PALM COAST, Fla. – Kicking off the Palm Coast Songwriters Festival on Thursday evening with a free show at the Daytona State College, festival creator Garry Lubi choked up as he talked about the depth of caring shown by those in the songwriting community after a recent health scare that left him hospitalized.
As president and founder of the festival, Garry’s close friendship with songwriter Thom Shepherd from his time living in Nashville, Tennessee helped bring nationally recognized, award-winning songwriters to Palm Coast, all starting with an intimate preview several years ago that convinced co-organizers it could be a success.
Since then, the event has continued to grow with almost 40 hitmaking songwriters taking to stages across Flagler County this year, and returning artists admit they look forward to a stop in Palm Coast as part of their tour schedule.
Recovering his health, Lubi relied on his wife Barbara to ensure the event went off without a hitch this year, and he was emotional Thursday night knowing how special this year is for him.
“It’s awesome to be here tonight and I feel really blessed,” he said. “The emails and texts I got from all these writers not to mention all the friend support, it’s hard to fight back tears.”
Praising the festival team, he took the time to shake hands with those coming and going, greeting visitors from across the nation, in town for the event, as they thanked him.
“Tonight is the pre-kickoff show and we wanted to open it up for everybody,” said Lubi on Thursday evening.
Among the evening’s headliners were Casey and Tucker Beathard, and Wynn Varble and Brice Long.
“Casey Beathard probably has close to twenty #1 hits. “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem”, he wrote that by himself.”
“You know the thing is we’ve got a committee of people but my wife, the support she gave me and she lives with this 365 days a year, I can’t say enough about my wife,” he said with sincere gratitude.
The festival continues through Sunday with performances at area restaurants, the Hammock Beach Resort and ticketed events at the Daytona State College Amphitheatre.
“I think the collective body of it is the highlight, when you take a look at it,” said Lubi.
“Most of these writers you don’t know their names. We’re going to have some NAMES with all of this, so that’s another big thing (this year). We’ve got Deana Carter. Matraca Berg she is a legend. She’s fifty-something years old and she’s been writing #1’s since she was in her teens. What’s great is Cinco de Mayo, she and Deana Carter, they wrote ‘You and Tequila’. It’s perfect timing.”
“Then we’ve got Darryl Worley, (and) Ira Dean used to be with Trick Pony. It’s just incredible. Ira’s literally playing with Brooks and Dunn on Saturday night and then coming here.”
Find out more at www.palmcoastsongwritersfestival.com.
