The 7th Annual “Key West Songwriters Festival” took place May 8^th-11^th 2002.                                                                     

Top songwriters/performers will be rolling into Key West from Nashville for four days of top shelf entertainment.

Scheduled to perform are:
In alphabetical order

Jessi Alexander
Jessi Alexander is an artist driven by true passion. With influence as diverse as Patsy Cline, Hank Williams Sr., Robert Johnson to Bonnie Raitt, Tom Petty and Young, this 24 year-old Warner-Chappell writer/artist has drawn from a well of great musicians and singers, who drove her to break the music mold, yet stay true to her self. This is quite evident in her songwriting style and her live performances. Jessi is honing her skills collaborating & working in the studio with the likes of personal mentor Gary Nicholson, Heartbreaker’s pianist Benmont Tench, Canadian blues-guitarist Colin Linden, Gary Louris of the J-Hawks, and producer Ray Kennedy. With raw energy, standout talent, and a strong dedication to music, Jessi Alexander is being noticed as she makes her way in the music world.

Chuck Cannon
Chuck moved to Nashville from his native South Carolina in 1984 to study Music Business and Finance. He began writing professionally in 1989. Chuck is a "triple threat" on Music Row, writing, publishing and plugging his own wildly successful song catalogue. His career tune "I Love The Way You Love Me" by John Michael Montgomery was the ACM Song of the Year in 1993 and a crossover smash.

Chuck has also had a string of number one hits with Toby Keith. "How Do You Like Me Now" went eight weeks at #1. Other number ones with Toby were “Dream Walkin’”, “We Were In Love”, and “Getcha’ Some”. He has also had numerous Top Ten hits and several #1 songs with Lari White, Trisha Yearwood, Brooks & Dunn and Willie Nelson, among others. He and his wife Lari reside in Nashville with their two beautiful children.

Billy Dean………… Billy hails from Quincy, FL and was heavily influenced by his father Billy Dean Sr., who was a popular country singer in North Florida's Panhandle. He made the move to Nashville in the early 1980's and after paying his dues, hit big with his Grammy nominee, "Somewhere In My Broken Heart," the ACM's Song of the Year in 1992. He has enjoyed a high profile recording career, producing 8 albums on Capitol Records with sales in the millions. Other self-penned hits include "Only Here For A Little While" and "Billy The Kid."  Billy Dean's latest offering on Capitol, released April of 2001 is "Love Songs".

Billy recently decided to take a break from music to concentrate on his acting career. He has made several guest appearances on shows such as “Lois & Clark”, “Wings”, Diagnosis Murder”, “One Life To Live”. In 1998 Billy costarred with Crystal Bernard in the USA cable movie, “A Face To Kill For.” , which was the network’s highest rated movie that year. 1999, Billy starred with Country Music Hall of Fame Inductee, Dolly Parton in the Lifetime Television movie “Blue Valley Songbird,” combining his proven skills as actor, musician, and singer.

Gary Nicholson
Gary is from Dallas, Texas, where he began playing guitar at age 12 after hearing his sister’s records by Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, and Elvis. His early bands covered those artists as well as the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and country music. After pursuing a major in music at North Texas State University, Gary moved to California. It was there that he began writing songs and made two albums with a country rock band before returning to Texas. In 1980, Gary moved to Nashville to write songs for a publishing company started by Jim Ed Norman, the former piano player in Gary’s California band. He signed to Tree Publishing 12 years ago and is still there.

As a guitarist, Gary has worked with Delbert McClinton, Guy Clark, Billy Joe Shaver, Tracy Nelson, Lee Roy Parnell, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and many more. He recently co-wrote six songs for John Prine’s current album, “Lost Dogs and Mixed Blessings”, and played guitar on those cuts as well. The song, “One More Chance”, which Gary co-wrote with Vince Gill, was a number one record by Gill in 1994 and was also one of the 50 most performed ASCAP songs of the year. Other artists who have recorded Gary’s songs include Bonnie Raitt, The Neville Brothers, B.B. King, Waylon Jennings, Wynona Judd, Randy Travis, Neil Diamond, Arthur Alexander, Robert Plant, Stevie Nicks, Gatemouth Brown, and John Mayall.  

Mark Selby
When Mark Selby walks into a room, you just know he is a guitar player. It’s more than his physical appearance; you just know he’s about music. At the heart of Mark’s sound is a combination of his blues-infused guitar style and soulful lyrics in a way that is uniquely his. Selby has become widely known for crafting bare-bones, honest songs, which has led to his tunes being recorded by a wide range of platinum-selling artists, including blues/rock prodigy Kenny Wayne Shepard, Wynona Judd, and The Dixie Chicks, to name a few.

Selby has written a string of hits with Kenny Wayne Sheppard including the artist’s breakthrough hit, “Deja Voodoo”, and the number one singles “Slow Ride” and “Blue on Black” on Shepard’s album Trouble Is. “Blue on Black” reached number one on both Billboard and A&R charts holding down the number 1 slot for 17 weeks, a feat that hasn't been seen since the days of Elvis and the Beatles.

Mark hails from Oklahoma, and makes his home in Nashville. He tours worldwide with the Mark Selby Band, a blues/rock outfit and has a new CD out.  With Tia Sillers, he received a Grammy in 1999 for "There's Your Trouble."

Tia Sillers
”The great thing about being purely a songwriter is that it enables you to slip out of your skin and have so many other voices”, says tunesmith Tia Sillers.

With undergraduate degrees in English, Fine Arts, and a Masters in Business Communications, the prolific Sillers capitalizes on a diversity of influences and experiences in crafting some of the most poignant songs to emerge from Music Row. Tia is a native Nashvillean who has had great  success in partnership with Mark Selby, and also writing on her own. 

 She hit #1 with "There's Your Trouble" by the Dixie Chicks, and had the Billboard Mainstream Rock Song of the Year with Kenny Wayne Shepherd's "Blue On Black". Her other hits include "Lipstick Promises, " #3 for George Ducas and "Land of the Living," #4 for Pam Tillis. Sillers has had many cuts by other artists including Martina McBride, Trisha Yearwood, Diamond Rio, Wynona Judd, Patty Loveless, Suzy Bogguss, Kim Richey, Tammy Cochran, and recently Alan Jackson.

Her most recent number one song, “I Hope You Dance”, struck an emotional chord with listeners by capturing the essence of experiencing life. The song received national exposure with articles in USA Today and Billboard Magazine, as well as being an inspiration for international sporting events. The song earned the 2000 CMA Song of the Year and single of the year.

Venues are as follows:

Wednesday…………………………..8pm-Margaritaville - 500 Duval St. 292-1435

Thurs………………………………….10pm-Louie’s Backyard - 700 Waddell St. 294-1061

Friday…………………………………8pm-Hog’s Breath Writer’s Room - 400 Front St. 292-2032

Saturday………………………………2pm- Wyndam-Casa Marina 1500 Renolds St. 296-3535

Saturday………………………………8pm-Hog’s Breath Writer’s Room

Wednesday night, Thursday night, and Saturday afternoon shows are free to the public

Tickets for Fri and Sat shows at the hog’s breath are $15 advance, $20 at the door. This includes 1 free drink coupon with each ticket. T-shirts are $16 m-xl and $18 xxl (with ticket purchase). Cd’s will be available at events.

Sponsors are Bacardi, BMI, Wyndham/Casa Marina, Louie’s Backyard, Hog’s Breath, and Margaritaville.

Please call 1.305.296.4222 for further information.

Please call Casa Marina for special rates at the Santa Maria Motel 1.305.296.3535.