Each year, we invite a select group of new songwriters to join our festivals, alongside our many returning songwriters. Our Rising Stars are recruited through various channels, including other festivals, reputation, attending live shows, referrals, our annual songwriting contest, and direct inquiries.
We do not hire songwriters through bookers or management companies. If you represent a songwriter who would like to perform at our festivals, please have them contact us directly. We encourage songwriters who utilize a booker or management company to pay any booking fee they are obligated to.
Many of our Rising Stars are discovered at our Rocky Mountain Songwriting Contest. Past winners include Michelle Rivers, Reese Sullivan, Dallas Remington, Goldpine (Ben & Kassie Wilson), and Daniel Neihoff, all of whom are regular Songwriters at our festivals. The winner of our annual contest receives an automatic invitation to return to the Red Lodge Songwriter Festival the following year as a Rising Star, and the top five get strong consideration to play our other festivals. We will begin accepting songs for the 2025 contest on October 1, 2024.
We hire two levels of songwriters for our festivals. Legends and Headliners and Rising Stars.
Legends and Headliners write primarily for the country music world. Invited hit songwriters have written one or more hit songs on the Billboard charts. Past performers include, Brett Jones, Gary Nicholson (Nashville Songwriter Hall of Fame), Leslie Satcher, Wynn Varble, Kostas (Nashville Songwriter Hall of Fame), Tony Lane, Sunny Sweeney, Karen Staley, Randy Montana, Erin Enderlin, Angela Kaset, Chuck Cannon, Gretchen Peters (Nashville Songwriter Hall of Fame), Billy Montana, Erin Enderlin and Even Stevens (Nashville Songwriter Hall of Fame) among others.
Our Rising Stars are professional singer-songwriters who play in the pubs and restaurants during the festivals. They perform the majority of the shows on a combination of days—Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. These shows are in a songwriter round format with two to three songwriters. They perform in a different venue with a different songwriter each day.
We pay a talent fee that reflects the experience of meeting & playing with other great songwriters, as well as enjoying the experience of visiting Montana and/or Wyoming.
Over the past nine years, we have created a songwriting community where songwriters form lifelong friendships and, in many cases, collaborate and perform together in subsequent years. It is those personal connections that make this festival special.
If you are interested in performing as a Rising Star songwriter at one of our festivals, read on.
As a Rising Star, you will play four to five shows during each festival. Shows are in a songwriter round with one to two other songwriters. Each round is an hour and fifteen minutes. During each round, you will play 3-5 songs. We are looking for songwriters who can perform 10-15 songs from their repertoire with confidence before a live audience. Songwriters must have a library of songs that range from up-tempo to slow ballads. Writing and creating music is one thing; performing in front of a live audience and sharing the stage with other great songwriters is another.
Rising Stars are considered using the following criteria:
- You are a professional musician who makes a significant portion of your income from performing and writing your own music.
- We review a songwriter’s music.
- Lyrics
- Vocals
- Mastery of your instrument
- Song style and tempo variation
- Presence on streaming services. Have you released any new music?
- Spotify
- Apple Music
- Web Site
- Tour schedule
- Bio
- Social media presence
- Facebook/Instagram
- Youtube
Rising Stars are paid a minimum of $900 for four shows and $150/per show for additional shows. The majority of our songwriters will play 4-5 shows during a festival. We offer host housing during the festival; however, we do not cover the expenses of songwriters for travel to and from Red Lodge and while performing at the festival.
Songwriter Guidelines: You will be selected out of hundreds of songwriters because we believe in you and your abilities to entertain our fans.
Our job is to set the stage so you can share your music with our fans and hopefully evoke an emotional response from them – laughter, happiness, an old memory, sadness, or simply tell them a great story with your song.
All of our shows are ticketed shows. Our fans can pay as much as several hundred dollars to attend your show. Our fans come to be entertained, and come to listen to great songs and stories. Over the course of the weekend, they may attend as many as six to ten shows and see you play multiple times. It is an excellent opportunity for you to create new fans for your music.
All of our shows are songwriter rounds with two or more songwriters. Think of the round as an entire show, and you are just one of its parts. When the parts all work together, interact with each other, and appreciate one another, the show is excellent.
We have a saying around our festivals, “Our Songwriters are better people off stage than they are on stage, and they’re great on stage”. You can expect to be treated professionally and with great respect for your talents. We expect the same from you toward our staff, volunteers, fans, sponsors, and community.
Song Selection: You all have a signature or fan favorite song; it’s okay to repeat this song during your various rounds. In fact, some fans may follow you around to hear you play that one song. However, the majority of your songs should be fresh to each round. You should plan to have at least fifteen, or more, songs to share with the audience. You should be flexible with your playlist. Be prepared to play an up-tempo song if the two songwriters before you play a slow ballad. Nothing will suck the energy out of an audience faster than three or four slow songs in a row. I would suggest opening and closing with an upbeat song. Be fun, be entertaining, make people smile. We’re not saying you shouldn’t play an emotional ballad; you should, just don’t let it define you as a songwriter.
Song intros & fan banter: We all enjoy a good story and banter before your song; however, remember you are sharing the stage with one or two other songwriters. Song intros should be concise, have a point, and, if possible, be humorous. The trip down memory lane in your grandpa’s truck may be necessary to you, but it may bore the audience. You might have heard the old cliche “Is there a song in that story somewhere?” You’ll want to be sure that doesn’t apply to you.
Don’t Look Plain: This is the least cool thing to talk about, but it’s essential. And for some reason, women understand this concept more than men. You’re on stage, inviting people to look at you for one hour and fifteen minutes. You’re sitting next to or between other songwriters. Be professional in your stage attire, give the audience something enjoyable (and memorable) to look at! You don’t have to look like Chris Issak, but wear something that is patently you. Dress UP! If you look plain, people will think your music is plain. Unless your name is Neil Young, be a professional and appear as though you care.
You’re bored, drunk, or hungover on stage: You are an integral part of the festival, and we expect your best every time you are on one of our stages. When you’re on stage, you are performing, so perform! Don’t sit or stand there like you’re bored when it’s not your time to play. If you can’t wait to be off the stage, guess what, the audience can’t wait for you to be off the stage as well. If you don’t feel like performing, don’t appreciate the audience, and are completely bored, don’t take the stage.
We recognize that music festivals are an opportunity for celebration and gathering with friends and fellow musicians; however, we expect you to be professional and aware of your limits when it comes to alcohol and potentially other substances. Yes, cannabis is legal in Montana. However, being drunk, noticeably stoned, and/or hungover on stage is a sure way never to be asked back to one of our festivals.
Be on Time: We work hard to stay on schedule, so please arrive on time. Sound Checks are fifteen minutes before your scheduled show.
We do not hire songwriters through bookers or management companies. If you represent a songwriter who would like to perform at our festivals, please have them contact us directly. We encourage songwriters who utilize a booker or management company to pay any booking fee they are obligated to.
If you are interested in being considered as one of our Songwriters in 2026, please send a CD of your original music and bio to the address below.
We are often asked, “Why do I need to send a CD”? Simple, we want to see the liner notes, who wrote the songs, who played on the album, who produced it, and whether it was professionally done. In today’s electronic world, it is easy to reproduce music.
I appreciate your interest.
Mike Booth – Executive Director
Rocky Mountain Songwriter Festivals
P.O. Box 830
Red Lodge, Montana 59068
