Tag Archives: Will McLean Festival

Song Contest Winner and Finishers in the 2024 Will McLean Best New Florida Song Contest

You can listen to all of the Top Ten Songs if you scroll down past the Top Three winners.

Winner- Jim Bickerstaff, “Sister Mary”

All of the Top Three finalists will be performing their winning song at the Will McLean Music Festival scheduled for March 8th – 10th, 2024 at the Florida Sand Music Ranch near Brooksville.

Jim Bickerstaff says winning the Will McLean song contest is more than an honor, “It is recognition by my peers in a community of fine writers, performers, and humans … a validation of my creative efforts.”   He says the late Margaret Longhill, who was instrumental in starting not only the Will McLean Festival, but also the Will McLean Foundation, is the main reason he ever wrote any songs about Florida, “She wore her vision on her sleeve, and she is the person that made room for a Georgia boy in the Florida Folk community. ” 

“I first met Margaret Longhill in the early days of WillFest, before we called it that I think,” says Bickerstaff. The first two he attended were at two different venues near Dunnellon, and the following year, Longhill moved it to what was then called the Sertoma Youth Ranch and now called Florida Sand Ranch. He says, “Jim Billie invited me to play with him at the festival, and like everyone who ever came within range of Margaret’s magnetic field, I assumed an orbit and became a thread in the tapestry she was continuously weaving. Margaret had a sizable influence on everyone she met as well as on people who have no idea who she was. She was a purposeful woman and a good soul. I will never forget Sister Mary,” says Bickerstaff.

He says the primary message of his winning song, “Sister Mary,” is that we still have work to do preserving Florida and the rest of the planet for that matter. With Margaret gone, we are left to carry on her vision with art, music, and fighting for balance between development and conservation.”   Bridge –  What used to be is gone forever, time don’t go back to where it’s been. But as we step into tomorrow, are we going to let this happen once again?   The secondary message says Bickerstaff, “A testimony to the fact that Margaret was here and did this thing.”   Second Verse Sister Mary beckons all the flowers in the field to gather for the Native son Then they blow like dandelions, scattered to the wind, singing songs of old Florida.  He adds, “I think it is important to understand that the planet will shrug us off like a rash once we destroy our ability to survive here. A few hundred thousand years after we become extinct, there will be little sign that we ever existed. Yet, our longevity is largely in our hands if we learn to coexist within the delicate balance that makes this planet inhabitable by humans.”  3rd Verse Floods and raging hurricanes have come and they have gone But nothing any man can do can keep away the dawn.

Bickerstaff credits the musicians for “Sister Mary” as: Terry Feller – Drums, Bob Wray – Bass, Clayton Ivey – Wurlitzer Piano, Pat Severs – Acoustic Guitar, Johnny B – Dobro, Donny Carpenter – Fiddle, Jim Bickerstaff – Vocals & Acoustic Guitar.

As a four-year house engineer for legendary producer, Johnny Sandlin, Bickerstaff has worked at the top of the music business as an audio engineer for groups such as Widespread Panic, Col. Bruce Hampton & the Aquarium Rescue Unit & The Dixie Dregs on releases by Capricorn Records and Warner Brothers Music. Additional projects and artists include Scott Boyer, Tommy Talton, Chuck Leavell, Butch Trucks, Eddie Hinton, Loretta Lynn, Roger Hawkins, Randall Bramblett, T Lavitz, David Hood, John Hiatt, Ry Cooder, Gladys Knight, Kelvin Holly, Spanky Alford, and others.

As an independent producer and engineer, Bickerstaff has worked with Jupiter Coyote, Chief Jim Billie, Sarah McCulloch, Jeannie Fitchen, Mindy Simmons, Raiford Starke, Joey Errigo, Clyde Walker, Sam Pacetti, Vassar Clements, John McEuen, Bela Fleck, Upsala, and other Indie artists.

As a writer and performer, Bickerstaff has released three albums of his music. He retired from Duke Energy in June, 2023 and has leaned into performing and production full-time again. In 2020 Bickerstaff placed third in the song contest with “Jim Billie, Chief of the Seminole.”

2nd Place Finisher, Amy Carol Webb- “Carry It On”

Amy Carol Webb says as a child she always knew that she wanted to be a musician and a minister when she grew up. Her father was a music teacher and a gospel preacher like his father before him. Her mother was a singer, Bible-school teacher and Mom to the kids of the neighborhood wherever they lived – and they lived a lot of places throughout Oklahoma, and Texas.

“Our house was like growing up in a practice hall as all us kids learned and experimented, what with the four of us singing and playing guitars, drums, trombone, tuba, piano, sax….it was a lovely kind of chaos. Music was breathing to me. Still is,” said Webb.

Upon graduating college with a BSE in Performing Arts, Webb says she set out for a career in marketing, music performance, production and education, in Los Angeles. As a performer and songwriter, she toured the US, Canada, Mexico and Japan, and played from the Kennedy Center to the stages of some of the most hallowed music festivals, universities and conferences.

As an educator Webb has taught music, creative writing, songwriting and life-skills development from the halls of the University of Miami to the cells of maximum security women’s prisons in Florida.

In the realm of Justice Music, Webb is a Charter Fellow of Noel Paul Stookey’s “Music2Life Foundation,” working for justice through music. In 2010 she graduated Summa Cum Laude from seminary at Andover Newton Theological School and was ordained the following year by the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Boca Raton, where she served for three years as a student and intern. Presently, she works as a Board Certified hospice Chaplain and bereavement group facilitator and is Consulting Minister to the River of Grass Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Davie, Florida.

She continues to provide concerts and workshops, and compose and record new music. In 2013 she released her 10th CD, Moments: Music – Mantra – Mystery, a celebration of devotional music from the world’s spiritual traditions as well as new Unitarian Universalist hymns and chants. Her justice anthem, STAND!, debuted at the 2010 Unitarian Universalist Association’s General Assembly with a 150 voice choir and has been taken up by UU congregations and justice champions around the world – along with the call to action Tell Somebody! released at the UUA General Assembly 2012, and the invitation to reverence, On Holy Ground.

