South Louisiana Songwriters Festival and Workshop (SOLO)

Get ready to get the inside scoop on the stories behind the stories at the first annual South Louisiana Songwriters Festival and Workshop (SOLO) happening May 22nd to 27th, 2018 in Lafayette, LA. The new event combines a workshop portion that will bring together established and aspiring songwriters in a retreat-style atmosphere for four days of mentoring, creating and collaborating as well as a performance portion in the form of a weekend festival.

The new event stems from a collaboration between Lafayette’s CREATE initiative and the Buddy Holly Educational Foundation. The Foundation presents similar annual workshops in the UK but this is the first one to be held in the US. Lafayette was chosen for its rich culture, relaxed nature and abundance of musical talent. This combination produces an atmosphere that inspires creativity.

Acclaimed songwriter Mary Gauthier (photo) will co-curate the workshop. Her most recent and tenth album entitled Rifles & Rosary Beads features eleven of the songs co-written with and for wounded veterans. Eleven of the nearly four hundred songs that highly accomplished songwriters have co-written as part of the five-year-old SongwritingWith:Soldiers program. A project that has proven to be a calling. “My job as a songwriter is to find that thing a soul needs to say,” Gauthier says. She along with Beth Nielsen Chapman, writer of seven #1 hits including Faith Hill’s mega-hit This Kiss, will guide a group of songwriters through four days of the intimate, intense and immersive creative process that is songwriting. The results of these collaborations will subsequently be presented for audiences during the week in unique shows that will blend interesting artists, new songs and the stories of how they came to be.

SOLO’s goal is to bring writers together to find inspiration not only from each other, but also from the rich, soulful, and authentic vibe that is South Louisiana. Its purpose is to bring artists, music lovers, and industry professionals together to ignite Lafayette’s creative scene – to make Lafayette known not only for its heritage, but also for its deep pool of musical talent, engineers and studios, all capable of inspiring and creating music that is relevant now and into the future. The event is presented in part by the generous support of the CREATE initiative, the Buddy Holly Educational Foundation, Lafayette Convention and Visitors Commission, BMG and many public and private sponsors.

To learn more about CREATE, the Buddy Holly Educational Foundation, or to contact event organizers, click here.