The songwriters festival returns with successes |

Many will recognize the songs Are you going to kiss me or not?, When I think of angels and A woman like you.

Others will recognize Rascal Flatts, Trace Adkins, Jason Aldean, Eric Church, Trisha Yearwood, Kenny Chesney, Randy Travis, Reba McEntire, Brad Paisley, Jake Owen, Little Big Town, Miranda Lambert, Lee Ann Womack, George Strait, Kenny Chesney , Blake Shelton and Patty Loveless.

All will be represented at the second annual Lac Martin Songwriters Festival to be held in the area July 27-31. The five days of music are hosted by Tallapoosa County Tourism and executive director Sandra Fuller said this year’s event will be even bigger and better.

“We’re excited to add more songwriters and more locations,” Fuller said. “They have great songs for great artists.”

Fuller said the format will be similar to previous years, a relaxed atmosphere where songwriters perform in front of the crowd and perform some of their favorite songs they’ve written.

“Some of our songwriters have written for George Strait, Martina McBride, Reba, Cody Johnson and Lee Brice,” Fuller said. “They are all well known in the songwriting community. Many of them have won Grammys and had No. 1 songs. It’s not just as one songwriter that has been recognized, but multiple songwriters.

This year, places such as Chuck’s, Bluffs and churches have been added.

“We added Chuck’s this year,” Fuller said. “The only reason they weren’t part of it last year is because they already had something planned. They played an important role last year helping to provide food.

Fuller said the reason for the churches is that some songwriters move from country to Christian.

The screenwriters’ tour continues this year. Last year it was Copper’s Grill only, but Russell Crossroads has been added this year.

“We’ll have eight writers each,” Fuller said. “We have a headliner for each, Charlie Argo in one and Adam Hood in the other.”

The main event is the concert in the middle of Main Street on Saturday night.

“We’re happy to have Jamie O’Neal on stage who sang There’s No Arizona,” Fuller said. “She wrote songs for Reba and Martina. Our headliner is Thompson Square. It will be just the duo, him and his wife. It will be them and their guitars.

The festival features Charlie Argo, Terri Jo Box, Johnny Bulford, Kensie Coppin, Clare Cunningham, Blue Foley, Marla Cannon-Goodman, Cameron Havens, Adam Hood, Kristen Kelly, Josh Kiser, Jamie O’Neal, Heidi Raye, Ryan Robinette, Trick Savage, Thompson Square, Leah Turner, Brian White, Scott Sean White, Jessie Wilson and Emma Zinck.

Some were at the festival last year.

Fuller said she and Tallapoosa County Tourism couldn’t take credit for putting on an event of this magnitude.

“We definitely couldn’t do this without the sponsors,” Fuller said. “The great thing for us and the tourism industry is that everything is free, especially with our gas prices. With people traveling, we want to be able to offer them something at no cost.

Fuller sees the festival growing and continuing into the future.

“We’re hoping to get into Children’s Harbor,” Fuller said. “In the future, we want to bring them to schools during music camp to help learn how to write songs. These are baby steps that grow forward.

For more information on this year’s festival and artists, visit lakemartinsongwritersfestival.com.