Webb says, “I am privileged to travel widely within the acoustic music community and the Unitarian Universalist movement preaching, singing, speaking, facilitating a variety of workshops focused to deepen, strengthen, amplify and edify – including fifteen years of service to SUUSI (Southeast Unitarian Universalist Summer Institute) with four years on the Board. In service to the larger faith community, I regularly speak, sing and teach at interfaith events, welcoming denominations, and also have served on the Board of the Ecumenical Institute at St. Thomas University in Miami.”

Webb is no stranger to the Will McLean Best New Florida Song Contest. In 2002 she placed first with her song Turtle Tears. That same year she also placed third for her song Rivers Roll On. Webb has been a consistent headliner at the Will McLean Music Festival and other music festivals across the state including the Florida Folk Festival, the Gamble Rogers Music Festival and the South Florida Folk and Acoustic Music Festival.

Tie: 3rd Place Finisher, Lis Williamson- “Land of Flowers”

Elisabeth Williamson is a singer-songwriter residing in the Sandhills of her native Florida. She has been performing in Florida for many decades with her husband, Lon, in various groups over the years, The Driftwoods, The Gatorbone Band, Valla Turner Williamson and so many more. She and her husband Lon have recorded and produced more than 75 records of all original Florida folk music for the Florida folk singer-songwriter community which she describes as a deeply fulfilling endeavor. Her song, The Land of Flowers, was inspired by her lifetime of observance of the changing state of the state of Florida as well as a commentary that, “we must remain vigilant to preserve what’s left of her natural beauty.”

Lis Williamson is no stranger to the Will McLean Best New Florida Song Contest as she has taken home the first place prize on two occasions. In 2013 she won for her song F-L-O-R-I-D-A and in 2007 she won first place for her song Florida Cracker Girl. Several of Lis and Lon Williamson’s music recordings can be heard in the nationally distributed public television documentary, From Novel to Movie: The Yearling in Florida.

Williamson, who has been a player and lead singer in bluegrass bands, country bands, folk trios, madrigals and jazz ensembles has performed in thousands of venues, from festivals to honkytonks, wine bars, churches and barns as well as weddings, christenings, funerals, gourmet restaurants and rodeos around the country. She is active with the Gamble Rogers Music Festival Board. You can catch her performing most often at a variety of venues in the St. Augustine area.

Tie- 3rd Place finisher, Kurt Fortmeyer- “Pelicans

Kurt Fortmeyer describes himself as a neo-traditional hobo, bluesman, honkytonking folksinger and songwriter. He says he was born in a barn, and raised in a stable environment, or so he might tell an unwitting listener in one of his sillier moments. He lived in North Carolina, California, Hawaii, and Maryland, before starting the first grade in Texas. A long-time lover of music, Fortmeyer joined his first band at the age of thirteen, and started writing songs almost right away. By the age of 19, he was turning into more of a solo singer/songwriter, with the occasional stints in blues, country, and rock bands.

In the 1970s, he hitchhiked coast-to-coast with a guitar and a burlap sack full of clothes. In the 1980s, he met his wife, and mostly came in off the road. With the help of friends, he built the house where his kids grew up in eastern North Carolina. In the 1990s, he and his wife opened a coffeehouse that became a haven for songwriters, and in the early part of this century, they moved to the Nashville area, where they now live in a holler in the hills northwest of town.

Fortmeyer has performed at the world-famous Bluebird Cafe in Nashville for almost 20 years. He has been a featured performer at the North Carolina Museum of History, and The Bluegrass Hall of Fame and Museum in Owensboro, Kentucky. His recordings have been played on radio stations around the world, and are available on most streaming platforms.

He describes his inspiration for writing his song Pelicans, “I was writing a “Coastal Country” kind of song with a producer friend of mine and his artist, when I came up with a line about a pelican. My friend went off on me. “Nobody’s going to sing a song with the word ‘pelican’ in it. It’s a clunky word, and an ugly bird. A seagull is the iconic ocean bird. It has to be a seagull.” I told him “You can find seagulls at the landfill, but if you see pelicans, you know you’re at the coast.” He insisted on a seagull, and since it was for his artist, and they bought my lunch, I relented. On the way home, I started thinking about about it, and his comment stuck in my craw. When I got home, I started working on Pelicans.

4th Through 10th Place Finishers:

4th place- Chad Spikes- “Days Long Gone

5th place- Chad Spikes- “Ghost of the Suwannee”

Tie 6th place- Cindy Bear and Susan Grandy- “Suwannee River in White Springs”

Tie 6th place- Chad Spikes- “Apalachee Sky”

7th place- David Beede- “The Melrose Song”

8th place- Dale & Lisa Dollar- “Ochlockonee”

9th place- Scott Campbell- “Bloody Buckets Bridge”

10th place- Bob Patterson- “Santa Fe”

Back to the Will McLean website

Back to the list of winners since 1992

Song Contest Winner and Finishers in the 2021 Will McLean Best New Florida Song Contest

To hear all the Top Ten Songs scroll down past the Top Three Winners
Winner Scott Jackson (photo by Gail Carson)
Florida Highway

Scott Jackson from Summerfield, FL works as a dentist by day and a musician by night and any other free time he has. Jackson is the 2021 winner of the Will McLean Best New Florida Song Contest with the song, “Florida Highway.”

“Florida Highway came to me as I was thinking about going home and where I grew up,” says Jackson. “The feelings of a place familiar, but also realizing that the friends and family associated with a certain place, is what really makes it home.” He placed fourth in the contest in 2020 and performed the song on the Cypress Stage during a “Songwriters In The Round” set.

Jackson also won second place in this year’s contest with his song, “Freedom Had to Wait,” a civil war tune about the bloody “Battle of Olustee.”

Freedom Had to Wait

“The battle took place 100 years before I was born, yet there are similarities that take place today,” says Jackson. “The way this year has been going, not only with division, but with social unrest, made me think that even though we have come a long way, we still have a ways to go.”

Jackson was born in Hialeah, Florida. He says music was an instant part of his life, “Our father was a guitar player, as well as a banjo player. My dad taught me how to play the banjo when I was five years old and I played a lot of bluegrass music growing up. As I got older, my sister turned me on to acoustic folk music, which included James Taylor, Jim Croce, and Paul Simon.”

