2026 Songwriters Circle Showcases April 11, 2026 November 14, 2026 Location: Performance Theatre, Birthplace of Country Music Museum Cost: Free and open to the public, donations encouraged to benefit the artists and the Birthplace of Country Music Museum The Birthplace of Country Music Museum and Songwriters of Highlands Appalachia are proud to continue these events designed to highlight the talents of songwriters in our region. The Songwriters Circle Showcase will be held twice a year in 2026 at 2 p.m. ET, April 11 and November 14, in the performance theater at the museum. These two Showcases accompany the monthly Songwriters Circle events on second Saturdays. The event is free and open to the public; donations are appreciated. The quarterly Songwriters Circle Showcase is an extension of the monthly Songwriters Circle program, organized by Songwriters of Highlands Appalachia, and will consist of artists who participate in the monthly Circle. The Showcase event is structured similarly to “in the round” events, with each songwriter introducing themselves and their song, which will be performed with or without accompaniment. The songwriter will then hold a discussion about the piece–the origins of the song, its structure, and inspiration–and take questions. About the featured Songwriters on April 11 Julia Maggard is an Appalachian songwriter from the mountains of southwest Virginia. Her story started in a Pentecostal mountaintop church when she was only three years old and improvised “Away in a Manger” after a Christmas service. She has been singing ever since. When she was only twenty, she signed with an independent record label that produced her debut album “Hard to Believe.” One of its songs, “Ain’t Made Weak” made to number 77 on the Music Row Breakout charts. Today, she’s fully independent and has a 2026 single called “Forever Won’t Be Long Enough”. Her love of language, storytelling, and people has curated a catalogue of music that truly connects. Jonathan Short has called the APP-UH-LATCH-UN Mountains home his whole life, and like most mountain folk, he has been deeply impacted by mountain music culture. His parents were his first musical influence as part of a southern gospel trio when he was a little boy. Because of the strong religious influence, Jonathan cut his musical teeth by singing in churches in different bands. While still a worship leader in his church, his musical tree sprouted a new branch as his songwriting began taking him on a whole new musical journey. In 2015, Jonathan began gigging around with his rock and roll band, Hello October, playing lots of local music festivals and venues. Now Jonathan is standing out on his own with a new batch of songs and a new emphasis on his songwriting, hoping to pave a new way for himself as a singer/songwriter. He is a member of SOHA (Songwriters of Highlands Appalachia) and the 2025 winner of the Gathering in the Gap Songwriting Contest with his original song, “Hometo...
