Belfast Nashville Songwriters Festival, March 1 to 5 2017
THE Belfast Nashville Songwriters Festival has announced the first six acts for next year's bill.
Fan favourite Kimmie Rhodes, best known for her duets with Willie Nelson, will be returning to Belfast for BelNash, while Nashville songwriter Mac McAnally will make his debut with two shows.
Local artist Paul Brady will be joined on stage by Declan O'Rourke and Nashville's Grammy nominated Darrell Scott – whose song Long Time Gone featured in the performance by Beyonce and The Dixie Chicks at this year's CMA Awards.
Belfast's own Kaz Hawkins, Peter McVeigh and Ryan McMullan (who has supported Foy Vance) are also set to appear at the five day long festival, featuring over one hundred acts in 30 concerts at The Clayton Hotel and The Empire.
"BelNash 2017 will feature many 'songwriters in the round' events, our trademark style of performance at the festival where we link emerging local artists with more established international award winning performers," commented organiser Colin Magee.
The festival will also include a music industry conference, the two-day Panarts Song Writing Convention, which will allow established artists to share their song-writing skills with new and emerging local talent.
Music industry organisations such as PRS for Music, IMRO, BMI and Help Musicians NI will also be on hand to answer questions about collecting royalties, copyright, income streams for artists and recording and selling music.
:: Full programme information and tickets available now via Belfastnashville.com.