He says he started playing the guitar as a teenager and really grew attached to the folk music scene. He only started writing within the last 10 years or so, and then, only a handful of tunes. He is looking forward to playing at festivals either solo, or with his music buddy and orthodontist, Andy Cohen, in the group Wound Tight

Third Place Finisher- The Duo “Bear and Robert

Cindy Bear and Franc Robert

The third place finisher in the 2021 Will McLean Best New Florida Song Contest is the duo, “Bear and Robert” with the song, “7-Mile.” Cindy says, “7 Mile” was written as a song of healing for the son and family of an old friend, who left us too soon this year,

“It was inspired by the story of his extraordinary life as an avid fisherman, a Veteran, and to how much he loved his son, his family, and returning to his Florida home. His dream of teaching his boy how to fish began to come true when he was still in diapers, and the first time he took him fishing in the Florida Keys shortly after that was one of the proudest days of his life. They shared a lifetime of adventures while fishing all over Florida, but their trips to the Keys were always extra special.”

She adds the song also explores the parallels of how fishing is a lot like life,

“No matter the weather, if you are following your passion with someone you love, you will always remember those times as the best days of your life. 

Together the acoustic sound of “Bear and Robert” has been described as a deep well of Folk, Blues and Americana with a high-energy je ne sais quoi! They have played Folk, Blues, and Acoustic music festivals, house concerts, charity fundraisers, and venues all over Florida, the Mississippi Delta, at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee, and internationally in Canada. Franc has also toured solo and with his previous bands from the Southeastern U.S. up through Canada. They also both love performing with their electric blues-rock band, the “Black Water Swamp Band.” 

The singer-songwriter duo also placed 9th in the contest with the song, “Pollen Rag,” a song Cindy describes as a funny take on pollen in Florida which has an apocalyptic effect on our olfactory senses! She says The song was born on the ukulele, and inspired by the extremely heavy pollen season in Florida this year, and written after camping for 5 days at a music festival in the spring.

Pollen Rag

“The pine pollen was so thick on our blue van that it literally turned green! When we tried to rinse it off before we left, there were these huge, endless clumps of yellow pollen and brown catkins that kept sloughing off to the ground, and all we could think of was how many pounds of pollen we had shaken off that weekend every time we sneezed!”  

Bear and Robert released their first acoustic CD, “Hearts in Blues” in 2019, and Franc has recorded and released six solo/band CD’s with the Back Alley Blues Band, and the Box Car Tourists. A CD of Cindy Bear’s original folk songs is currently in motion!

Cindy and Franc are active volunteers and supporters of Florida folk music by bringing artists and opportunities together across the state as active board members of the North Florida Folk Network (NFFN). Cindy is also a board member for the Florida Music Food Initiative (FMFI), which helps feed the hungry and homeless in Florida. She says, “Be the change, one song at a time.” 

The “Top Three” contestants in the Will McLean Best New Florida Song Contest usually perform at the annual Festival in March. The pandemic caused the cancellation for 2021. Scott Jackson and “Bear and Robert” will perform at the next Will McLean Festival scheduled for March of 2022.

Here is the list of the Top Ten Songs for 2020.

Scroll down to hear the audio of all the Top Ten Songs.

Listen to all the songs in the 2021 Top Ten:

1st place, Florida Highway by Scott Jackson, Summerfield, FL
2nd place, Freedom Had to Wait by Scott Jackson, Summerfield, FL
3rd place, 7 Mile, Cindy Bear and Franc Robert, Jacksonville, FL
Tie for 4th place, Okeechobee by Razz Taylor from Arcadia, FL
Tie for 4th place, Take Care of the Santa Fe by Jane Fallon of Dunedin, FL
5th place, State of Confusion by Paul Smithson, Eustis, FL
6th place, Old Marble Stage by Bob Patterson, St. Augustine, FL
7th place, The Fountain of Youth by the Lubben Brothers, West Palm Beach, FL
8th place, Ancient City Moon by Don Cooper, St. Augustine, FL
9th place, The Pollen Rag by Cindy Bear and Franc Robert, Jacksonville, FL
Tie 10th place, Saving Safety Harbor by Jane Fallon, Dunedin, FL
Tie 10th place, Rosewood by Greg Thomas, Inverness, FL
Tie 10th place, The Old Man and the Sea by Bertie Higgins, Tarpon Springs, FL

Click here to return to the Will McLean website

Click here to return to the list of winners by year

2020 Winner and Finishers of the Will McLean Best New FL Song Contest

Winners of the 2020 Will McLean Song ContestGalen, Jimmy and Tommy Curry
Gulf Coast Home

The Currys have been staking their claim within the Americana music scene for years, cutting their teeth in the oyster bars and listening rooms of the Florida Panhandle. Brothers Tommy and Jimmy Curry and cousin Galen Curry have been praised for their “tight-as-a-rubber-band” harmonies and “infectious” songwriting.

Their winning song in the 2020 Will McLean Best New Florida Song Contest, “Gulf Coast Home,” is a song about lost love, but it’s also a love song for home. The country-tinged nostalgia of the lyrics pays homage to the Currys’ roots in the Florida Panhandle. In the wake of Hurricane Michael, the band offered a free advance download of the song in exchange for donations to disaster relief efforts. To date, the campaign has raised nearly $8000.

From left to right Galen, Jimmy and Tommy Curry

The Currys have three full-length albums to date: their studio debut “Follow” (2014) and “West of Here” (2016). Their new release, “This Side of the Glass,” once again features their tight vocal harmonies, but the album has ambitions, at times straying beyond the borders of the folk/singer-songwriter tradition. The trio shares songwriting duties, each in turn offering his take on the time-worn themes of life and love. For more on The Currys visit their website: https://thecurrysmusic.com/

(Note: Scroll down below the third place finisher and click on the video to see live performances by the 2nd and fourth place finishers as well as the presentation giving recognition to the first two scholarship winners announced by the Will McLean Foundation. Thanks to Gail Carson for the production.)

Second Place Finisher John Butler
Bridge to Sanibel

The second place finisher is John Butler from Matlacha in South Florida with a song called, “Bridge to Sanibel.” Butler says the song is a tribute to one of the most beautiful, laid-back spots in Florida, Sanibel Island: the beaches, the Ding Darling preserve, the hospitality culture and the “no hurry” atmosphere.

