Category Archives: Music

Videos: Suwannee Riverkeeper about Songwriting Contest on Scott James Radio 2022-08-18

Thanks to Scott James for half an hour of radio time Thursday, mostly about the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest. The Contest is 7-11 PM today, Saturday, August 20, 2022, at the Turner Center Art Park, 605 N. Patterson St., Valdosta GA 31601.

For entry tickets and how you can get a raffle ticket for that Vibe Yellowfin 120 kayak donated by Georgia Beer Co., see:
https://wwals.net/pictures/2022-08-20–songwriting/

[Mayor, Plaques, Sponsors]
Mayor, Plaques, Sponsors

Who’s going to draw the winning kayak raffle ticket? The one and only hippie, kayaking, radio Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson.

Which of the five Finalists will MC Chuck Roberts announce as winners Continue reading →

Videos: Suwannee Riverkeeper on Scott James radio 2022-07-19

Songwriters, don’t forget to send in your song to the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest by tomorrow, July 20, 2022! Really final deadline this time.

[Movie: Intro: Suwannee Riverkeeper and WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc.]
Movie: Intro: Suwannee Riverkeeper and WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc.

Valdosta Mayor Scott James and Suwannee Riverkeeper talked about that and many other topics on his radio show this morning.

Here’s a Continue reading →

WWALS at Hahira Pick In, Train Depot 2022-03-19

Restarting a Hahira tradition. There will be live music from 12 – 10 p.m., food trucks, and vendors!

Hahira is between the Little and Withlacoochee Rivers, and the Hahira City Council in 2018 passed a resolution in support of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT).

When: 12 PM, Sunset 7:43:00 PM, end 10 PM, Saturday, March 19, 2022

Put In: Train Depot, 220 W Main St, Hahira, GA 31632

GPS: 30.991672, -83.374304

Fee: The City of Hahira is charging a $20 entrance fee, or $10 for children ages 6-13.
Or WWALS members can volunteer at the WWALS booth.
We recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/#join

Event: facebook, meetup

[WWALS booth, Hahira Pick In]
WWALS booth, Hahira Pick In
(WWALS booth pictures by Gretchen Quarterman from Hahira Honeybee Festival 2021-10-02)

Continue reading →

Video: Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest (all of it) 2021-08-21

We livestreamed the Fourth Annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest over facebook live and zoom. This is the zoom video, for those who want to see how the whole thing went.

[Musicians, others, and winners]
Musicians, others, and winners

Yep, this is the whole thing, from soundcheck to teardown. In between, headliner Little Perks in Paradise plays, three judges perform as a band, then nine finalists perform for the judges, the judges pick winners, and the First Prize winner, Sweet William Billy Ennis, sings again.

Here’s the video: Continue reading →

J.J. Rolle, singer, actor, Judge at Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest –VDT 2021-08-29

Amanda M. Usher, The Valdosta Daily Times, 29 August 2021, Soul Man: Rolle makes his mark singing, acting,

John Jeffery ‘J.J.’ Rolle is a performer and judge at the recent Fourth Annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest. Rolle has been a musician for decades.

VALDOSTA — “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages … put your hands together for Valdosta’s very own, J.J. Rolle,” emcee Wes James called out at the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest.

[J.J. Rolle: judge and performer; Photo: Angela Duncan]
J.J. Rolle: judge and performer; Photo: Angela Duncan

John Jeffery “J.J.” Rolle, longtime entertainer and one of three judges at the contest held last week, strummed an upbeat tempo to the tune of “Blackwater” by the Doobie Brothers.

Though the guitar was Rolle’s choice of instrument, he doesn’t consider himself a guitarist.

“I play enough to write songs and accompany myself while singing,” he said. “I do consider myself a singer. I guess my voice would be my instrument.”

There’s more about J.J.’s background in the article, singing and acting.

The article continues: Continue reading →

O’Brien man places in songwriting contest –Lake City Reporter 2021-08-24

Staff Report, Lake City Reporter, August 24, 2021, “O’Brien man places in songwriting contest: Wingate one of nine finalists from across the southeast.” [See also Valdosta Today.]

