Whitefish Songwriter Festival returns to Flathead Valley
Songwriters discuss their craft on stage at the 2021 Whitefish Songwriter Festival. - photo by Craig Moore
For three days in September the Whitefish Songwriter Festival will feature hit songwriters from Nashville and rising stars from across North America, including Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Alberta, and Nashville who will share their songwriting, creativity, and stories with their audiences.
More than 20 songwriters will perform in 30-plus shows filling the theaters, restaurants, coffee shops and bars of Whitefish with some of the best songwriters in the music industry. Each show will feature two or three songwriters telling stories, trading songs and showcasing their creativity.
The Whitefish Songwriter Festival is a production of the Rocky Mountain Songwriter Festivals, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation dedicated to promoting music education in local communities and universities. Its original festival is the Red Lodge Songwriter Festival, now in its fifth year. Since its inception the Red Lodge Songwriter Festival has donated more than $40,000 to the Red Lodge Public Schools music department. As in Red Lodge, much of the proceeds from this festival will go to promote music education in Whitefish and Flathead Valley.
Now in its second year, the Whitefish Songwriter Festival will take place Sept. 15, 16 and 17.
Hit songwriters from the world of Country and Americana music will perform in the round at the VIP/Sponsor Party, the O’Shaughnessy Center and the Performing Arts Center. This amazing group of songwriters have written no. 1 songs for country stars such as Dwight Yokum, Blake Shelton, Lorrie Morgan, Oak Ridge Boys, Reba MsEntire, John Michael Montgomery, Toby Keith, Sara Evens, The Mavericks, Jo Dee Messina, Conway Twitty and many more.
This year’s festival will feature Kostas, a past recipient of the CMA Songwriter of the Year who was inducted into the Nashville Songwriter Hall of Fame in 2019, along with Billy Montana, James Dean Hicks, Angela Kasa, Chuck Cannon and Helen Darling.
This year’s rising stars include Tom Catmull from Missoula, Marcedes Carroll from Bozeman, Michelle Rivers, winner of the 2016 Rocky Mountain Songwriter Festival in Eureka and many more.
For tickets and more information, go to whitefishsongwriterfestival.org