Butler is no newcomer to the Will McLean Festival. This is the third year the he has placed in the Will McLean Best New Florida Song Contest. In 2018 he placed second for his song, “Miami Bound.” In 2015 he placed second for, “Oh Miami.”

Most of Butler’s song writing is inspired by what he describes as serendipity, “…a random phrase uttered by a stranger, a simple gesture evincing a strong emotion, seeing a symbol that conveys a vivid meaning, and sometimes juxtaposing in my head elements of the rational and the absurd into a whole that makes me laugh out loud.  Sometimes the song just blasts out of me, and sometimes the initial impulse has to marinate for years before I begin to develop it into a song.” Butler adds he loves story songs, ” They’re like a three-act play compressed into just a few minutes.  But I also love songs that are more evocative than informative, that create an atmosphere for contemplation.”

Butler is well known in South Florida from playing in a number of bands through the years.  For more than two decades he composed music for industrial marketing films.

His songwriting achievements also include being selected as a winner in the 2018 Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Competition for Emerging Songwriters at the Kerville Folk Festival, winning first place in the 2011 North Florida Folk Festival Americana song writing contest, a first place in the 2014 “Hope by Song” song writing competition in southwest Florida, and a win (as one of three co-equal winners) in the 2015 South Florida Folk Festival song writer competition. One of Butler’s songs was included in the soundtrack of the 2013 feature film, “Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3-D.”

Third place finisher Jim Bickerstaff
Jim Billie, Chief of the Seminole

The third place finisher in the 2020 Will McLean Best New Florida Song Contest is Jim Bickerstaff from Southport, NC with his song, “Jim Billie, Chief of the Seminole.” Bickerstaff co-wrote the song with Pete Gallagher from St. Petersburg, FL. (Gallagher hosts the Saturday morning “Florida Folk Show” on 88.5 FM, WMNF, a community radio station in Tampa.) Jim Bickerstaff also tied for 7th with a song called, “Sister Mary.”

As a four-year house engineer for legendary producer, Johnny Sandlin, Bickerstaff has worked at the top of the music business as an audio engineer for groups such as Widespread Panic, Col. Bruce Hampton & the Aquarium Rescue Unit & The Dixie Dregs on releases by Capricorn Records and Warner Brothers Music.

Additional projects and artists include Scott Boyer, Tommy Talton, Chuck Leavell, Butch Trucks, Eddie Hinton, Loretta Lynn, Roger Hawkins, T Lavitz, David Hood, John Hiatt, Ry Cooder, Gladys Knight, Kelvin Holly, Spanky Alford, and many others.

As an independent producer and engineer, Bickerstaff has worked with Jupiter Coyote, Jeannie Fitchen, Mindy Simmons, Raiford Starke, Joey Errigo, Clyde Walker, Sam Pacetti, Vassar Clements. John McEuen, Bela Fleck, Upsala, and hundreds of other Indie artists.

“Most of my music career has been behind the console, but I have always been a writer,” says Bickerstaff. “The opportunity to play with so many great musicians while working at Johnny Sandlin’s studio and traveling in a mobile studio created a chance to cut some of my songs.”

Bickerstaff’s latest CD entitled, “Florida” began as a concept project in early 2018 when he decided to return to writing and recording after a long hiatus.

“I wanted to capture the essence of a Florida I have come to love from the people and places you don’t see on the tourist maps,” says Bickerstaff. “This is a Florida I have seen through the eyes of the Seminole people, Margaret Longhill, Frank Thomas, Don Grooms, and J.U. Lee, absorbed through countless nights recording and picking music around campfires. It is a Florida you feel while sitting on the bank of the Withlacoochee, paddling through the mangroves in the Keys, or camping in the middle of the Everglades.”

Here is a video produced from the live performances at the Will McLean Festival on March 13th of not only the first two scholarship winners from the Will McLean Foundation, but also the winner and two of the finishers of the 2020 Will McLean Best New Florida Song Contest produced by Gail Carson.

Click here to go back to the Will McLean Festival Web Site

or

Click here to go back to the list of winners by year

Winner and finishers of the 2018 Will McLean Best New Florida Song Contest Named

Congratulations to Kathryn Belle Long, the winner of the 2018 Will McLean Best New Florida Song Contest.

Winner Kathryn Belle Long
Winner Kathryn Belle Long

Long’s winning song is, Tallahassee, a song about her hometown.

Long says she has wonderful memories about the red clay hills where she spent her childhood, the same town where her parents and grandparents lived their lives, all in the same house.

Though many people may only associate Tallahassee with state government and FSU football, Long says she wants people to see the beauty of the past and present through her song.

“The red clay is special.  The bone (referred to in her song) represents the Native Americans and my early ancestors who lived there….It’s almost like the history and all the people that went before, their stories come together to give Tallahassee this whole feeling that I get when I walk along the roads and I know it’s so old.”

Long says she loves Tallahassee’s hills and magnolia trees, canopied roads and nearby crystal clear springs.   She also loves how in the springtime the area is so colorful with camellias, azaleas and dogwood in bloom.

Both of her parents were teachers.   Her mother sang and played piano and she says her father, “was one of the best entertainers around, making up stories and funny rhymes on a nightly basis.”  With inspiration from her older brothers Long took up the guitar in high school.  After graduation she and her brother Scott moved to NYC to attend college and pursue a career in musical theatre.  It was in a tiny studio apartment on the Upper West Side she became interested in songwriting. It was also the start of her theatrical journey.  That career included leading roles in world-famous shows at Disney World.

She moved back to Tallahassee in 2009 to be closer to family.

“I feel a very strong tie to this land (Tallahassee) and it took me coming back and realizing how special it is to have roots in such a beautiful place.”

Long is currently a full time performing arts teacher at Swift Creek Middle School in Tallahassee.  She also plays and writes songs with an all-female acoustic trio called, “The Adventures of Annabelle Lyn.”

She’s the lead singer of an acoustic band called, “Belle and the band” which has two full-length albums.  Teaming up with Long are musicians Kevin Robertson (guitar), Mickey Abraham (mandolin) and Mike Snelling (upright bass).  In 2016 the band won a Suncoast Emmy Award for Musical Composition for “Local Routes,” a song Long wrote for WFSU-TV, Tallahassee’s local PBS station. “Local Routes” placed fourth in this year’s Will McLean Song Contest.

