Before a song hits the charts – or a stadium, or the airwaves – it starts in a room. One writer, maybe two. A melody, a memory, a lyric scrawled on the back of a napkin.
That’s the kind of alchemy on display at the Songwriters’ Round, returning Saturday, August 23, at 6:00 P.M. to the Keller Pavilion at the Boys and Girls Club of the Plateau in Cashiers. It’s a one-night event that strips it all back and lets the stories behind the hits take the stage.
Now in its 19th year, the Round brings back Rivers Rutherford, a Music Row heavyweight with credits spanning Brooks & Dunn, Gretchen Wilson, and Montgomery Gentry. He’s joined by Grammy-winner Tim Nichols, co-writer of Tim McGraw’s “Live Like You Were Dying” – a song that not only topped charts but carved its own place in country music history.
And just announced: Jim Beavers, the Nashville hitmaker behind chart-toppers like “Parachute” by Chris Stapleton, “Drink a Beer” by Luke Bryan, and “Red Solo Cup” by Toby Keith, will also join the lineup.
Together, Rutherford, Nichols, and Beavers represent a staggering catalog of modern country music—songs that have topped charts, won awards, and become part of the American soundtrack.
This isn’t a concert in the usual sense. The Songwriters’ Round is raw and personal: a few songwriters seated in a circle, guitars in hand, trading tunes and telling the stories behind them. Who inspired the lyrics? It’s a rare window into the creative process—and the personalities who drive it.
“It’s not just music – it’s meaning,” says Ali Moody, Vice President of the Blue Ridge School Education Foundation, which presents the event each year. “You get to hear these songs in their purest form, often the way they were originally written.”
But the music is just the beginning. The event supports Blue Ridge School, a Title I public school serving a high percentage of students from low-income households. The Foundation fills the funding gaps with a wide net of impact: classroom technology, field trips that expand perspective, scholarships that unlock opportunity, and instructional tools that help teachers do more with less. Last year’s event raised over $60,000 after expenses and $12,000 in additional donations beyond ticket sales.
Dinner from The Local in Glenville begins at 6:00 P.M., followed by music at 7:30 P.M. and a cash bar throughout. Tickets are $220 or $2,200 for a reserved table of 10, available at brsfoundation.com/songwriters-round.
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