VALDOSTA — Chosen from a record number of finalists, an O’Brien man was one of three winners named Saturday night at the fourth annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest.

Out of the nine finalists that competed at the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts’ Art Park, O’Brien’s KJ Wingate won for the best song from inside the Suwannee River basin. Wingate won a $50 prize from the WWALS Watershed Coalition for his folk/country song, “The Hymn of Convict Spring.”

[Lake City Reporter, KJ Wingate, Rachel Grubb]
Lake City Reporter, KJ Wingate, Rachel Grubb
Finalists that competed in the fourth annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting contest included O’Brien’s KJ Wingate (from left), Katherine Ball, David Rodock, Sweet William Billy Ennis, Jimi Davies and his brother, Kathy Lou Gilman and Rachel Hillman. Not pictured are Brandon Fox and Lake City’s Rachel Grubb, who could not attend. Angela Duncan Courtesy of WWALS.

Other winners Saturday included Continue reading →

Winners: Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2021-08-21

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Hahira, GA, August 23, 2021 — Chosen by three judges from a record number of Finalists from Atlanta to Palatka, WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc. (WWALS) is pleased to announce the winners of the Fourth Annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest.

[All winners]
All winners.
L-R: KJ Wingate, Katherine Ball, David Rodock, Sweet William Billy Ennis, Jimi Davies and his brother, Kathy Lou Gilman, Rachel Hillman.
Photo: Angela Duncan for WWALS.

The winner of Continue reading →

Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2021-08-21 on Scott James Radio 2021-08-12

Tickets are $10 online or $12 at the door, for the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, coming up at 7PM this Saturday, August 21, 2021, at the Turner Center Art Park in Valdosta, Georgia. Scott James and I discussed it on his radio show a week ago: Nine finalists, three singing judges, and this year’s Master of Ceremonies is Big Country Wes James of WAAC Rivers Radio.

Get tickets to the Songwriting Contest here:
https://wwals.net/pictures/2021-08-21–songwriting


[Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2018-08-21]
Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2018-08-21

Here are links to each video segment about the Contest, followed by a WWALS video playlist: Continue reading →

Brian Barker plays The River @ Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2020-08-20

Song submissions for this year are still open through tomorrow, Wednesday, July 14, 2021!

Send in your song now through this entry form:
https://forms.gle/tWrqas7qPWDKgpqF6

If your song makes you a finalist, you will be eligible for the $300 prize and studio time, or the other prizes, at the Suwannee Riverkeeeper Songwriting Contest, 7-11 PM, Saturday, August 21, 2021 at the Turner Center Art Park in Valdosta, Georgia.

All about this year’s contest:
https://wwals.net/pictures/2021-08-21–songwriting/

Meanwhile, from last year, here’s Brian Barker playing his song, The River, via zoom from Kentucky.

[Brian Barker singing The River, applause afterwards]
Brian Barker singing The River, applause afterwards

Sorry about the bad aim with the videos: we were making up the zoom method as we went along. At least you can hear him.

We promise to do better videoing this year.

Here’s a WWALS video playlist:

Continue reading →

Walter Parks, bard of Okefenokee Swamp Hollers

If you like the Okefenokee Swamp and you don’t know Walter Parks, you’ll thank yourself for listening to him.

Walter Parks on twitter

Here’s a video he did for the Library of Congress: Walter Parks: Haunting Swamp Hollers from Georgia.


Walter Parks was raised in Jacksonville, Florida. A consummate guitarist, he formed the duo The Nudes in 1991, and spent much of the 1990s touring with them around the US. The Nudes toured as a supporting act for Woodstock legend Richie Havens, and after the duo’s breakup Parks was enlisted as Havens’s guitarist and right-hand man. With Havens, Walter performed Madison Square Garden, Carnegie Hall and The Cannes Film Festival. With his trio Swamp Cabbage, Walter has performed The Breminale Festival in Germany and toured Spain twice. Through his deep interest in the music of his native region, he has become an expert on the American Folklife Center’s Francis Harper collection of folk music of the Okefenokee Swamp region of Georgia. For the Homegrown 2020 series, he will perform an entire program of material based on field recordings from the AFC’s collections.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!