Here is Belle and the Band performing the winning song at the Will McLean Music Festival on March 10th, 2018.

2nd place finisher John Butler
2nd place finisher John Butler

The second place finisher is John Butler from South Florida with a song called, Miami Bound, a personal tale of a young man, homeless and without parents at the end of the Civil War, heading south to the promised land.

Butler says his inspiration for Miami Bound came from a conversation he had in an orange grove with  a grower whose family had come to North Central Florida from Georgia after the Civil War, having lost their house and crops to Sherman’s army, “As he was describing his family’s history, his grandfather came along and listened, then added, ‘Now some of the boys got restless ’round here and tuck off to Mia-muh.’  To me, there was a kind of poetry in the way he said the name of the place, and I put that memory into a little corner of my brain for later,” says Butler.

As he researched Florida history, it quickly occurred to him there was no city, village or other municipality named Miami until near the turn of the century.  But, he found an old map of what was to be Dade County, going back to the late 1860s, and there appeared a stretch of land labeled Miami Trace.  “So I tried to imagine this boy, hardened and ultimately disconnected by war, looking to this unseen Shangri-La to the south, a place he’d heard about from older fellows,  as his chance to reclaim himself and start a new life,” says Butler.

Most of Butler’s song writing is inspired by what he describes as serendipity, “…a random phrase uttered by a stranger, a simple gesture evincing a strong emotion, seeing a symbol that conveys a vivid meaning, and sometimes juxtaposing in my head elements of the rational and the absurd into a whole that makes me laugh out loud.  Sometimes the song just blasts out of me, and sometimes the initial impulse has to marinate for years before I begin to develop it into a song.” Butler adds he loves story songs, ” They’re like a three-act play compressed into just a few minutes.  But I also love songs that are more evocative than informative, that create an atmosphere for contemplation.”

Butler is well known in South Florida from playing in a number of bands through the years.  For more than two decades he composed music for industrial marketing films. Butler is no newcomer to the Will McLean Festival. In the 2015 Will McLean Song Contest  he placed second with a song called, “Oh Miami.”

His songwriting achievements also include winning first place in the 2011 North Florida Folk Festival Americana song writing contest, a first place in the 2014 “Hope by Song” song writing competition in southwest Florida, and a win (as one of three co-equal winners) in the 2015 South Florida Folk Festival song writer competition. One of Butler’s songs was included in the soundtrack of the 2013 feature film, “Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3-D.”

Here is Butler singing his 2nd place song at the Will McLean Music Festival on March 10th, 2018.

Butler is also a member of The Honey Creepers, a southwest-Florida-based trio.  He has 3 CDs.  Two of them, “Surprise” and “Vampars” are available on CD Baby.  He also has a CD entitled “Airborne Figures” and a Honey Creepers Band CD, “So Swanky.”

3rd place finisher Jeff Trippe
3rd place finisher Jeff Trippe

The third place finisher in the 2018 Will McLean Song Contest is former Floridian, Jeff Trippe from Yarmouth, ME.  His song, Song of Cedar Key, describes his vivid recollections of a time when he was an undergrad at the University of Florida and he and a close friend would go fishing off of Cedar Key on Florida’s Gulf Coast.

Trippe, who was born and raised in Jacksonville, loves blues, bluegrass, rock and instrumental music of all genres.  While in college at UF he studied creative writing under Harry Crews and Smith Kirkpatrick, two men he credits for his own development as a writer.

He has fond memories of playing in downtown Gainesville at a small venue called, “Reality Kitchen,” the place where he first met the late Will McLean who invited him up on stage.  Later, in 1989 to 1990 Trippe worked as a daily reporter for the St. Augustine Record newspaper.

“And that’s where I got to know Gamble Rogers, a musician who had been a hero of mine since I’d been in high school,” says Trippe.  ” I would see him on St. George Street on his bicycle, and the first time he called me by name, said “Hey there, Jeff, how ya’ doin’?” – well, that was a very proud moment for me. Sadly, by October of 1991, both Will and Gamble had died. I wrote up Will McLean’s obituary as a front page story for the Record on January 19, 1990.”

Trippe currently plays professionally in a country blues trio, a bluegrass band and as a solo performer.  He also teaches literature and writing in the public school system in Maine where he has lived since 2006.

He has been a three-time finalist in the New England Songwriting Contest and placed third in the 2016 Maine Songwriters Association Contest.  Trippe has recorded four albums as a solo artist and a couple of others with a popular Maine folk band called the Mutineers.  Three of his solo albums are made up of original songs, and one,  A Fiddler’s Sojourn is a collection of old-time fiddle tunes.    There’s more about his music and writing online.

“I think it’s very exciting to see the top three songs in this year’s contest are about three very different regions of the state,” says Song Contest Coordinator, Donna Green-Townsend. “The winning song is a waltz about the beauty and history of Tallahassee.  The second place song is about a Civil War soldier heading to Miami after the war and the third place song is about a man reflecting back on fun times during his college days spent fishing out in the Gulf off Cedar Key.  That’s just what the Father of Florida Folk, the late Will McLean, wanted to see happen.  He wanted to “save Florida through music.”

Addendum:  Since the 1st place winner also placed 4th in the contest, we’re adding her performance of the song on this post as well.  Here is Kathryn Belle Long with Belle and the Band performing, “Local Routes.”

The fifth place finisher in the contest, Mary Elaine Mahon made an appearance at the festival as well with her song, “Sweet Florida.”

The festival is an annual music event which honors the late Father of Florida Folk, Will McLean.  For more information about the festival, go online to https://willmclean.com/

Click here to go back to the Will McLean Festival Web Site

or

Click here to go back to the list of winners by year

Winner and finisher of the 2017 Will McLean Best New Florida Song Contest Named

Mean Mary 2
“Mean Mary” (Mary James) Winner of the 2017 Will McLean Best New FL Song Contest

The winner of the 2017 Will McLean Best New Florida Song Contest  is Mary James, better known as “Mean Mary,” in the music world.  Though she resides now in Tennessee, her roots are in Florida and Alabama (Her family lived in the North Florida area when Mary was born, but the nearest hospital was in Geneva, Alabama!).

