Blast on the Bay begins Thursday

Considered Gulf County’s premier music, the Blast on the Bay Songwriters Festival will begin its 12th  year of performances this weekend, kicking off with a low country boil on the Windmark Beach Green Thursday at 6 p.m. EDT.

The event, which features performances by three dozen songwriters at various venues throughout South Gulf County, will run through Sunday, October 23.

Performers in the festival include  songwrites plucked straight from the streets of Nashville who have written songs for big names such as Florida Georgia Line and George Strait.

“As I understand, there have been record ticket sales this year,” said one of the event’s founders, David Warriner. “So, we’re expecting crowds to be large.”

But despite the increasing crowd sizes, Warriner said the organizers of the festival do a lot to preserve the event’s unique charm.

“We like to keep it small and keep it kind of intimate,” he said. “That’s the one thing that’s unique to our festival compared to the others, which have grown into these behemoths that they can’t really control, and the prices get out of hand.”

“We try to share the love enough with our venues to where everybody’s happy and everybody gets a little piece of the pie.”

Tickets for the event are no longer being sold online, but they are available at  The Port Inn, and wristbands will be sold at performance venues during the event.

For more information about the festival, visit their website by clicking here.

Blast on the Bay Performance Schedule

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20

6 p.m. — Low County Boil — Windmark Green
7 p.m. — Kick-off party featuring Vinyl Radio (general admission and VIP) — Windmark Green

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21

1 p.m. — Steve Dean, Bill Whyte, Victoria Venir — Krazyfish
1 p.m. — Grace Morrison, Jimmy Stanley — The Brickwall
3 p.m. — Jason Byrd, Brett Kelley, Danny Wells — Krazyfish
4 p.m. — Tim Buppert, Ron Wallace, Allison Clarke — Scallop Republic
5 p.m. — Wil Nance, Pete Sallis, Brian White, Chip Martin — Lookout Lounge
5:30 p.m. — Ronnie Kimball, Donny Lowrey, Steve Dean, Keith Anderson — Taproot
6 p.m. — Bill Whyte, Lauren Spring, Jerry Salley — Scallop Republic
7 p.m. — Earl Bud Lee, Dana Hunt Black, Victoria Venier — Lookout Lounge
7 p.m. — Brooks Huntley, Jesse Rice, Karen Waldrup — The Mill at Windmark
7:30 p.m. — Brett Jones, John Wiggins, Alan Rhody — Taproot
8 p.m. — Will Rambeaux, Sherrie Austin, Alison Nichols — Scallop Republic
9 p.m. — Leslie Satcher, Keith Anderson, Jimmy Stanley — The Mill at Windmark
9:30 p.m. — Clint Daniels, Jimmy Miller, Jean Nolan, Grace Morrison — Taproot

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22

11 a.m. — Will Rambeaux, Sherrie Austin, Alison Nichols — Krazyfish
1 p.m. — Ron Wallace, Allison Clarke, Chip Martin — Krazyfish
1 p.m. — Wil Nance, Brian White, Leslie Satcher, Jimmy Miller — Taproot
2 p.m. — Tim Buppert, Clint Daniels, Lauren Spring — Lookout Lounge
3 p.m. — Dana Hunt Black, Jason Byrd, Pete Sallis — Taproot
4 p.m. — Jerry Saley, Brett Jones, Jesse Rice — Lookout Lounge
4 p.m. — Grace Morrison, Brooks Huntley, Keith Anderson — Scallop Republic
5 p.m. — Steve Dean, Bill Whyte, Victoria Venier — Haughty Heron
6 p.m. — Danny Wells, Jimmy Stanley, Donny Lowery — Scallop Republic
7 p.m. — Karen Waldrup, Brett Kelly, John Wiggins, Wil Nance — Haughty Heron
8 p.m. — Jean Nolan, Earl Bud Lee, Alan Rhody — Scallop Republic
9 p.m. — Brett Jones, Leslie Satcher, Ronnie Kimball, Pete Sallis — Haughty Heron

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 23

10 a.m. — First United Methodist Church featuring Jerry Salley — First United Methodist Church
10 a.m. — Brunch — The View on Old 98
10:30 a.m. — Allison Clarke, Brooks Huntley, Chip Martin — The View on Old 98
11 a.m. — Pete Sallis, Brian White, Wil Nance, Ronnie Kimball, Grace Morrison — Indian Pass Raw Bar
12:30 p.m. — Jerry Salley, Steve Dean, Bill Whyte, Victoria Venier, Alan Rhody — Indian Pass Raw Bar
2 p.m. — Dana Hunt Black, Jimmy Stanley, Karen Waldrup, Tim Buppert, Jean Nolan — Indian Pass Raw Bar
3:30 p.m. — Will Rambeaux, Sherrie Austin, Alison Nichols, Donny Lowery, Lauren Spring — Indian Pass Raw Bar
5 p.m. — Jesse Rice, Clint Daniels, Leslie Satcher, Brett Kelly, John Wiggins — Indian Pass Raw Bar
6:30 p.m. — Earl Bud Lee, Ron Wallace, Keith Anderson, Danny Wells — Indian Pass Raw Bar