Dallas Songwriter Festival Is Packed With Local Talent

A new festival is coming to Dallas this Labor Day weekend. The lineup includes singer-songwriters from around the Dallas-Fort Worth area, who will join for a day of camaraderie, music, food and an emphasis on stylistic lyricism. 

The Dallas Songwriter Festival is celebrating its inaugural year, organized and hosted by Zounds Sounds B-Side, a new venue that opened in January 2024 next door to the Zounds Sounds School of Music. The festival emphasizes singer-songwriters in the area with a lineup that includes local Dallas favorites Emmeliene Smith, veteran artists who are performing solo for the first time in a while, such as Benn Autrey and Billy Law, and up-and-coming voices out of Booker T. Washington High School, including Indigo Hye and Frances Moth.

The full lineup for Dallas Songwriter Fest is 18 in total: Benn Autrey, Sam Cormier, Copperhead, Amy Curnow & Marc Solomon, Mollie Danel, Emmeliene, David Forsyth, Charlee Grei, Taylor Hunter, Indigo Hye, Billy Law, Mason Merritt, Frances Moth, Kirsten Pankey, Kirk Thurmond and Tipps & Obermiller.

Every artist involved in the festival has their own tales to tell. “I got into music first as an instrumentalist,” says Cormier. “I wanted to play the drums in my grade school band, but my mom said they were too loud, so I switched to clarinet.”

Merritt, Moth, Copperhead and Hye all hail from Booker T. Washington and have found a home performing at Zounds Sounds B-Side. Autrey and Law are branching out from their own respective bands to perform solo: Autrey with the band Honey I’m Home and Law with the band Ottoman Turks. Solomon and Curnow, owners of Zounds Sounds School of Music, which is celebrating its 20th Anniversary in November, will take time away from their many musical gigs to hit the Zounds Sounds B-Side stage.

Zounds Sounds B-Side is a new addition to a long line of intimate venues in Dallas where local artists can come together and perform, and give audiences the chance to say they saw an artist “before they were big.” Dallas Songwriter Festival stands out from other music festivals around the area by focusing more on a folksy singer-songwriter sound. While some of the artists rekindle the flames of pure folk, such as Danel and Law, artists Copperhead and Autrey blend genres to create unique sounds.

“It forces you to have a perspective on the different kinds of songwriting that are out there,” Autrey says.

“I hope they feel inspired and recognize there is so much local talent. So many stories to be told. It's also cool if they feel a little more seen and visible, recognizing that other people share their same stories and experience,” Cormier says.

Dallas has been known for being a melting pot for musical genres and styles. However, there has yet to be a festival quite like the Dallas Songwriter Festival that places a specific emphasis on songwriting and lyricism. Festivals like this give audiences something that we rarely get at a big show or even a larger festival: a chance to spend a day enjoying good company and music that bonds, peels back the layers of humanity and tugs at heartstrings. The Dallas Songwriter Festival provides modern audiences with a glimpse into the past and a taste of the future of the folk and songwriting scene.

“I love connecting with an audience," Cormier says. Performing live, singing my lyrics and making uninterrupted eye contact with a stranger … kinda strange, but I feel like no one looks at each other anymore when they’re talking to you.”

The festival also provides a place for audience members to hear local artists who are early in their careers. “A lot of those people that play there are going to end up being on the radio one day, and I’ll say, ‘I remember seeing them at Zounds Sounds,’” Autrey says.

The singer-songwriter genre is ever-evolving. Even through all its iterations, the one constant that remains is storytelling. Artists in the singer-songwriter genre are often lauded for their ability to tell stories that are at once deeply personal and yet universally resonant. This festival promises attendees a look into the next generation of singer-songwriters and a deep dive into another diverse corner of the Dallas music scene. Dallas Songwriter Festival will be held on Sunday, Aug. 31, at 2:30 p.m. at Zounds Sounds B-Side, 10050 Shoreview Road. Tickets are $20.