WORKSHOP
The Cohutta Song Fest is offering a Songwriter Master Class Saturday October 18th with Nashville chart-topping Songwriter Irene Kelley in a small group setting, right here in Northwest Georgia! What you will discover in this workshop is that the inspiration drawn from the class is vitally important but it’s only half the story. The other part is spending most of the day totally immersed in songwriting with other like minded folks. Friendships are formed that last well beyond the workshop and collaborations bring forth songs that never would have happened otherwise.
Your fee of $65.00 includes the workshop, full admission to the Cohutta Song Fest evening concert, and participation in an open stage. The workshop will begin at 10:00 am and last until 3 pm with a break for lunch. AM or PM sessions available for those that can only attend a portion of the workshop!
2024 CSF Songwriting Workshop with Becky Buller & Ed Snodderly!
Meet the instructor!
Nashville Chart-Topping Songwriter- Irene Kelley
When Irene Kelley left her native Pennsylvania to move to Nashville in 1984, she brought along her guitar, a handful of original material and a love for traditional and bluegrass music. She was signed to MCA Nashville’s country division and was adamant about having Carl Jackson, Sam Bush, Mark O'Connor and other bluegrass musicians join her on her first recording project. As she puts it, “The record was country, but the heart and soul was bluegrass.” This was at a time when bluegrass instrumentation had fallen out of favor along Nashville’s Music Row, so Irene concentrated on the songwriting that exposed her music to millions through hits like “A Little Bluer Than That,” for Alan Jackson, as well as songs performed and recorded by Ricky Skaggs & Sharon White, Loretta Lynn and Trisha Yearwood. More than three decades later, Irene has assumed her place in a long line of great American songwriters.
Of her musical influences, she says: “Jean Ritchie’s songwriting to me was so amazing, especially for someone just learning to write. Some of my other early favorites were Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard, Rodney Crowell, Pete Goble, Greg Allman and, of course, always Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn.”
“Bluegrass is the last frontier of country music,” Irene says, and it’s true that country stars like Keith Whitley, Vince Gill, Marty Stuart and cut their teeth on Bill Monroe’s genre of music. “I was a Music Row songwriter for 20 years in addition to being a recording artist. I really enjoyed that time, but the business part of it has really changed.”
Both musically and spiritually, she is connecting past and present and exploring the themes of love, loss and of her life. Music historian Robert K. Oermann sums up her great gifts this way: “As a vocalist, Irene Kelley glows with beauty and expressiveness. As a songwriter, she shines with a luster that few of her peers can match. This is music to cleanse the soul. This is music to raise you up. This is music to touch your heart.”
***Scholarships***
If you know of a high school student who would benefit by participating in this event but can't afford to, a limited number of youth scholarships may be available. Please contact Charlsey Etheridge at cohuttasongfest@yahoo.com
