In 2019, a state statute declared the last full week of February to be Tennessee Songwriters Week (TSW). TSW supports music venues, supports songwriters with live performances in all genres of music, drives visitation and inspires travelers to experience the state’s music stories, history, attractions and venues. More than 1,200 songwriters performed at qualifying rounds in February at over 50 venues, museums, attractions and cafes to advance to the showcase events around the state where seven finalists were named the winners. Each of the finalists won a branded commemorative Taylor guitar, two-night stay in Nashville, $100 gift card for travel and one-year membership to Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI). In addition, they all performed on a showcase at The Bluebird Cafe on March 26, 2023.
Meet the finalists:
Garrett Boys (winners @ The Palace Theatre in Gallatin)
GarrettBoys.com
Instagram: @GarrettBoysMusic
Garrett Boys is a collaboration of the Garrett brothers, Stephen and Russell. After growing up on a small rural farm in middle Tennessee, both Stephen & Russell set out for Nashville to pursue their passion for music. This led to several years of various roles in the music industry throughout multiple genres. Garrett Boys is a reflection of an inevitable longing for home, history and heritage that finds the brothers Garrett discovering a deeper and more personal perspective of their music than ever before. Joined by Stephen’s son, Carter, they look to further explore their Folk Americana roots with Garrett Boys.
Elijah Wise (winner @ Ole Red in Gatlinburg)
ElijahWiseMusic.com
Facebook: @ElijahWiseMusic
Instagram: @ElijahWiseMusic
Elijah Wise of Cosby, Tennessee began singing in local churches and small festivals at the age of five. As he grew his voice followed as he developed a unique style in his twangy country and western singing voice. In 2015, at the age of 20 he started learning to play acoustic guitar because he didn’t want to be a singer who didn’t play an instrument. This motivation came from his dad, who was a singer as well but never played an instrument. Elijah chose to take it a step further and go to East Tennessee State University to further his abilities as a singer and guitar player. Taking lessons from Bluegrass extraordinaire Wyatt Rice, who is a brother to bluegrass legend Tony Rice, he quickly started to make ground as a guitar player. Elijah now plays at all sorts of venues such as theaters, festivals, music halls, and honky-tonks all over the south. He displays an electric performance and stays true to his roots playing traditional country music. Elijah says, ” Bro Country will die out and history will repeat itself and people like us will start to crave traditional story- telling country music. When that happens I want to be ready to step in and help in a much needed restoration.” Elijah never disappoints and it would be a great investment of your time to catch him live, especially if you enjoy real heartfelt country music.
Melanie Lafoy (winner @ The Bijou Theatre in Knoxville)
Instagram: @Lanie.Lafoy
Melanie LaFoy produces unique and profound pieces that draw from her experience as a traveling folk artist, a background in classical piano, studies in poetry, and the French Touch electronic scene in Nantes, France. It is there she began writing songs for her current project, nightjar in 2019. Her upcoming album « Supine Sea » is an ode to different kinds of loss and attempts to harness the grief that comes with finding oneself simply existing. She brings a wide array of stylings to her keys that, coupled with an at times grungy, at times spacey guitar duo by her side and her vast vocal range, creates a sound that is thoughtful, rich—and a little bit out of this world.
Ron Short (winner @ The Down Home in Johnson City)
Facebook
Ron Short is a singer, musician, songwriter, playwright, and actor. He is the son of a coal-miner and was raised on a hillside farm in Dickenson County, Virginia. He has carried on his family’s singing tradition that dates back to the 1800s. In addition to family music, electricity brought American music into his home on the radio and he was the family’s “radio player.” Ron absorbed it all—the slide guitar phrasings of Mississippi blues; the power of a-cappella lined-out hymns; the spirit of the Conjunto sounds of Texas; Zydeco and Cajun; the youthful energy of rock ‘n roll; and the timelessness of the Scots-Irish fiddle tunes and frailed banjo styles of central Appalachia. Ron joined Roadside Theater in 1979. As the ensemble’s leading playwright/composer/musician, he wrote and performed in more than a dozen main stage Roadside plays, all of which toured nationally and internationally There have been 12 major recordings of his music an he has been the Producer of four collections of Appalachian music for PBS. He lives on the side of a mountain in Duffield, Virginia with his wife, Joan Boyd Short, and plays in his “hobby band,” Ron Short and the Possum Playboys which plays American music of every shape, color and denomination.
HARZEE (winner @ Lafayette’s Music Room in Memphis)
Website
Instagram @HarzeeOfficial
Honing a deep interest in music at the age of 12, 17 year old HARZEE’s original music has accumulated an increasing fanbase, thousands of streams, consistent radio play, and local recognition for its space-like ambience, beautiful harmonies, catchy tunes, and meaningful lyrics since 2019. Formerly known as ALYX, the rebranding of his artistic sound and repertoire has exceeded his own expectations by providing opportunities for him he would have never thought possible. With two singles under his belt after the rebrand, his anticipated third single is set to drop on the 24th of this month. HARZEE is currently working on an album, as well as sharpening his craft to become the best performer he can be.
Sarah Hardwig (Winner @ The Franklin Theatre in Franklin)
SarahHardwig.com
Instagram: @SarahHardwigOfficial
Sarah Hardwig, 20, is a country singer-songwriter and a sophomore songwriting major at Belmont University. Sarah has performed on stage with such artists as Charles Kelley of Lady Antebellum, Lauren Alaina, and Locash, and also sang with Steven Tyler. She has performed in songwriting rounds at the Bluebird Cafe, The Local, Live Oak, Tin Roof Broadway and Tin Roof Demonbreun, the Commodore Grille, Fifth + Broadway, Belcourt Taps, Alley Taps, and Cabana Taps. Sarah has sung the national anthem over 250 times, including at the Music City Bowl in Nashville on Dec. 31 after winning the Amazon Voice of the Bowl contest at Ole Red. She released her debut single “Who I Am” this past November.
Aaron Bucks (winner @ Songbirds in Chattanooga)
AaronBucks.com
Instagram @BucksMusicOfficial
Aaron Bucks has established a reputation as a vocalist and a writer, with songs he’s written charting on Billboard, played on Terrestrial and Satellite stations like Kenny Chesney’s No Shoes Radio, along with with performances around Nashville at venues such as the legendary Bluebird Cafe, Listening Room Cafe, Pucketts, Kimbros Pickn’ Parlor along with various Hotels (Hilton, Marriott) and Golf Clubs (Vanderbilt, Franklin). Along with winning the John Lennon, Unsigned Only and International Songwriting Contests as well as Bluebird Cafes Golden Pick contest. Songs from Bucks have also received songwriting recognition from other organizations like, Indie International, Unsigned Only, ISC, and JLSC. His style has been described as Country Soul, it is representative of Bucks himself: laid back, positive, and full of life. Away from music, Bucks can be found spending time with his wife and two children. He is an advocate for the Down Syndrome Association of Middle Tennessee (DSAMT) in memory of his youngest son Tobias.
