The 14th annual Mississippi Songwriters Festival kicks off Thursday at 7 p.m. in Jackson County.
The four-day event will feature over 120 songwriters from around both the state and the nation, with live performances being held at 13 different venues between Ocean Springs and Gautier. Kicking off the festival will be a Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at the Mary C. O’Keefe Center before a music-filled party at Neon Moon until midnight.
Buck Allen, the head of the Mississippi Songwriters Alliance’s ambassador program, is inviting the public to come out and enjoy a weekend filled with fun festivities and some of the best music the nation has to offer.
“It’s a huge deal. We’ve got award-winning songwriters and hit songwriters. It’s a really good bit that we have going on,” Allen told SuperTalk Mississippi News. “It’s an amazing festival. If you can ever come down to this event, you should come on down.”
Allen, who will be hosting and serving as an emcee throughout the entire festival, will also be taking the stage to perform with hit songwriters in Blue Mother Tupelo and Clare Cunningham.
Other fan-favorite songwriters performing over the weekend will include Steve Azar, Double D, Tommy Barnes, Grayson Capps, and Sean Gasaway.
Some of the songwriters, including Allen, will also be working with individuals at the Veteran’s Affairs (VA) Medical Center in Biloxi in collaboration with Operation Song — an initiative that empowers veterans and active duty military members to tell their stories.
“We write about whatever it is that the veterans want to write. A lot of times it is geared toward their experiences as a means of therapy,” Allen continued. “We’ll be writing at the VA in Biloxi from 9 a.m. to noon on Friday, then we’ll perform the songs on Sunday.”
The festival will also include workshops, including ones dedicated to teaching aspiring songwriters about the business end of music.
To view a full list of events taking place at this year’s Mississippi Songwriters Festival, click here.
