Know Before Go: 2023 Cosmic Songwriter Festival – www.cosmicsongwriter.com
What is it?
The Cosmic Songwriter Festival is a new live music festival starting in Bloomington, Indiana on Wednesday, May 17 and running through Saturday, May 20, 2023. The multi-venue music festival emerges from Bloomington’s popular monthly Cosmic Songwriters Club featuring musical artists sharing the stage to perform original songs in an intimate, listening-room environment.
That unique format of two artists performing together will be followed for the festival. “We encourage artists to share stories about the inspiration and writing process of their songs. We call it cosmic because we want to bring people together to share their art with each other and the audience. We encourage a sense of serendipity, magic, and community.” – Pablo ‘Oso’ Fuentes, Cosmic Songwriters Club Co-founder.
When and where is it?
May 17-20, 2023 -- all venues are located in Bloomington, Indiana.
Wednesday, May 17 - 7:00 PM ET – Orbit Room at 107 N. College Avenue
Thursday, May 18 - 7:00 PM ET – The Bluebird at 216 N. Walnut Street
Friday, May 19 - 7:00 PM ET – Blockhouse Bar at 205 S. College Avenue
Saturday, May 20 - 12:00 PM ET – Switchyard Park Pavilion at 1601 S. Rogers Street
Saturday, May 20 - 7:00 PM ET - Buskirk Chumley Theater at 114 E. Kirkwood Avenue
Who is performing?
30 musical artists are paired up and performing at five venues/showcases over four days:
Orbit Room (limited tickets):
The Bluebird:
Jarrod Dickenson & JP Ruggieri
Blockhouse Bar:
Silvia Josefina & Adam deWeber
Bloomington Music Expo at the Switchyard Park Pavilion:
Matt Lundquist & Rickie Maxwell
Buskirk-Chumley Theater:
S.G. Goodman & Aaron Lee Tasjan
Charlie Jesseph & The Reverent Few
Where do I get tickets?
Tickets can be purchased in advance at www.cosmicsongwriter.com or at the venue.
Tickets prices for the showcases are quite affordable:
May 17 – Orbit Room (limited tickets at door)
May 18 – The Bluebird ($16.50)
May 19 – Blockhouse Bar ($12.50)
May 20 – Bloomington Music Expo (FREE)
May 20 - Buskirk-Chumley ($18.50)
Festival Pass ($38.50)
Festival tips:
All of the showcases are going to be fantastic, but if you are a singer/songwriter fan, you are really going to love the festival. It’s like having these artists in your living room!
The Orbit Room is the home of the monthly Cosmic Songwriters Club and kicks off the festival on Wednesday, May 17. Austin musician, Jaimee Harris, co-headlines that evening with Luke Powers. Due to limited capacity, a festival pass will not get you into the Orbit Room, but there will be a few tickets available for this showcase for purchase at the Orbit Room door. Plenty of tickets are available to purchase for all other showcases.
Bloomington native Jason Wilber co-headlines The Bluebird on May 18. Jason was John Prine’s guitarist for 24 years and is an incredible singer, songwriter, musician, and storyteller. The harmonies of his co-headliners, the Local Honeys, will amaze you. And I'm telling you do not sleep on the pairing of Rikki Jean and Dakota Curtis. They are two of my very favorite Bloomington roots rockers.
Nashville Songwriter Hall of Fame member, Kostas, co-headlines with Grammy-nominated songwriter, Helen Darling, at The Blockhouse on May 19. Kostas wrote a few songs recorded by Dwight Yoakam and Helen is best known for her #1 hit song Bring On The Rain recorded by Jo Dee Messina and Tim McGraw.
The Bloomington Music Expo is taking place at Switchyard Park on May 20 from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. 25 vendors will be there selling vinyl, cds, and all kinds of music-related art and merchandise. Plus we are having a Cosmic Songwriter Festival showcase from 12:00 noon to 3:00 PM featuring Bloomington musical artist Matt Lundquist (won the John Hartford Memorial Festival Songwriter Challenge in 2022) and five other unique songwriters. The Bloomington Music Expo is FREE to attend!
Later that evening, get ready for S.G. Goodman and Aaron Lee Tasjan to co-headline the final night of Cosmic at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. The NY Times says Goodman “approaches her songs as though they were stories, emphasizing character and scene.” S.G. was recently named an Americana Music Association award nominee for best emerging artist. The Tennessean compares Tasjan to Rock & Roll Hall of Fame members Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne!
I suggest you make it multiple date nights with your significant other and get out there to support this great new festival. There’s never a bad time to go out and see live music in Bloomington, but right now is particularly a magical time. Again, plenty of tickets are available for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday and you can buy those at www.cosmicsongwriter.com. See you there!
