Island Hopper Songwriter Festival Tours Southwest Florida

HELLO, I'M JENNIFER CRAWFORD. THANK YOU FOR JOINING US AS SOUTHWEST FLORIDA CONTINUES TO CULTIVATE IT'S PROSPERING. ART SCENE, ONE EVENT HAS BEEN OFFERING A BEACH MINDED VOICE FOR ARTISTS FROM ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY. THE ISLAND HOPPER SONGWRITER FESTIVAL BRINGS 10 DAYS WITH MUSIC BEGINNING ON CAPTIVA ISLAND BEFORE SPREADING TO CAPE CORAL. FORT MYERS WITH A WRAP-UP ON FORT MYERS BEACH HAPPENING THIS COMING SUNDAY. WHILE THE EVENT DRAWS ARTISTS FROM NASHVILLE, AUSTIN AND BEYOND IT ALSO SERVES AS AN OPENING FOR LOCAL ARTIST TO BRING THEIR MUSIC TO A LARGER AUDIENCE. >> I'M JOINED BY SOUTHWEST FLORIDA BASED SINGER, SONGWRITER. >> THIS CLAIRE THANK YOU FOR JOINING US IN STUDIO TODAY. WHAT A PLEASURE. THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME. I'M SO GRATEFUL TO BE HERE. >> NOW I KNOW THAT YOU HAVE A GROWING FAN BASE AND YOU HAVE PERFORMED ALL OVER THE COUNTRY. >> HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN YOUR MUSICAL JOURNEY? >> I'M JUST ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A SINGER, SONGWRITER. REMEMBER, EVEN AS YOUNG AS LIKE 3 YEARS OLD. I WANTED TO BE A SINGER AND THEN AS SOON AS I DISCOVERED SONGWRITING, I JUST PICKED UP A GUITAR WHEN I WAS ABOUT 11 AND I JUST STARTED TRYING TO WRITE SONGS LIKE, LIKE MY FAVORITE ARTISTS WERE WRITING THEM AND TRIED TO COPY THEM UNTIL I FIGURED OUT MY OWN VOICE. >> AND HOW CAN YOU DESCRIBE JUST SEE WHAT'S YOUR PERSPECTIVE ON THE MUSICAL SCENE IN SOUTHWEST FLORIDA AND THE ABILITY FOR YOU TO SHARE YOUR BEAUTIFUL TALENTS. >> THERE. THERE'S A LOT OF ROOM FOR GROWTH IN THE MUSIC SCENE HERE IN SOUTHWEST FLORIDA, ESPECIALLY IN THE ORIGINAL MUSIC SCENE. THERE'S SO MANY GREAT ARTISTS THAT ARE UP AND COMING AND THERE'S MORE EVERY SINGLE DAY AND WHAT I WOULD LOVE TO CONTINUE TO SEE OUR SPACE IS POPPING UP THAT ARE FRIENDLY TO UP AND COMING. AND SINGER SONGWRITERS. AND MAYBE LIKE I WOULD LOVE TO SEE MORE LISTENING ROOMS POP UP BECAUSE THERE'S SO MANY PLACES FOR US TO MAKE A LIVING, WHICH IS WHAT I DO ON THE FULL TIME. MUSICIAN YEAR. AND YOU CAN FIND ME AROUND PLAYING IN RESTAURANTS AND BARS AND AND OTHER VENUES AND STUFF. BUT AND I WOULD LOVE MORE OPPORTUNITIES TO PLAY FOR LISTENING AUDIENCE ISN'T GET MY OWN MUSIC AND IN A ROOM WITH PEOPLE AND I HAVE A STRONG RIGHT AROUND. THAT THAT I'VE BEEN HOSTING FOR ABOUT 4 YEARS OR SO. NOW THAT HAS STARTED THE DAY TO HELP INSTIGATE MORE OF THAT IN A FEW MORE OF POPPED UP. BUT ON THE VENUE SITE, I WOULD LOVE TO SEE MORE OF THAT HAPPENED HERE. >> AND YOU HAVE BEEN VERY VISIBLE IN THE LAST 7 DAYS AND WIND ARE TAKING PART IN THE ISLAND. HOPPER, SONGWRITER FAST. YEAH, AND I KNOW IT'S 10 DAYS. USE IT EVERY SINGLE DAY. YOU'RE PLAYING. SO YEAH, THEY ASKED ME TO BE THERE EVERY SINGLE DAY. AND I SAID PUT ME IN COACH. SO TELL US ABOUT THAT. >> SO THIS IS MY 5TH YEAR PERFORMING AT