The American Cancer Society Relay for Life is one of the biggest and most important annual events in Franklin County. This year, a few weeks before the community meets in Russellville on May 5, music fans will have another opportunity to help benefit the disease-fighting society.
On Friday, April 14, there will be a Relay For Life Songwriters Showcase at the A.W. Todd Centre in Russellville, headlined by hit songwriter Mark Narmore and recording artist Cameron Blackburn.
“This is just another cool way to help raise money for Relay for Life,” said Will Stults, organizer of the showcase.
This is the second year that Stults and co-organizer Milfred “Mousey” Brown have put together the showcase to benefit Relay for Life.
Stults, who was inspired by Brown’s own battle with cancer, said the two held a similar event at Southside Baptist Church last year and felt it was successful enough to do it again.
“We had a pretty good turnout the first time, so we thought we’d something even bigger this year,” he said. “There’s not a whole lot of things like this happening in Russellville so we’re excited about it and hope a lot of people will come out to support it.”
For those that may not know exactly what a songwriters showcase is, Stults says it is a mix between a concert and a storytelling.
“We’ll have some music to open up with. Konner Bendall, who goes to Russellville High School and plays a lot at Destination Restaurant, is going to open it up for us,” he said. “Then a lot of it is going to be songwriters telling about how they came up with a song and a lot of stories that go along with the songs they’ve written.”
One of the “storytellers” will be songwriter Mark Narmore who wrote the Billboard chart topper “That’s What I Love About Sunday” for country artist Craig Morgan. Narmore has also had songs recorded by Josh Turner, John Michael Montgomery, Shenandoah, Blackhawk, Terri Clark, and others.
Stults, who is the regional chapter coordinator for the North Alabama Songwriters, said it was not difficult to get the hit songwriter to jump on board for the event.
“We’re excited about Mark coming over for it,” he said. “I’ve known Mark for a long time and he was happy to help. In this business you get to know people and get close with them over the years. Songwriters are a big community.”
The other headliner is Cameron Blackburn.
“Cameron is more of a recording artist than a songwriter, but he does write a good bit,” Stults said. “He’s a young up-and-coming guy and we’ve done a lot of shows together.”
Besides the entertainment provided by Narmore, Blackburn and Bendall, Stults said there will also be a silent auction. Guitars and other musical equipment and items will be auctioned off, but Stults, a songwriter himself, will auction off some talent, too.
“I’ve helped with a benefit at St. Jude’s and we had an auction for a song writing session,” Stults said. “It was a big hit. We’ll write a song for your daughter, your wife, your ex-wife, or whoever you want. Or we can sit down and try to write a hit.”
Admission to the Relay for Life Songwriters Showcase is $10. Those interested can find out more information by emailing Will Stults at wcstults@yahoo.com.