James, who also plays banjo, fiddle, guitar and eight other instruments, is no newcomer to the folk music scene.  She began playing the guitar at age four, could read music and wrote her first song at age five, and recorded her first album when she was six.  Her extensive performance schedule soon made school attendance difficult, so at the end of the second grade she went into home study and began appearing daily on the Country Boy Eddie Show, a regional TV program out of Birmingham, AL.  At that same time she also appeared regularly in Nashville, Tennessee at the Elvis Presley Museum, on the Nashville Network, and on Printer’s Alley.

Mean MaryWhen Mary and her frequent music partner,  brother Frank James, grew weary of the commercial, country-music scene, they started a tour of historic folk and Civil War era music. It wasn’t long before they were one of the most sought after historical folk groups in the country. Their careers eventually took them to the bright lights of Hollywood, California where they were involved in various areas of the film industry

James is now based in Nashville, Tennessee from which location she tours extensively across the US and internationally. She has her own Nashville TV show, Never Ending Street—a documentary/reality type show depicting a touring musician’s trials and joys. She is an endorsing artist for Deering Banjos—Deering has named her their Goodtime Ambassador. She writes and produces music for herself and other artists, and has recorded 14 albums, her latest being, “Sweet.”

Her winning song in the 2017 Will McLean Best New Florida Song Contest “Choctawhatchee Waltz” was directly influenced by her family’s gypsy lifestyle. While growing up, her family lived close by the Choctawhatchee River in North Florida. The river’s name was taken from the Choctaw Nation and the Choctaw word hacha (river), literally the “River of the Choctaws.”

“It was so wild and undeveloped—like undiscovered territory. As a kid I could imagine I’d stepped far back in time or into a magical place. Those memories bring back a rush of longing for those wild and simple times. It was something I had to capture with my music,” said James.

Mean Mary” also scored a second-place finish in the 2017 contest with a song she co-wrote with her mother, Jean James, (a 40-year Florida resident currently living in Tennessee) entitled, “We Never Hear The Song.”  The song tells how people are surrounded by the music of “Mother Nature,” but maybe never realize what they are hearing.

Their song was inspired by Jean’s time hunting snakes and other reptiles, some of which were milked to make antivenom, some went to zoos, and some were shipped overseas for farm rodent control. Part of the reptile money supplied her daughter Mary with musical instruments. At times Mary would accompany her mom on those excursions.

“I saw beavers and otters and giant turtle slides,” Mary explained. “In the river waters I could watch the sturgeon, a fish whose ancestry dates to prehistoric times. It was a real chance to see and hear nature—unbroken and untouched.”

Mary and Jean James have also co-authored five books, two of which have won first place awards: “Sparrow Alone on the Housetop” (P & E Reader’s Choice award) and a Florida novel, “Wherefore Art Thou, Jane?” (Readers Favorite International Book Award winner for best mystery novel.)

3rd Place Finisher in the 2017 Will McLean Best New FL Song Contest, Jeff Parker
3rd Place Finisher in the 2017 Will McLean Best New FL Song Contest, Jeff Parker

The third-place finisher in the Will McLean Best New Florida Song is Jeff Parker from Jacksonville.

Parker, who recently moved to Yakima, Washington, has played finger-style and flat-pick guitar and mandolin professionally for more than 30 years. Starting in the mid 70’s, he played with the bluegrass band, “Surewood” around the Seattle area. He later moved to Alaska and worked as a solo performer and professional mariner in the fishing industry out of Dutch Harbor, Alaska. With years of working on the road, Jeff has honed his craft influenced by a large variety of musical styles. In 2003, he published a CD entitled “It’s About Time” consisting of original music (and one Michael Peter Smith cover) and is currently writing a second CD of original works.

In addition to Parker’s original songs, a partial list of cover songs is available on his ReverbNation blog. He often plays in Florida with Anne McKennon, a flutist, in the duo Road Less Traveled. Parker says he is a proud member and supporter of the North Florida Folk Network and the Friends of Florida Folk.

Parker’s 3rd place song in the Will McLean Best New Florida Song Contest, “Sugarcane Mill,” describes visual images of the olden days of sugar-cane grinding in Florida.

“My inspiration for the “Sugarcane Mill” song was a request by (folk artist) Suz Grandy to write a song about it for the 40th annual celebration of the Barberville Pioneer Settlement (in North Central Florida) along with many other songwriters and performers,” said Parker.

Parker gathered background on sugarcane mills for the song from the settlement historian and other sources.

“There were some names that stuck out such as Otis Lee who donated much of the equipment for the Settlement and an interesting fellow Wendle LaHoot telling stories from his childhood about harvesting the cane and cooking the juice down and “polecat” candy, which was the crust build-up around the rim of the cook pot from skimming.  On harvest day, dinner would be a cane syrup biscuit and half a sweet potato.”

“Sugarcane Mill” will be included in a compilation CD of songs celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the non-profit, historical  Barberville Pioneer Settlement in Volusia County.

“Mean Mary” and Jeff Parker will be featured during a special awards presentation at the 2017 Will McLean Festival at noon on Saturday, March 11th.  The festival runs from Friday, March 10th through Sunday afternoon, March 12th at the Sertoma Youth Ranch, 7 miles West of Dade City, FL.  The festival, named after the Father of Florida Folk, the late Will McLean, features music on five stages including a youth performance stage, a variety of workshops, as well as food vendors and  arts and crafts.

Click here to go back to the Will McLean Festival website
or
Click here to go to the list of winners by year

The Jessie and Lee Townsend Band’s Will McLean Festival Highlights

Will McLean logo 2016

2016-03-13_11-39-48_805
Jessie and Lee Townsend along with Andy Garfield and David McBrady performing on the Azalea Stage at the 2016 Will McLean Festival near Brooksville, FL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 2016 Will McLean Music Festival was a tremendous success for the Jessie and Lee Townsend Band.  If you didn’t have an opportunity to go, you can watch a few of their performances on the Magnolia, Azalea and Cypress Stages below.  Thanks to Red Henry, Andy Garfield and David McBrady for lending their musical talents to the weekend.  Jessie and Lee couldn’t have done it without you.

The overall goal of their music sets was to honor many of the Florida songwriters who have passed on, but who have left a wonderful legacy with their music including Will McLean, Don Grooms, Jim Ballew, and Ann Thomas. They also wanted to include music from two of their favorite musicians, environmental troubadour Dale Crider and the father of bluegrass, Bill Monroe.

