By Ken Paulson
For us, the year’s music festivals kick off with the always diverse and engaging line-up at the 10th annual 30A Songwriters Festival in Walton County, Florida Jan. 18-21. Some of the biggest names in Americana music headline the bill, complemented by dozens of 
artists you need to know.
The festival empahsizes the sheer volume of artists: 195 songwriters and more than 250 performances at 30 venues
Among the headliners: Jason Isbell, Brandi Carlile, Rosanne Cash, Patty Griffin, Steve Earle, Shawn Mullins, Hayes Carll, Marc Broussard, Carlene Carter and the Secret Sisters.
Nashville is well represented with Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees Gretchen Peters, Matraca Berg and Jeffrey Steele, plus Tommy Womack, Kim Richey, Webb Wilder, Will Kimbrough, Elizabeth Cook and others that I’ll kick myself for not mentioning.
As Americana and folk as the festival is, some of our favorite moments have come from rock artists. The twin-bill of the Bangles and Matthew Sweet a few years ago comes immediately to mind. Sweet is on the schedule again this year, as well as Rock Hall of Famer Felix Cavaliere of the Rascals.
Planning who you’ll see can be a challenge. Most of the shows are at clubs and restaurants, meaning often limited seating. It’s tough to club hop, but that will mean the opportunity to discover new talent at the club you do settle down in.
Tickets are still available in all sorts of configurations – day and weekend passes – at the festival site.