KWSF-2

May 6, 2009

Scotty Emerick

Jamey Johnson & Robert Earl Keen

KWSF-2

Kim Carnes, Tim Nichols & Connie Harrington

For the first time in years, we missed the big Kick-off party & show that was held atop of the La Concha Hotel. I had a board meeting conflict and Kathy was up the Keys practicing for the big Dragon Boat races coming up this weekend. We did make it to the first official show, which was held on the beach at the Pier House and featured the likes of Kelly Archer, Jaida Dreyer, Kylie Sackley, Jason White, John Paul White and many more. It was a great kick-off to a packed house on a beautiful Key West night.

Kim Carnes

Trying to list every songwriter and all the hits they have written would take weeks, if you are interested, visit the KWSF website and you can read a bio of each of the 140 some songwriters who were here. I’ll try to mention a few to give an idea of the talent and scope of the performers. Probably the youngest singer and songwriter here was Katie Armiger who played a show at the Southernmost Beach Café on Thursday afternoon. At 17, Katie is well on her way to Country music superstardom and gave a great performance on the beach.

Dennis Morgan

Billy Burnette

Shawn Camp

Thursday evening, we hit the show at the San Carlos which featured a stellar line-up that included Billy Burnette, Dennis Morgan, Scotty Emerick, Jamey Johnson, Robert Earl Keen, Wendell Mobley, Paul Overstreet and others. Johnson and Keen stole the show, which is saying something with all that talent present, but really they were truly all spectacular. One of the best songwriter sets that I’ve seen in many years of attending the festival.

Jamey Johnson

Chad

One of the cool things about the festival is that it brings a lot of people in from out of town, including this year our good friend and former local Janine who brought along her friend Derek to introduce him to her former home. Our friend Bonnie hosted a great dinner for them and we all enjoyed the festival as well. It was nice to see Janine back again, hopefully we’ll see them again come Fantasy Fest.

Derek, Janine, K.T., David & Breanne

Shawn Mullins

We were back at the San Carlos on Friday evening for another excellent round of performers including Chuck Cannon, Kim Carnes, Bob DiPiero, Natalie Hemby, Chuck Jones, Shawn Mullins, Tim Nichols and Bobby Pinson among others. It was another great show, though it didn’t approach the previous evening. It did include a rousing version of Kim Carnes singing her hit “Bette Davis Eyes” that took me back some.

Tim Nichols, Connie Harrington & Bob DiPiero

Kathy, Rob & Tamy