Songwriter’s Fest

SONGWRITER’S FEST

Story By Emery Lay Photos Contributed By Songwriter’s Festival

A festival for the people, by the people

The Opelika Songwriters festival was founded in 2019, and with health on the horizon, the festival is looking forward to completing this year what they could not in 2020.

This October, The Sound Wall — in partnership with Russell Carter Artist Management (RCAM) — will be hosting singers and songwriters nationwide for its second annual festival. Located in historic downtown Opelika, the festival will run over for three days, Oct. 15-17.

The Sound Wall is owned by Rob and Jen Slocumb, partners in life and in music. The husband-and-wife duo started their band, Martha’s Trouble, more than two decades ago.

“Rob and I thought about doing a festival of this type for a while,” Jen said. “In January 2019, we decided we would reach out to certain people in the community to see if it was something people would respond well to. We had nothing but positive feedback about it, so we thought the next step was to see if we could get artists to come.”

That was when Bailey Jones entered the picture. Jones is best known for running

written the soundtracks for movies such as Coco, Happy Feet and the Lorax, plan to attend as well.

“We do have a lot of songwriters that reach out to us about playing the festival,” Slocumb said. “But we do look at who would be a good fit and who is someone we think our community would enjoy. Of course, we love to support our local songwriters, so if they are working musicians, they are welcome and encouraged to apply to play the festival and we are more than ready to put them in the lineup.”

Slocumb also emphasized the importance of the festival’s sponsors. For the 2021 festival, Auburn-Opelika Tourism, Opelika Mayor Gary Fuller, the City of Opelika and Shady Lady are just a few of the biggest sponsors. Slocumb said the Sound Wall is “blown away” by Opelika’s support.

“We really rely on our local businesses and individuals to help offset the costs to put on such an event,” Slocumb said. “We continue to accept and welcome any sponsors that are willing to be involved.”

In addition, the festival will be accepting volunteers to aid in the weekend of events. Each volunteer will receive one general admission, three-day pass in exchange for working three shifts over the course of the weekend. To apply, complete the form at www. opelikasongwritersfestival.com/volunteer.

The 2021 Opelika Songwriters Festival will take place across multiple venues within downtown Opelika at various

the Sundilla Concert Series in Auburn every year. In February 2019, Jones was on his way to the Folk Alliance Conference in Montreal.

The Slocumbs saw this as the perfect opportunity to connect with booking agents and artists through Jones. Upon his return, Jones presented 40 artists to the Slocumbs, which they then secured for their first festival.

“After announcing the festival, we had an artist manager that founded 30A Songwriters Festival approach us and want to partner in presenting the festival,” Jen said. “We had known about his festival and [had been] attending it years before, so we were super excited about the partnership.”

Today, RCAM and The Sound Wall partner to present a festival to the people of Opelika every year. The festival had its opening night debut on Memorial Day weekend of 2019, featuring artists such as David Jacobs-Strain and Bob Beach, Shawn Mullins, Jeff Black, Kim Richey and more.

This year, Mullins revisits the Opelika Songwriters Festival alongside Black and Richey. Additional artists include, but are not limited to, the husband-and-wife band “The War and Treaty”, the three-man trio “Dark Water”, American folk singer Sarah Lee Guthrie and former member of Sixpence None the Richer, Leigh Nash. Other songwriters such as Dan Navarro, who has

times with alternating artists. The venues that will be utilized include Rock ‘N Roll Pinball, La Cantina, the Heritage House, Eighth & Rail, Resting Pulse Brewing Company, Irish Bred Pub, the John Emerald Distilling Company and, of course, The Sound Wall.

Friday evening will kick off the weekend, followed by three sessions (morning, evening and night) on Saturday. A few final performances conclude the festival Sunday morning. Top hotel accommodations are recommended on the festival’s website and include Heritage House Bed & Breakfast, La Quinta Inn & Suites, the Auburn Marriott Opelika Resort & Spa at Grand National and the Collegiate Hotel at Auburn. Booking details can be found at: www. opelikasongwritersfestival.com/hotels.

“It’s so important to the community,” Slocumb said. “It provides an intimate concert experience where you can see songwriters perform up close. You can hear them share the inspiration behind the songs. You can see them collaborate with other artists.

“We not only book national artists, but regional and local artists as well, so it gives them an opportunity to be around seasoned writers and players and be encouraged and inspired. We all can use some inspiration.”

Complete with 40 artists and eight different venues, the Opelika Songwriters Festival is not something to miss. Collaboration between participating artists is expected and anticipated. The festival offers spaces to revisit favorite artists or to find someone new to enjoy.

“I just want to encourage everyone to come,” Slocumb said. “It’s such a special weekend. I will never forget the memories that were made in year one and I can’t wait for this year. You don’t want to miss it!”