OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. (WLOX) — The 17th annual Mississippi Songwriters Festival began Thursday evening in Ocean Springs with the festival’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
The Mississippi Songwriters Alliance inducted Son House and Johnny Cole into the Songwriters Hall of Fame Thursday night. Cole received the Contributor’s Award.
Band inducted for first time
The alliance also inducted the first full band into the hall of fame. 3 Doors Down, which originated in Escatawpa, was recognized during the ceremony.
Guitarist Chris Henderson said the honor is meaningful for the whole band.
“I never wanted to be a songwriter. I don’t think anybody in my band really wanted to be songwriters. I just wanted to be in a band. And I think, you know, all of us together are really good at it. But one of us at each set of time weren’t as good as we needed to be, so we needed the other guys,” Henderson said.
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Alliance documents state’s musical history
The alliance began inducting hall of fame members in 2019. Mississippi Songwriters Alliance President George Cumbest said the ceremony documents the state’s musical history.
“When you look at the history of Mississippi, we’ve had more Grammy artists per capita come out of our state than any other place in the country. So the amount of songwriters that come from our area on the whole state is a lot. It’s just like a treasure for the state. It tells our history,” Cumbest said.
Friday, songwriters begin performing at 14 different venues in Ocean Springs and Gautier.
A full list of performances during the Mississippi Songwriters Festival is available at msafestival.org.
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