 

DSC05605
Dale Crider and Lee Townsend

In the 1970s  Dale Crider from Windsor was working as a wildlife biologist for the Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission.  Through his job he saw firsthand the negative effects on the environment of the government’s decision to straighten the Kissimmee River in Florida and wrote a song about it.  Here is the Jessie and Lee Townsend Band’s rendition of Dale’s song, “Oh Kissimmee River.”

 

Will McLean waiting to perform
Will McLean waiting to perform

The late Will McLean (1919-1990) wrote hundreds of songs, stories and poems.  Many were about Florida’s critters and unique characters as well as Florida history.  He also wrote a love song called, “Macclenny Farewell.”  Here is Jessie and Lee’s version of that song accompanied by Andy Garfield on guitar and David McBrady on bass on the Azalea Stage at the festival.

 

2016-03-13_17-41-35_962
Jessie and Lee Townsend performing Crying Bird on the Magnolia Stage at the 2016 Will McLean Festival

Will McLean loved to write about Florida’s unique creatures….from sea turtles crawling up on the beach on Conch Island to sandhill cranes and panthers.  He also wrote a beautiful song about the Florida Limpkin called, “Cryin’ Bird.”  Here is Jessie and Lee’s interpretation of that song performed on the Magnolia Stage during the Hour of Power at the festival.

 

Jim Ballew
The late Jim Ballew performing at the Florida Folk Festival (photo courtesy of the FL State Archives)

The late Jim Ballew often played with the late Gamble Rogers, Paul Champion and Will McLean at festivals around the state.  He was not only a great musician, but a fine songwriter.  One of his most beautiful songs was called, “When I Die.”  Jessie and Lee Townsend recently learned this beautiful song and were accompanied by Red Henry on fiddle, Andy Garfield on guitar and David McBrady on bass on the Cypress Stage at the Will McLean Festival.

 

Frank and Ann Thomas
Frank and Ann Thomas performing at the Florida Folk Festival (photo courtesy of the State of FL archives)

Frank and Ann Thomas entertained Florida audiences for decades. Many of their songs capture Florida history.  The late Ann Thomas also had a comical side as in her song, “Lost Tourist’s Letter Home.”  Here is the Jessie and Lee Townsend Band’s rendition of her song performed on the Azalea Stage.

 

Don Grooms in an early performance photo
Don Grooms in an early performance photo

The late Don Grooms wrote some very funny songs….but he also had some very serious and poignant songs such as Vitachuko and Tsali about important native American leaders.  In “Wild Birds” he wrote about a difficult relationship where one of the persons just couldn’t stay in one place for long.  Here is the Jessie and Lee Townsend Band’s version of the song performed on the Cypress Stage.

 

 

Another highlight for Jessie and Lee at the 2016 Will McLean Music Festival was the opportunity to participate in a special tribute to longtime Will McLean Foundation Director, Margaret Longhill on Saturday night.  Jessie and Lee represented the young people who have been inspired by Longhill to perform Florida songs.  During the presentation they performed Will McLean’s love song, “Macclenny Farewell.”  They were joined on stage by bass player David McBrady.  The song is about 27 minutes into the presentation below:

 

 

Bluegrass jam 3
Jessie and Lee Townsend along with Andy Garfield, Red Henry and David McBrady jamming at the Will McLean Festival

Jessie and Lee love bluegrass music, especially Bill Monroe tunes.  Here are three versions of Bill Monroe’s Lonesome Wind Blues.  The first is from their set on the Cypress Stage with some great picking by Red Henry, Andy Garfield and David McBrady at the Cypress Stage.

 

Bill Monroe
The late Father of Bluegrass, Bill Monroe

The Jessie and Lee Townsend band also performed Bill Monroe’s song, “Lonesome Wind Blues” on the Azalea Stage.

 

And here’s the version of the song while jamming in the parking lot:

 

Cypress Stage 3
(From left to right) Andy Garfield, Lee Townsend, Jessie Townsend and Red Henry

Lee Townsend and Andy Garfield have been performing together since they played in a high school bluegrass band at P.K. Yonge High School in Gainesville. Since then they’ve performed at a wide variety of events and festivals in North Central Florida.  Here they are performing, ” Up 18 North,” written by the Kruger Brothers, on the Azalea Stage at the 2016 Will McLean Festival.

 

Jessie and Lee Townsend’s CD, “Tribute” Now Available

DSC_0081Jessie and Lee have recorded their first professional CD at Gatorbone Studios in Keystone Heights.  Click here to listen to song samples and to find out how to order one.

 

 

 

Meet singer Jessie (Townsend) Armstrong

Jessie and Lee on the Azalea Stage at the Will McLean Festival

Jessie and Lee have been performing as a brother/sister musical duo for several years now singing and playing at a variety of venues including the Will McLean Music Festival, the Florida Folk Festival, the Island Grove Blueberry Festival, Dance Alive at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, the Thomas Center as well as a variety of special events at the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings State Historic Site and a many church programs and private events.

Jessie (Townsend) Armstrong and Lee Townsend were joined by Andy Garfield and David McBrady at the 2018 Blueberry Festival in Island Grove, FL.

(Left to right) Jessie (Townsend) Armstrong, Lee Townsend, David McBrady and Andy Garfield

One of my favorite performances by Jessie and Lee was at the 2016 Will McLean Festival when they were asked to perform the Will McLean song, “Macclenny Farewell” on the main stage during a tribute to the Matriarch of the Will McLean Festival, Margaret Longhill.

Jessie (Townsend) Armstrong, Lee Townsend and David McBrady performing Macclenny Farewell at the Will McLean Festival’s Tribute to Margaret Longhill in 2016

Jessie and Lee’s “Tribute” CD Now Available

DSC_0081Jessie and Lee have recorded their first professional CD at Gatorbone Studios in Keystone Heights.  Click here to listen to song samples and to find out how to order one.

 

dsc_0044To see video highlights of Jessie and Lee’s stage performances at the 2016 Florida Folk Festival click here:  

 

 

2016-03-13_17-41-35_962To see highlights of Jessie and Lee’s stage performances at the 2016 Will McLean Music Festival click here:

 

At the 2016 Florida Folk Festival, state Heritage Award Winner Jeanie Fitchen invited Jessie, Lee and  her mom to join her on the Old Marble Stage to sing one of Jeanie’s favorite songs, “Dumbarton’s Drums.”

