Hi all, it’s been a little over a week since I participated in the Tennessee Songwriter’s Week qualifying round. This is a great little competition aimed at driving tourism and managed by the Tennessee Tourism agency. You can find more detail about it here at TN Vacations Songwriter’s Week.
I live in Lynnville, Middle Tennessee so the place for me to particpate was Venue 220 in Pulaski, Tennessee. I thought the event was well organized with 15 of the maximum songwriters performing. The sound system was great and Jay, the sound guy, did an excellent job.
I figured that the event would have great participation from a significant majority of young and up-and-coming songwriters so my primary goal was to be entertaining with qualifying a secondary goal. There is no doubt I accomplished my primary goal in spades, playing a song I wrote a couple of years ago called “Getting Old”. It’s a humorous look at aging and you can listen to it and read the lyrics here: Getting Old. Unfortunately, I did not qualify to continue but I had probably 40-50% of the audience, including a number of the other songwriters and Jay the sound guy, tell me how great the song is. I even had one offer of the other songwriter’s parents ask if it was on Spotify (it is not).
I play getting old a little differently today than in the recording linked to above, primarily because I am usually playing it on my own on an acoustic guitar. Nevertheless, it is still the same song and enjoyed by everyone who hears it.
Congratulations to Worley and Troy for qualifying for the next round. Perhaps we will meet again at the 2026 Tennessee Songwriter’s Week qualifying rounds.
Thanks to everyone that made this a fun experience.