Authentic Texan
Kent Finlay Texas Song Search Returns for Second Year;
Event Benefits Marble Falls ISD and Harmony School of Creative Arts
MARBLE FALLS, Texas – Grammy-winning songwriter, performer and producer Shawn Camp will headline an expanded FiestaJAM on Lake Marble Falls, the annual music festival taking place Oct. 10-12, 2024, in the hill country outside of Austin, Texas. The festival, a celebration of singer-songwriters, also will feature area favorites Walt Wilkins, Terri Hendrix, Susan Gibson and John Arthur Martinez & Tejas, plus several other esteemed artists. Three-day passes are $90, Friday or Saturday single-day passes are $35 and Thursday passes are $30; all are on sale now at fiestajam.org.
FiestaJAM’s Kent Finlay Texas Song Search contest, created last year in honor of the late Cheatham Street Warehouse founder and singer-songwriter mentor, will be held again this year — as a preliminary round for finals to take place at the newly added spring FiestaJAM, slated for May 2025. Finlay fostered the careers of many beloved singer-songwriters at his San Marcos venue, from George Strait, Todd Snider and Stevie Ray Vaughan to Hendrix and current owner Randy Rogers.
“This is definitely an event for singer-songwriter fans,” says co-founder john Arthur Martinez. “FiestaJAM celebrates the singer-songwriter tradition of the Marble Falls/Spicewood area that began decades ago when Country Music Hall of Fame inductees Floyd Tillman and Willie Nelson settled there.”
The event kicks off Thursday, Oct. 10, at 4 p.m. in the Lakeside Pavilion at Lakeside Park, 305 Buena Vista Drive, Marble Falls, with performances by four song search semi-finalists, followed by a meet-and-greet cocktail hour (with locally focused food and beverages available for purchase), then a set by young up-and-comer Braedon Barnhill and Martinez, with Kurt Baumer on fiddle. They’ll be followed by cowboy’s daughter Sarah Pierce, newly nominated for Female Performer of the Year by the International Western Music Association, Hendrix Grammy-winning co-writer of the Chicks’ “Lil’ Jack Slade” and Gibson. author of the Chicks’ No. 1 hit, “Wide Open Spaces”.
Oct. 11 showcases begin with a 5 p.m. cocktail hour at the pavilion, followed by Martinez & Tejas; hit songwriters Bernie Nelson (“Daddy Never Was The Cadillac Kind”) and David Lee (co-writer of the No. 1 country hit, “19 Somethin’”); Wilkins (whose “Someone Somewhere Tonight” has been covered by Kenny Rogers, Pam Tillis and Kelly Pickler); and Camp (who wrote the title song on Willie Nelson’s 2023 Best Country Album Grammy winner, A Beautiful Time).
As lead singer of the Earls of Leicester, Jerry Douglas’ Flatt & Scruggs tribute band, Nashville resident Camp also earned a Best Bluegrass Album Grammy in 2015 for their self-titled debut album. In addition to writing several country hits (and co-writing Garth Brooks’ “Two Piña Coladas” and Brooks & Dunn’s “How Long Gone,” both No. 1s), Camp is also known for his work with Texas native Guy Clark, including on Clark’s Grammy-winning final album, My Favorite Picture of You.
The Oct. 12 Tex-Americana Night showcase takes place at the Brass Hall, 909 Third St., Marble Falls. It will be hosted by singer-songwriter and novelist Mike Blakely and singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer John M. Greenberg — who comprise two-thirds of the Outlaw Firm (the other third is Martinez, whose career took off after his appearance on the TV show Nashville Star and whose songs have been recorded by artists as diverse as Flaco Jiménez and Alan Jackson). The trio of longtime collaborators will follow Randy Collier & Grassland (guitarist Collier served for years as board president of the Old Settlers Music Festival), and precede Shake Russell & Michael Hearne, who, in addition to recording and performing together and separately, have each written or co-written many country hits. (View the full lineup at fiestajam.org/oct-2024-lineup.)
In addition, contest semi-finalists will be invited to play Oct. 12 between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. at Marble Falls’ first Steins & Vines festival at Lakeside Park (a separately ticketed event), and at a 2 p.m. showcase at Ragtime Oriole coffee shop, 202 Main St., Marble Falls. The fall winner will receive two 4-hour recording sessions at Martinez’s studio and progress to the spring finals. The overall contest winner will receive the Tillman Award, whose namesake is credited with helping to create western swing, along with recording time to create a radio-ready single for servicing by Jenni Finlay Promotions.
Jenni is the daughter of Kent, “a magnanimous mentor to many,” according to Martinez, who recalls that the elder Finlay was one of the first performers appearing at the Martinez-hosted 1987 Floyd Tillman’s Pickin’ in the Park event.
Those interested in competing in the Kent Finlay Texas Song Search are invited to submit a YouTube video link showing them performing their original song. The deadline is Oct. 1; entry fee is $15. For detailed guidelines and entry submissions, visit fiestajam.org.
About FiestaJAM
FiestaJAM is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization whose goal is to raise funding to support and promote regional youth music education programs. Proceeds from FiestaJAM provide support to the music education programs at Marble Falls Independent School District and Harmony School of Creative Arts.
Media Contact: Heidi Labensart, 512.698.2621, heidi@mcguckinpr.com
