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franklin county times
Photo by Alison James Mousey Brown and Will Stults have worked together to plan a unique Relay for Life event, a songwriters show at the A.W. Todd Center April 14.

Songwriters show set for April 14 for Relay for Life

When it comes to raising money for Relay for Life, yard sales, soup suppers and T-shirt fundraisers are an expected part of the main Relay season. But April 14, Will Stults and Mousey Brown aim to bring a new fundraiser to Franklin County – something many people have likely never before experienced.

Stults, coordinator for North Alabama Songwriters, will host a songwriters show at the A.W. Todd Center April 14. Funds raised will support Relay for Life through the Southside Baptist Church team.

Last year Stults performed as a smaller fundraiser for Relay for Life at Southside Baptist. Seeing how well it was received, “this year we decided to partner together and do something bigger,” Stults said.

In addition to Stults, guests will include songwriter Walt Aldridge, who has several hits and is a professor at UNA, writing songs such as “Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde” (Travis Tritt) and “I Loved Her First” (Heartland), and songwriter Mark Narmore – “He wrote ‘That’s What I Love About Sunday’ for Craig Morgan and ‘Moon Over Georgia’ for Shenandoah,” Stults said.

The songwriter showcase will be “in the row” – which, to explain to the uninitiated in songwriter shows, simply means the participants sit in a row on stage and take turns talking about songs and playing a sample. An example of the style and set-up can be seen at the Bluebird Café in Nashville and on the TV show “Nashville.”

“A songwriter show is a mixture of music and storytelling. They tell where the songs came from and then play the songs,” Stults said. “It’s almost like a mixture of a stand-up comic and storyteller. It’s just really entertaining. It can be a tear-jerker and then a really funny song.”

Brown, who captains the Southside Baptist Relay for Life team with his wife Amy, has been an ardent Relay for Life supporter since 2000, following his own experience with colon cancer from 1998-1999.

“To me it’s important, as a cancer survivor, to raise money here in Franklin County,” Brown said. “A lot of this money goes for cancer research, and it’s very helpful to see people come out to the Relay and support it.”

Brown said when Stults initially proposed the songwriters show, Brown was all for it.

“It’s going to be good thing,” he said. “I’m hoping people will want to come and take part who have never been to a songwriters show like this.”

Narmore, also, said he was immediately behind the idea.

“I jumped right on board,” he said. “For one, because it was an American Cancer Society-related event, and also I just love to do songwriter shows.”

Narmore, who lives in Center Star near the Shoals, said he enjoys “getting to relate how the song was written;” he also, of course, enjoys the performance aspect. He said he thinks people in Russellville, who have a passion for the music scene just as the Shoals does, will support the show and be glad they did.

“They can go home knowing a bit more than they would have, by hearing the songwriter’s perspective,” Narmore said. “They’re just good folks who are going to turn out to help the cancer society and who love music.”

Brown said it’s always meaningful for him each year to see people support Relay and to walk in it himself. Southside Baptist Church, which is also led by help from Jimmy and Sandy Montgomery, last year raised $11,500 for Relay – but Brown doesn’t set out with a benchmark in mind. “Each year, I don’t set a goal, I just raise as much as I can.”

For Narmore, Relay for Life brings to mind his mother, who is a 20-year breast cancer survivor. “It’s something that hits close to home in almost every family,” he said. “I just always believe fueling that research is crucial to keeping those cures coming,”

The show will also feature a silent auction. In addition to locally-crafted artwork and other donated items, one of the key “items” up for auction will be the chance to co-write a song with Stults. “That’s led to some cool things in the past,” Stults said. “I wrote a song with a guy for his daughter’s wedding for the father-daughter dance, and she didn’t know that was what he’d done. I did a demo, and he sang to her while they were dancing. It turned out really good.”

Konner Bendall, a senior at Russellville High School, will perform as an opener.

“It should be really good. I’m excited about it,” Stults said. “I don’t think there’s been an event like this in Russellville.”

Stults said although sometimes people are hesitant to come to a songwriters show – given that songwriters don’t always carry the same name recognition that the performing artists do – “if they come to one, and it’s a good one, they will keep coming back because it’s such a special thing,” Stults said.

Tickets will be sold at the door, and admission is $10 per person. The family-friendly show is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. at the A.W. Todd Center.

Stults, who has performed at multiple Relay for Life events, said being involved with Relay has opened his eyes to the necessity of continued fundraising and awareness. “I just didn’t have any idea how many people cancer affected.”

Franklin County Relay for Life will be held May 5 in downtown Russellville. This year’s theme is Defeat All Cancers.

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