We are excited to announce the first five songwriters who will be performing at the 2024 Corpus Christi Songwriters Festival! These songwriters will be among the 40 others performing during the fest, Feb. 16-18, 2024 at several venues in downtown Corpus Christi.
Early bird tickets will go on sale Monday, January 8, 2024.
Welcome the first batch of our 2024 artists!
Buddy Mondlock – Kerrville New-Folk Award-winner Buddy Mondlock writes songs. He does it so well that some great songwriters have recorded his songs on their own albums. Guy Clark, Nanci Griffith, and Janis Ian, to name just a few. You might’ve heard his song “The Kid” (recorded by David Wilcox, Peter, Paul and Mary and Cry, Cry, Cry) and maybe even sung it yourself around a campfire. He draws you into his world – where a single snowflake follows the trajectory of a relationship, where you get you pocket picked by a Roman cat, where you might swim over the edge of the world if you’re not careful and where dreams that don’t come true still count.
Michael McNevin – Quirky conversations, odd jobs, and narrow escapes, Kerrville New-Folk Award-winner Michael McNevin’s songs read like short stories—full of heart, humor, and a keen eye for detail. McNevin has been a main-stager at the Kerrville Folk Festival, Strawberry Folk Festival, High Sierra Music Festival, Redwood Ramble, Philly Folk Festival, and SummerFolk in Canada. In his early career, he shared stages with Johnny Cash & The Carter Family, Donovan, Shawn Colvin, Richie Havens, Christine Lavin, Utah Phillips, Robert Earl Keen, Iris Dement, Rosanne Cash, Greg Brown, and many others. As a solo performer, Michael toured the states, and has more recently branched into parts of Europe.
Emma James – 2022 Corpus Christi Songwriter of the Year Emma James is a Texas born and raised singer-songwriter. She has been singing since she was a toddler and frequently put melody to even the most mundane tasks like her elementary math homework. By nine years old, Emma was putting lyrics to melody and entertaining her family. Now, at only 15 years old, she has penned more than 150 original songs. As a multi-instrumentalist playing piano, guitar and ukulele, Emma has established herself as a well-rounded musician and a true artist as she continues to hone her craft.
Michael O’Connor – South Texas Walk-of-Famer and 2020 Corpus Christi Songwriters Hall-of-Famer Michael O-Connor, our official Hometown Boy, is a guitarist, singer and songwriter living in Washington State. For decades he has performed and recorded with musicians including Ray Wylie Hubbard, Slaid Cleaves, Adam Carroll, Susan Gibson, Terri Hendrix, and Jeff Plankenhorn. A lifetime of hard-won experience has allowed Michael a rare insight into the world of the rough, the faithless, the romantic, and the unlucky, all of whom find refuge in his songs. Michael has toured throughout the United States and overseas, performing in esteemed venues and festivals.
Carrie Denniston – Carrie Denniston is a singer/songwriter with over two decades of vocal and piano-playing experience. She has played all over the country, from the West Coast to Colorado to the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Now located in Corpus Christi, she has doubled-down on her songwriting and performing, playing shows throughout the year in the Coastal Bend and beyond. She performed at the fest for the first time during the 2023 Corpus Christi Songwriters Festival
Looks like a great lineup!