Kate Neal and Tom Brown
From left, Tom Brown, Scott Jackson and Charlsey Etheridge
From left, Tom Brown, Mabel Craig and Charlsey Etheridge
From left, Tom Brown, Zach Kilmer and Charlsey Etheridge
From left, Tom Brown, Tim Chastian and Charlsey Etheridge
From left, Tom Brown, Easton Chambers and Charlsey Etheridge
From left, Derek Stone, Jack Endelouz, and Randall Scott Robions at the songwriter round at Cohutta General Store
Matthew Gunn
CSF vendors
The Cohutta Song Fest has announced winners in the Songwriting Competition. First place winner overall in the competition was Kate Neal a high school sophomore from Lookout Mountain, Ga., with her song “Cut Me Loose”. She was also a winner in the youth category. When asked when she began writing songs, Kate jokingly replied, “It may have been inutero when my parents (folk/rock duo Jennifer Daniels and Jeff Neal) were playing concerts right up to the delivery date.” Her debut album is scheduled for release soon and she can be followed on instagram @kateneal_songbird.
The People’s Choice Award went to Scott Jackson of Cohutta, who also was a winner in the Folk Category. Easton Chambers of Dalton won in the Country Category with his song “Learned My Lessons”. Tim Chastain of Chatsworth, won in the Gospel category with “Old Man Joe”, and Matthew Gunn of Dalton was selected in the Americana category for his song “Anyone But Me”.
Other winners in the Cohutta Song Fest Competition include: Kathy Veazey of Chattanooga who tied with Zach Kilmer of Murphy, NC in the Blues category; Knoxville’s Elizabeth Sherman in the Bluegrass category; and Youth Finalist Winner Mabel Craig of Leawood, KS. The First Place Winner Kate Neal will receive $250 and four hours of studio recording time at Witt Studios in Villanow, Ga.
Sponsored by Bigham Discount Music, the Cohutta Song Fest Songwriting Competition attracted over 60 entries from seven states. Seven of the nine finalists performed their songs at the Cohutta Community Center in front of a judging panel that included IBMA award winning singer-songwriter Becky Buller, songwriter Ed Snodderly who teaches songwriting at ETSU, and WUTC 88.1 NPR Radio host and producer Richard Winham. The audience members also got a chance to get involved, casting a vote for their favorite song to determine the People’s Choice Award.
The Cohutta Song Fest was a two day event organized by Charlsey Etheridge and Tom Brown which featured 40 singer songwriters at four venues and 30 plus vendors in downtown Cohutta. Sponsors who helped make the Song Fest happen include Zach Woody of Edward Jones, First Bank, State Farm agent Caleb Holloway, Johnson Law, Cohutta Calibration, Senior Medicare Fraud Patrol, and North Georgia Toyota. Double Platinum and Platinum Sponsors were The Community Foundation of Northwest Georgia, The Creative Arts Guild, and North GA Electric Membership Cooperative. Venues were provided by the Cohutta General Store, RBC Properties, the Red Wolfe Grill, and the city of Cohutta.