Great Balsam Nashville Songwriters in the Round

Price: $25/adult, $12/student

No Food; cash bar available 

 Time: Doors open at 6pm, Music at 7:30

Begun in Balsam in 1996 and modeled after similar performances at Nashville’s Bluebird Café, the Great Balsam Nashville Songwriters in the Round Series, now hosted at the Folkmoot Center at Historic Hazelwood School, presents signature in- the-round shows featuring Nashville area songwriters who pen the lyrics performed by country’s biggest stars. Many performances feature Grammy and CMA award winners, and all include writers of many top-ranked songs.

What is an In-The Round Performance? Occasionally duplicated but most often associated with the Bluebird Café in Nashville, in-the-round performances feature performers seated in a circle with the audience all around. The musicians trade anecdotes about the music industry and sing the songs they’ve written.

David Olney “Anytime anyone asks me who my favorite music writers are, I say Mozart, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Bob Dylan, and Dave Olney. Dave Olney is one of the best songwriters I’ve ever heard — and that’s true. I mean that from my heart.” – Townes Van Zandt

Master craftsman, acclaimed singer/songwriter and globe-trotting performer David Olney is well-known worldwide for his indelible songs and powerful live performances. Olney has released more than 20 albums over four decades, including six live recordings. His music has been prominently featured in ABC-TV’s “Nashville” and his stellar songs have been recorded by Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, Del McCoury, Tim O’Brien, The Wailin’ Jennys, Steve Young, Slaid Cleaves and many others.

Peter Cooper “Peter Cooper looks at the world with an artist’s eye and a human heart and soul. His songs are the work of an original, creative imagination, alive with humor and heartbreak and irony and intelligence, with truth and beauty in the details. Deep stuff. And they get better every time you listen.” - Kris Kristofferson

For more than a decade,  GRAMMY-Nominated Singer, Songwriter and Producer Peter Cooper was the senior music writer and columnist for Nashville’s daily paper, The Tennessean. He is currently working at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum as Museum Editor. Named one of Nashville’s “10 Most Interesting People” by Nashville Arts & Entertainment magazine, Cooper is also a session player, a producer who has worked with Todd Snider, Emmylou Harris, Ricky Skaggs, Fayssoux Starling McLean, among others, and is professor of country music at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music. 

Owen went on to be nominated for an Academy Award in 1999 for a song co-written with Allison Moorer called “A Softer Place to Fall,” which was featured in Robert Redford’s film “The Horse Whisperer.” The Gwil Owen/Kevin

Limited seating is available so please purchase your tickets in advance at 828.452.2997 or Folkmoot.org. Parking is available in the back of the Folkmoot building for year-round events.

Folkmoot’s year-round programming initiatives have been made possible by the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina and the Cherokee Preservation Foundation.

Folkmoot is a nonprofit organization dedicated to celebrating many cultures in one community.  

Upcoming Friendship Dinners:

March 7: German Friendship Dinner

May 17: Latin American