 

Music video of Jessie and Lee and the band performing Will McLean’s “Crying Bird”

 

Music video of Jessie and Lee and the band performing the late Jim Ballew’s song, “When I Die”

 

On April 26, 2015 Jessie and Lee Townsend performed “What Wondrous Love Is This” at the Homecoming Services of the New Cross Creek Baptist Church on April 26, 2015

 

During the Homecoming service Jessie and Lee also performed “Amazing Love”

 

On March 15th, 2015 Jessie performed Will McLean’s “Macclenny Farewell” during the Hour of Power on the Main Stage.

Jessie and her brother Lee Townsend also made great harmony on the Azalea Stage at the 2015 Will McLean Festival performing Towne Van Zandt’s, “If I Needed You” with help on the bass and harmony by David McBrady.

The trio even got in some bluegrass with “Drivin’ Nails In My Coffin.”

 

2015 was Jessie’s second year performing at the Will McLean Festival. She made her debut here on March 8th, 2014 singing a song by the late Steve Blackwell called, “The Line.”

Jessie singing I Need You at the 40th dedication services at the New Cross Creek Baptist Church on August 31st, 2014

Jessie singing King of My Heart at the 40th dedication services at the New Cross Creek Baptist Church on August 31st, 2014

Jessie singing Be Thou My Vision at the Homecoming services of the Providence United Methodist Church on October 26, 2014

Donna, Jessie and Lee Townsend singing Never Grow Old at the Homecoming services for the Providence United Methodist Church in Windsor, FL on October 26, 2014

Jessie and Lee performing “Bury Me Beneath the Willow”  along with Andy Garfield in November, 2014

Jessie and Lee performing “A Living Prayer” at the Homecoming Services for the Providence United Methodist Church in Windsor, FL on October 26, 2014

Jessie and Lee performing “Ten Thousand Reasons” at the New Cross Creek Baptist Church on October 14, 2012

)

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

2014 Will McLean Song Contest Winner and Finishers

Here are the winner, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers of the 2014 Will McLean Best New Florida Song Contest:

Here’s a look back at the top 3 winners of the 2014 Will McLean Best New Florida Song Contest along with video clips of them performing their winning song on the main stage at the 2014 festival.

Jane Fallon Song Contest Winner 2014 A
1st place winner Jane Fallon

The 2014 first place winner was Jane Fallon from Brookline, NH.  Her song entitled “Before the Fire (Rosewood)”  captures the emotional story and resulting fear from the 1923 Rosewood tragedy in North Central Florida.   Jane has been a finalist in several songwriting competitions such as SolarFest , the Ossipee Music Festival and the prestigious Rose Garden Coffeehouse Competition. Her songs have placed 2nd and 3rd  respectively in the Neuse River MusicFest competition and the West Coast Songwriters Competition.

Larry Mangum
2nd place Larry Mangum

The 2014 second place finisher Larry Mangum is from Jacksonville.  His song entitled “Florida” describes the beauty of the Sunshine State and why he’s proud to call it home. Mangum has given nearly 3000 performances over 4 decades as a folk, rock, country and Americana artist. He’s released 8 albums of original music and 2 live albums since 1980.  In 2006 he won third place in the Will McLean Song contest with his tribute to Gamble Rogers, “The Last Troubadour.”  He is also host and co-founder of “The Songwriters’ Circle” in Jacksonville, a monthly program featuring many of the best regional and national touring acts.

Sealey Guitar colour
Third place Ray Sealey

The 2014 third place finisher was Ray Sealey from Harrington, QC.  His song “Kissimmee Prairie Dream” gives the flavor of Central Florida’s early years in the Kissimmee area. Ray was born in England and received a degree in English Literature after emigrating to Canada.  He was involved in folk music in his early years but then turned to classical guitar. He eventually taught music at the Universities of Western Ontario and Ottawa. He also worked in radio at the CBC and later in arts management being involved in music festivals, summer music centers and orchestras.  Now, later in life, he has returned to those early folk roots and spends summer in the Laurentian Mountains north of Montreal and winter in Florida.

Back to the list of winners by year
or
Click here to go to the Will McLean Festival website

willfestactivities500
Festival montage photo by Gail Carson

Jan Glidewell
The late Jan Glidewell

2014 marked the 25th anniversary of the Will McLean Folk Festival which ran from Friday, March 7th thru Sunday, March 9th. The 2014 festival honored Jan Glidewell, a longtime columnist for the Tampa Bay Times who died in 2013 from cancer. Glidewell was an avid supporter of the festival. The 26th year for the 3-day festival gets underway at the Sertoma Youth Ranch near Dade City on March 13th, 2015. The winner and 2nd and 3rd place finishers of this year’s song contest will be featured on Saturday, March 14th.

The Will McLean festival features four stages, including a young performers stage, a variety of music workshops, arts and crafts, food and more.  McLean, known as the “Black Hat Troubadour,”  is the first folk artist inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame. In 2014 one of the newest folk musicians inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame, Frank Thomas,  also performed at the Will McLean Music Festival. In the clip below recorded on the Cypress Stage at last year’s festival you’ll see Frank singing one of his most popular songs, “Cracker Cowman.”

Frank Thomas was accompanied by members of the band Roadside Revue featuring Dawn DeWitt on bass, Bari Litschauer on banjo, Ron Litschauer on guitar and Stan Geberer on harmonica.

Back to the list of winners by year
Back to the Will McLean website

Sno Rogers Band

The Sno Rogers Band performing for a Sunday Sampler in Dunnellon
The Sno Rogers Band performing for a Sunday Sampler in Dunnellon

 

The Sno Rogers Band has gone through a few changes.  At the time this feature was produced the members were David McBrady on Banjo, Terry Miller on guitar and Barbara Johnson on bass. The band was known for its high energy!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

During the 2015 Will McLean Music Festival at the Sertoma Youth Ranch near Dade City two of the former members of the Sno Rogers Band, David McBrady (bass) and Terry Miller (guitar) jammed together along with Lee Townsend on banjo and Jordan Cherkinsky on mandolin for old times sake.  It was one of those memorable festival campground moments.