By BRUCE COLLIER
    Last weekend, restaurants, bars, and open-air venues were packed with high-season crowds, as local and regional music lovers headed to CR-30A in search of a face-to-face with their favorite songwriters and singers. Rain and sometimes gusty winds failed to faze the faithful, and audiences had to take turns, stand up, or stand outside the door while the singers entertained with songs and stories.
    Headliners included the Indigo Girls duo, performing Sunday afternoon at Alys Beach’s Gulf Green, as well as Shawn Mullins, Susanna Hoffs, Rodney Crowell and Chely Wright, and Jeffrey Steele, along with Balder Saunders, Donnie Sundal, K.C. Clifford, Effron White, Zach and Emily Lynch, Suzi Ragsdale, Reed Waddle, and lots more.
    Volunteers from the area worked overtime to maintain the tight schedules, dispensing tickets, wristbands and driving directions. Area restaurants and clubs served meals and plenty of warming food and drink to attendees and artists.
    In addition to performing, some of the artists took time to speak to fans and aspiring songwriters. One such event was a Sunday morning workshop (”Origin of a Song”) at Central Square Records featuring Rodney Crowell and Chely Wright. Seated on a makeshift stage with their guitars within reach, Crowell and Wright took questions, dispensed sage advice and told a few anecdotes that had the audience laughing and applauding. They also performed snippets of songs and even harmonized on an old Everly Brothers tune.
    Crowell, a veteran of the Nashville scene, encouraged aspiring songwriters to  “write [songs] whether you think anyone will hear them or not.” As for finding a suitable singer, “if you’ve got a good song, they’ll find you.” Crowell’s advice for writers going to Nashville to seek singers for their work: “Stand on the corner and act like you have a good song.” Kansas-born small town girl Wright spoke of the nerves she felt on her first appearance at the Grand Ole Opry, and of the graciousness of Nashville veterans like Minnie Pearl to fledgling singers. Both attributed their career paths to their upbringing: Crowell’s was a “dysfunctional” family (”in a good way”) and Wright’s mother raised her on the words and music of country legends like Buck Owens and Roy Acuff.
    The three-day event was crammed with music and those who took the time to stop in at some of their favorite spots along CR-30A often found themselves in the middle of late-night jam sessions, with locals and established performers joining together to keep the after-hours parties going.
    All indications point to a return engagement next year.