues around Nashville, I was forced to make some difficult choices, zipping between venues via Uber and Lyft.
One of the many shows on Night One was the Songs for Sound Benefit show at the Elliston Place Soda Shop. Songs for Sound is the official charity of the 30th Annual Tin Pan South Songwriter’s Festival 2022 – they use a passionate and compelling story about hearing loss and music to create awareness, increase access, and encourage action surrounding hearing loss. SFS aims to serve 250k people by 2025. The lineup included Eric Dodd, Makayla Lynn, and Jason Tucker. More info about Songs for Sound here at their website.
