Art and writing are very important to the culture in Iowa City. You can see both downtown, painted on the side of a building, pasted to a window, or stapled to a telephone pole. I first found out about the Songwriters Festival while passing the Englert on my way to work. Now, roughly three weeks later, I found myself with a press pass and a journal.

Courtney Marie Andrews

The festival started for me on September 5th, sitting in the way back on a plastic chair in Prairie Lights. At roughly 6 pm, Courtney Marie Andrews made her appearance. Andrews, as an acclaimed singer, songwriter, and author from Arizona, most known for her album May Your Kindness Remain. I was personally incredibly unfamiliar with her work. Despite this, after sitting through her performance, I wanted nothing more than to become familiarized with her work. She opened her set by sharing that her new book, Love Is a Dog That Bites When It’s Scared, had been recently published. She described the collection of poems as a story told in three parts. Part one, falling in love, part two, the fall out, and part three, the love around you.

It’s both impressive and gut-wrenching to see how well she was able to capture the feelings of puppy love. Progressing through the section, the sprinkles of doubt started to make a subtle appearance. I knew I was going to be a mess the moment I saw her pick up the guitar. Each chapter ended with a song, and all three blew me out of the water.

Hearing an artist perform in a large venue is always impressive. The venerable and intimate feeling of hearing Courtney Andrews in the middle of Prairie Lights is completely unmatched.  

Overall, having the experience of loving and losing someone and then finding yourself condensed down into a single hour left me amazed.

Sunny War

After a text from my roommate who was working an event and a quick sprint across downtown to make it to The James Theater, I found myself listening in the middle of Sunny War’s set. Coming from Nashville, Sunny War’s sound is an incredible mix of rock, folk, and gospel. There is no amount of or arrangement of words that could describe her wonderful performance.  

From her set, Have Another Pill, from her Red White and Blue album, stood strong during her performance. Mental health is a concept that has been explored in art for some time. “Have Another Pill” is a key example of this concept. The song details the singer’s first trip to the psych ward, creating a deeply emotional work of art. Watching an artist perform something so intensely personal in a live setting is key to ICSF.

On top of her set, Sunny War kept the crowd entertained with her jokes. Between her ‘you can always just make a face and nod’ and the newly learned knowledge of her dog’s namesake, actor and former firefighter Steve Buscemi, I found it hard to take notes, because every single sentence felt like it the funniest thing in the world.  

Sunny War was the final performance of my evening and was a wonderful note to end my night on.

Overall, both Sunny War and Courtney Andrews’ ability to be completely and wholly open in their art showed in every single second of their performances. Both sets worked as perfect tone setters for what would end up being the rest of ICSF.

The post Concert Review: Iowa City Songwriters Festival, Friday, September 5th appeared first on KRUI Radio.

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 26^th, 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 10^th 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 4^th 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.

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