Recap: 2016 Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival

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Although Nashville has long been considered the hub of songwriting talent, this week’s Tin Pan South festival, hosted by Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), brought the city’s repertoire to a whole new level. The lineup consisted of over 350 songwriters from near and far who have had an unimaginable number of hits, both within the country genre and outside of it. To put it simply, “impressive” doesn’t even adequately denote a proper characterization of each round.

The week kicked off on April 5th with performances by Jimmy Robbins (“We Were Us”), Brett Tyler (“I Know a Guy”), and Scott Stepakoff (“Square Pegs”), to name a few. In the coming days, Grammy-award-winning songwriters such as Gordie Sampson (“Jesus Take the Wheel”) and Brett James (“Out Last Night”) graced some of Nashville’s most intimate venues, giving music lovers a sweet and savory taste of the decadent writing capabilities this town has to offer. And with that, the very respect and admiration the writers had for each other was contagious and heartwarming—a complete joy to witness.

With no surprise, the anticipation was high, the lines were long, and the air shimmied through the patron’s trendy leather jackets with excitement. Not only did fans get to see their favorite songs—new and nostalgic—performed by the very people who wrote them, but the four day festival also included appearances by a number of well-known artist-songwriters. These included: Kelsea Ballerini, Kip Moore, Kacey Musgraves, Maddie & Tae, Brent Cobb, Michael Ray, Craig Campbell, Levi Hummon, Maren Morris, Will Hoge, Marti Dodson, and the Nashville Cast, among others.

For those that enjoy keeping their horizons wide enough to explore other genres, the closing show at The Listening Room was made for them. The beloved venue was filled with irresistibly catchy pop songs that had listeners clapping and singing along. If you were at all familiar with songs such as “Talk Dirty” (Sean Douglas), “1985” (Mitch Allan), “All About That Bass” (Kevin Kadish), and “Homegrown Honey” (Nathan Chapman), this was the place to be. From being in a state of awe at the vocal ability of special guest Nikki Williams to laughing at Douglas’ daring lyricism, the four songwriting forces gave Tin Pan South a perfect final bow—until next year.

Whichever venue you chose to populate, you left the round laughing to yourself at the mere incomprehensibility that the talent you just witnessed was real. To say the least, if you didn’t make it to Tin Pan South this year, you should promptly mark your calendar for next year.

Check out our video recap of the festival here:

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