Partnering with River Meadow Ranch, Casey’s Whitefish and Bee Broadcasting, we have been able to bring a group of Nashville singer/songwriters out to Montana to get inspired and write songs. The weeklong event hosted at River Meadow Ranch, includes multiple shows at Casey’s where the songwriters will perform some of their original work, many of which have been featured on mainstream radio. This tr
ip takes the songwriters out of their normal routines in Nashville and puts them in one of the most awe inspiring parts of the country. Our hope is that by combining the songwriter creativity with the incredible beauty and big sky of Montana, magic will be created. This has proved to be true on our first trip. Another component of this event is community engagement. It is extremely important to organizer, Christie D’Amour, that the “Nashville Heads West” presence in Whitefish is a positive one. During their first event in 2019, they spent some time with the program directors at the North Valley Music School discussing how to build a songwriting class. This year, they have invited two local songwriters to participate in multiple activities with their group. These activities include, opening the songwriter showcase at Casey’s Whitefish, visits to BEAR 106.3 to promote the show, participating in a songwriting session with the Nashville artists and accompanying the artists to Two Bear Therapeutic Riding Center Ranch where they will spend time with the kids from the program and play songs. The town of Whitefish has been so receptive to having us here, we hope to make this an annual or possibly semi-annual event.