Tin Pan South - the Best Annual Event in Nashville

The end of March/beginning of April heralds a festival that isn't particularly well known outside of the songwriter community...even to the locals. Tin Pan South brings together some of the biggest hitmakers in the industry to raise money for the intellectual property rights of songwriters -- you know, the folks who get screwed out of royalties when people illegally download music.

The festival is a fundraiser for legislative advocacy efforts of Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI). They partner with anywhere from 7 to 12 local venues to do 2 shows a night for 4-5 nights. And frankly, you can't go wrong in picking a show. If you threw a dart at the schedule you could be pretty confident that you would see a good show.

I don't make it every year because it really is an investment of money as well as time and focus. See, in order to get into the best shows you have to have the weeklong pass which is only sold in advance. This year the pass cost $90 for non NSAI members, $80 for members. They tell you that you can go to the door at a given venue and see a single show, but I have seen many, many people turned away because the people with passes have already filled the place to capacity. The pass does help you avoid most cover charges (except the Bluebird which still has a $7 minimum per person). And of course, you don't want to go alone. So by the time you have spent $180, you kind of want to get your money's worth, which means really commiting to the week long musical pub crawl. Luckily, it's not that hard to get excited about!

It is fairly common to see some guest performers at these shows...artists you have heard from radio play that are trying to help draw a crowd for the cause. Here's a hint...by the end of the night the person you thought was going to be the highlight of the night will have succeeded only in turning you on to a little known songwriter who entranced you all night long.

In the tradition of Songwriters in the Round/Row, performers are constrained to only sing songs they have written...with a little leeway given to artists who don't happen to write but want to be part of the party anyway. Each writer takes a turn and they continue down the row/ around the circle until each has had as many turns as they can fit into the show. Often, several of the writers have written together, and in these cases you may find them playing along or singing harmonies -- which is cool! And it is not unusual for them to call up their friends from the audience to sit in for a song, which means you are likely to get exposed to even more talent than was advertised.

The performances are generally acoustic...just a singer and a guitar or a singer with keyboard...so even if you have some bias against country music, you will be fine in this environment. First of all, you will have access to most genres of music, and secondly a guitar is not a banjo...you have to really work to make it twang. It'll be ok, I promise. Good musicianship and a well told story is captivating in any genre.

It takes a little strategy to plan your transportation from the first show to the second. If you can pick shows that are near each other you will be much more likely to get an earlier place in line and thus, get into the second show. And yes, they clear out the whole place before the second show, so even an attempt to beat the system by going to the same club for both shows comes with some amount of risk.

To get into shows at the Bluebird Cafe, generally acknowledged to be the premier songwriter venue in Nashville, you will still need to either make a reservation or stand in their standing room only line...the pass won't help you there.

By the end of the week you will be exhausted -- happy and filled to the brim with musical satisfaction -- but exhausted. So make sure to plan a day or two to recuperate from your vacation.

What can I say? Magic takes a lt of energy.