Songwriter competition returns to Jackson – WBBJ TV

JACKSON, Tenn. – An annual event is strumming its way to West Tennessee for the next couple of weeks.

Tennessee Songwriters Week is returning to the Hub City and neighboring counties for the preliminary rounds.

This is an opportunity for songwriters to show off their writing skills to judges.

The Legends of Tennessee Music Museum at the Carnegie in downtown Jackson already has a list of acts.

“We are anticipating over 20 different songwriters will be on hand to perform their original work,” said Lori Nunnery, the CEO of Visit Jackson, TN.

The Main and Monroe of Lexington will have their contest at noon on Saturday, January 27.

Also, the Delta Heritage Center of Brownsville will have their performance at 1 p.m. Saturday.

“And also this weekend, starting Saturday morning at 10 a.m., we have a songwriters workshop. A blues songwriters workshop that will be held in honor of Sleepy John’s birthday, Estes’s birthday. He would’ve been 125 years old,” said Sonia Outlaw-Clark, the Director of the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center & Tina Turner Museum.

This is also the chance for songwriters to promote their talents to a bigger audience. And the biggest qualification is that the lyrics are their own.

“It’s important to our region that our songwriters have an opportunity to get their music out there. Not everyone is looking to be a star, they’re just using their talents writing the music, and hopefully, they’ll pick up that song,” Outlaw-Clark said.

The next step for winners of West Tennessee is to perform at the Lafayette Music Room in Memphis on February 18.

“But we’ve had some great entertainers come through and compete in Memphis at the Lafayette Music Room, which is the next step of this competition. And the winner of that level will then go perform at the Bluebird of Nashville, Tennessee,” Nunnery said.

If you want to see these writers and are unable to make it in person, there’s another way to tune in.

“Another feature if you can’t make it downtown to the Tennessee Legends of Music Museum at the Carnegie, you can watch it online. You can watch it on Jackson Hidden Tracks or the Tennessee Legends of Music Museum at the Carnegie Facebook pages. Will be live streaming the event and this is the only event for the songwriters that will be live streamed across the state,” Nunnery said.

The Tennessee Songwriters Week will have finalists from all over the state competing on Thursday, February 28 in Nashville.

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