The Englert Theatre will host the inaugural Iowa City Songwriters Festival, headlined by Jeff Tweedy and Joy Oladokun, this weekend from September 4-6. Sprawling across many of Iowa City’s favorite venues, this town wide event is bound to be memorable. Focusing on the great lyricism that many of us fall in love with, this festival provides us with panels, conversations, and performances by some of the best storytellers in music.
THURSDAY
Starting the festivities on Thursday evening, The Black Angel and Trumpet Blossom Cafe will be hosting the first performances of the Iowa City Songwriters Festival. Iowa City’s own Penny Peach, along with Aaron Longoria and Sophie Mitchell will open the evening at 5:30 at The Black Angel. Following their performance, more local artists will take the stage including bluegrass group Dodge Street Duo. The combo of Max Lipnick and Alex Flesher provides energetic and exciting performances wherever they play. The evening will conclude with touring musician Jordan Smart who will be opening for Willi Carlisle later this month.
FRIDAY
Friday’s events begin at 3:30 with an Artist Panel at Wilder on the Ped Mall. One of a few panels this weekend, Wilder will be hosting Sunny War, Buffalo Nicholas, and Margo Cilker. This talented combination of musicians will be speaking about their songwriting process and all else that comes with making music in the modern world. Another artist panel on Friday, exclusive to VIP’s and Scholars, is headliner Jeff Tweedy at The Den. For those interested in his long and prolific career, this is well worth the price of admission.
The music will begin once again at The Black Angel, Iowa’s own Weary Ramblers will be performing at 5:15pm. Much later Friday evening, starting at 9:00pm, Abbie Sawyer will appear with She Returns From War following. Sandwiched in between those performances are shows all over town at The James Theater, The Englert Theatre, and a poetry reading at Prairie Lights with author Courtney Marie Andrews. Buffalo Nichols will be playing at The James starting at 5:30pm. This relatively new Iowa City venue is a must visit, hosting a wide variety of plays, readings, concerts, and other performances throughout the year. Nashville’s Sunny War returns to Iowa City since Mission Creek Festival 2024, concluding the evening at The James with her impressive fingerpicking and lyricism.
The Englert Theatre will be hosting headliner Jeff Tweedy and opening act Margo Cilker on Friday night starting at 7:30pm. Cilker, a California native, has been on the climb to becoming one of the best modern voices in folk. Releasing her debut album “Pohorylle” in 2021, she’s been a great watch as she continues to impress with her most recent release, 2023’s “Valley Of Heart’s Delight”.
If you didn’t get enough of Jeff Tweedy at his panel, the frontman of Chicago legend’s Wilco is headlining Friday night. For his third time playing The Englert, Jeff is bringing a record on the verge of release entitled “Twilight Override”. Set to be drop on September 26th, this 30 track mammoth of a record already has 5 songs out and you can hear them live for the first time exclusively at The Iowa City Songwriters Festival. His unmistakable lyricism makes him a perfect fit for this brand-new fest all about what he does so distinctly. You can listen to a track, and even override Jeff Tweedy’s lyrics with your own.
SATURDAY
Saturday brings a full slate, starting at 10:30am at the Iowa City Public Library with a panel featuring Katie Roche, Jean Littlejohn, Alma Drake, and Nichole Upchurch. A full day conference from 12pm-5pm will take place at the Iowa Conservatory as well.
The Black Angel once again starts off the day of music, with Dave Moore at 5:15pm. The Black Angel has a large gap in their day, but on your return from headliner Joy Okadokun at The Englert, you can return for Connar Moon and Willy Tea Taylor when the music continues at 9:00pm. Taylor, with his deep voice and sometimes humorous songs, has called on the likes of Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, and the comedic angle comes from “Weird Al” Yankovic.
The James Theater will have two artists again, Ken Pomeroy at 5:30pm and London Wainwright III at 6:30pm. This combination is wonderful for fans of storytelling through songs. The Northside Series will have their only performance of the weekend with Mars Hojilla playing from 6:00pm-8:00pm.
Courtney Marie Andrews has created quite a resume for herself in her 18 year long career. Her debut record “Urban Myths” got the attention of Jimmy Eat World frontman Jim Adkins. Adkins admired her work and reached out to see if she would be willing to sing with him on a cover of Wilco and Fiast’s “You and I” in 2009. The collaboration continued when Andrews joined them on their 2010 record “Invented”, along with its coinciding tour on keys. She will be heading to Europe for her headlining tour of her 2022 record “Loose Future”.
On the 10th anniversary of her debut EP, Cathedrals, Joy Oladokun will grace the stage of the Englert Theatre on Saturday at 8:45pm for their first return to Iowa since playing Hinterland in 2023. With lyrics touching on the difficulty of growing up black and a part of the LGBTQ+ community in rural America, Oladokun has captured the attention of the folk world by continually churning out beautiful and heartbreaking songs. Releasing 6 singles this year, after dropping her 4th record “OBSERVATIONS FROM A CROWDED ROOM” in October of 2024, there is no slowing down for Oladokun. They’ve taken some of the biggest in the country like The Ryman, Radio City Music Hall, Lollapalooza, and Farm Aid. Joy’s opened for some of the biggest acts around including Hozier, John Mayer, and Noah Kahan, and collaborating with Kahan, Christ Stapelton, Mt. Joy, and more. You can listen to her recent single, “May.”
Conference
In between Saturday’s performances, conferences will take place from 12:00pm-5:00pm at the Iowa Conservatory. Many artists will be in conversation Saturday, including headliner Joy Oladokun with Caleb Rainey. The afternoon is filled with touring and local artists, discussing their craft and process while MusiCares will be doing custom earplug fittings as well as one-on-one consultations. The Iowa Arts Hall will also be tabling throughout the day at the conference.
With an incredible selection of artists, conversations, and more, the Iowa City Songwriters Festival is set to be the can’t miss event of the fall. You can find out more information about the festival here, and tickets are available to purchase here.