ISLAND HOPPER IT'S ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS I DO ALL YEAR. I LOOK FORWARD TO IT EVERY SINGLE YEAR AND ON THIS YEAR WHEN THEY INVITED ME BACK EVERY SINGLE DAY. I WAS SO EXCITED. I HAVE AT THIS POINT. I'VE MADE SOME FRIENDS FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY THAT NOW IT FEELS LIKE A FAMILY REUNION. EVERY TIME WE GET TO SEE EACH OTHER AND THEN, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE COM AND I GET THAT LISTENING ROOM. WE ALL GET THAT LISTENING ROOM EXPERIENCE HERE BECAUSE PEOPLE COME FOR THAT REASON. AND IT'S JUST A REALLY GOOD FEELING WHEN WHEN YOU SEE PEOPLE REALLY RESONATE WITH A SONG THAT'S PERSONAL TO YOU. >> AND YOU HAD MENTIONED THAT THIS FESTIVAL IS IN MULTIPLE LOCATIONS. IT IS. >> YEAH, IT'S THE FIRST WEEKEND. >> THEY HAVE IT ON CAPTIVA ISLAND. I LOVE THE CAPTIVA LEG. >> OF SO BEAUTIFUL. IT IS. IT'S SO PEACEFUL. >> IT'S A REALLY INTIMATE FEEL THERE THAT THAT WOULD JUST FALL IN LOVE WITH ALL THE TIME. AND THEN IT MOVES TO CAPE CORAL, FLORIDA, WHICH WAS REALLY COOL BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE A LOT OF MUSICIANS LIKE BE PLAY. AND IT'S A NICE OPPORTUNITY FOR VENUES TO. HAVE A DIFFERENT KIND OF EXPERIENCE. AND THEN YESTERDAY AND TODAY IT'S DOWNTOWN FORT MYERS, WHICH IS WHERE ALL BE 07:00PM AT THE LUMINARY HOTEL. AND AT THE POOLSIDE AND THEN REMOVING TO FORT MYERS BEACH. THIS IS A TOUGH INDUSTRY. IT IS TO MAKE MONEY AND AND YOU ARE SUCCESSFUL. WHY ARE YOU SO PASSIONATE ABOUT THIS? >> I JUST LOVE IT SO MUCH. I JUST THERE'S NOTHING I'D RATHER DO. I'VE TRIED TO QUIT MUSIC BEFORE. >> AND I WAS SO UNHAPPY THAT IT JUST STARTED TRICKLING BACK INTO MY LIFE. AND IT'S JUST A PART OF ME. AND I THINK ANYONE HE REACHES THE POINT THAT I HAVE. WE'RE NOT RICH. IT MEANS I CALL MUSIC THE MUSIC INDUSTRY, A NONPROFIT BECAUSE MOST OF US ARE NOT. SUPER WEALTHY. IF IF WE'RE WEALTHY AT ALL WERE GETTING BY AND IF YOU'RE DOING IT AT THIS POINT, IT'S BECAUSE YOU LOVE IT SO MUCH. AND WHAT MAKES ME PASSIONATE ABOUT THAT FOR NOT ONLY MYSELF BUT OTHER ARTIST IS LIKE WHEN YOU HAVE OTHER PEOPLE THAT FEEL THAT WAY, IT'S LIKE YOUR FAMILY AND YOU WANT TO BE THERE FOR EACH OTHER AND YOU WANT TO SUPPORT EACH OTHER AND YOU WANT TO SEE EACH OTHER SUCCEED. >> WHAT KIND OF MUSIC DO YOU RIGHT INTO YOU? SEEING? >> SO WOULD YOU DESCRIBE IT? MY SOLO MUSIC. >> IS WHAT I WOULD CALL A BLEND OF FOLK AMERICANA AND SOUL. SO I COME FROM A BACKGROUND I GREW UP WITH LIKE ROCK AND ROLL. I LISTENED TO A LOT OF SLICK SEOUL, ARETHA FRANKLIN, MAVIS STAPLES. AL GREEN, OTIS REDDING. AND THEN I ALSO LOVE THE BEATLES AND I LOVE JONI MITCHELL AND I LOVE JAMES TAYLOR AND CARLY SIMON. AND SO SOMEHOW ALL OF THOSE THINGS AND THEN I LOVE A LOT OF LIKE MODERN INDIE ROCK, TOO. SO A LOT OF THOSE THINGS START TO BLEND TOGETHER AND MAKES MY SOUND. >> AND CLAIRE, THANK YOU FOR JOINING US IN STUDIO. AND NOW WE GET TO HEAR A SPECIAL PERFORMANCE KILLING.