Songwriters ignite ‘Blast on the Bay’
For 14 years, the Blast on the Bay Songwriters Festival has been going strong, and this year was another outstanding example of that strength.
Rotating through six different locations in Gulf County, between Oct. 17 and 21, 32 of country music’s best songwriters, mostly from Nashville, many of them with number one hits under their hats, made for another memorable event.
“The weather was absolutely perfect. It was wonderful,” said organizer Lynn Costin Marshall. “We have volunteers from all over; without them it couldn’t be done.”
The artists who took part, in alphabetical order by first name, were Alan Rhody, Alex Rohan, Allison Clarke, Brett Jones, Brett Kelly, Brian Bowen, Brian White, Brooks Huntley, Dana Hunt Black, Donny Lowery, Earl Bud Lee, Ella Gibson, Emma Zinck, Eric Erdman, Grace Morrison, Jason Byrd, Jean Nolan, Jeff Silvey, Jerry Salley, Jesse Rice, Jimmy Miller, Lauren Spring, Matt Warren, Mutt Cooper, Pete Sallis, Ron Wallace, Sherrie Sustin, Tim Buppert, Wil Nance and Will Rambeaux.
They played at locations that included Tap Root PSJ, Lookout Lounge, Scallop RePUBlic, the Haughty Heron, The Mill Mercantile and Social at Windmark Beach and the Indian Pass Raw Bar.
“We hear from them all the time that this is the best songwriter festival that they attend,” said Marshall. “They feel a sense of community; they get to know the people year after year and they make friends with people in the area.
“Several of the artists have moved to this area or bought homes because they came to Blast on the Bay,” she said.
The blast kicked off Oct. 17 with a performance by Vinyl Radio out of Nashville on the green at Windmark, followed with a VIP party at The View at St. Joe Bay restaurant.
“We have many sponsors and people who come to the festival that have been here since the very first one,” Marshall said.
She said the event drew about 850 ticket holders, who had either the $35 general admission or the $125 tickets for VIPs, of which there were about 250.
“People stayed all over the area, from Mexico Beach to Indian Pass,” Marshall said.
In addition to serving as a nest egg for next year’s festival, funds raised by the non-profit went towards the annual contribution to Port St. Joe High School’s Band of Gold, as well as this year’s donation to the Port Theatre.
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.