SongFarmers Cultivate Creativity And Community In Renfro Valley, Kentucky for 8th Annual Gathering
SongFarmers, an international community of musicians and artists, will host its 8th annual gathering in Renfro Valley, KY at the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame this May 17 and 18. The organization was created by Michael Johnathon, acclaimed folksinger, composer, poet, musician, renowned banjo/guitar player and host of the syndicated TV and radio show WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour.
“The music business has changed and left thousands of passionate, motivated, talented musicians and songwriters in an artistic void,” says Johnathon. “What can they do with their skills in a music world that doesn’t buy CDs anymore?”
To answer this need, Johnathon founded SongFarmers in 2015. This international community of musicians and artists will host its 2024 gathering at the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame this May. Active SongFarmers members get two free tickets to attend both days of the National Gathering. Attendees are invited to bring your instrument, your voice and your songs for a “front porch picking time” with SongFarmers.
Find more information on the annual gathering and how to start your own local chapter at SongFarmers.org.
“When we gather for the SongFarmers gathering, we do more than just play chords; we are creating and nurturing our community,” says Johnathon. “SongFarmers is not about the spotlight; it’s about the porch light. Together, we are rewriting the narrative of what is considered ‘success’ when we think of music. SongFarmers is an emotional front porch which you can join from around the world, where every note played builds connections and every lyric sung tells a story.”
With almost 100 active chapters where the local community of music lovers attend for free, SongFarmers is for “front porch” minded musicians, songwriters and fans who appreciate the simplicity of rural music. The group seeks to provide purpose and direction for musicians often overlooked by the conventional music scene. Rejecting the illusion of traditional success, SongFarmers offers a global network where musicians, as “SongFarmers,” become leaders and mentors in their communities through monthly gatherings.
SongFarmers was born as a reaction to the changing needs of working musicians. Johnathon saw the shift from physical music sales to digital consumption and realized that very soon, songwriters and artists who were already struggling to make a living would face an even greater barrier to success with the online world. SongFarmers provides new direction for musicians who want to continue their craft while also making a living outside the music industry.
This grassroots approach of the organization redirects the passion and skills of local musicians, giving them a meaningful outlet and dispelling the myth that success is confined to record deals and world tours.
“I am grateful to so many others who care enough about music and their communities to start a hometown SongFarmers chapter. Perry Brake, Skip Johns, Rik Palieri and others like Doug Oines, Loretta Sawyer, Chris Desa, Janice Alvarado, Ellen Mershon, Pat Kelleher in Ireland, Ken Miller, Kari Estrin, Bryan Klausing and many others, too many to mention, are helping SongFarmers literally build a front porch around the world,” says Johnathon.
Join the SongFarmers movement and rediscover the joy of making music with purpose at SongFarmers.org.
About Michael Johnathon
Michael Johnathon is a banjo playing folksinger. He was Pete Seeger’s neighbor growing up along the Hudson River in his hometown of Beacon, NY. These days, his worldview is shaped from the front porch of his log cabin home outside of Lexington, Kentucky. Among the throngs of artists in the music world, few have elevated “dreaming” to such a high art form.
“Never before in the history of the world has the need to revisit the meaning and spirit of the front porch been so needed,” Johnathon says. “Indeed, war, pandemic and economic uncertainty, civil unrest and gun violence, the shattering of accepted norms and the incessant social media noise have caused many to look back to re-examine where we are heading.”
He has tapped into a global need for friends, community and the genuine comfort that organic art can give in a world of incessant stress.
“We are living among the first generation in human history that gets its music and art as a flatscreen, cell phone, digital tsunami of ones and zeros,” he says. “The real, front porch, organic world of music and art is fading away.”
It is an unlikely career trajectory that hasn’t been seen since folksinger Pete Seeger decided to build the Clearwater sloop to help clean up the Hudson River. While musicians and songwriters reach out for a golden ring that no longer exists in a record industry that has essentially collapsed, Michael Johnathon reaches instead to a global fan base made up of neighbors, families and fellow musicians. He believes in the passion and energy of those artists, the greatest stage in the world is the emotional front porch, the brightest spotlight shines on the figurative living room couch. His belief in the front porch spirit has resulted in powerful partnerships. In fact, the WoodSongs broadcast is described on-air as a multimedia front porch.
The Governor of Kentucky presented him the highest award the Commonwealth can give any artist, the prestigious Milner Award of the Arts, reserved for the likes of Wendell Berry, James Still, Jean Ritchie and others.
For more information visit michaeljohnathon.com.
