The CAA’s Prison Art Program

Shortly after Caitlin Cannon took third place honors at this year’s Telluride Bluegrass festival, Saving Country Music published these prophetic words, “She’s not a songwriter for the winners. She’s a songwriter for the broken, the downtrodden, the losers, the motherf—. She sings about real sh— that most other songwriters don’t have the guts to broach. A crack pool player and a hilarious person on stage that could have a second career as a comedian, Caitlin Cannon is one of those country artists that slides so criminally under the radar, it angers the blood…” 

While Cannon has done her share of winning (Songwriter Serenade 1st Place 2023) her ambitions do seem to reflect the above review. Inspired by the 33 year-to-date incarceration of her brother, she created a songwriting program in partnership with the Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County (30A) that holds a residency for her at Walton Correctional Institute where she teaches inmates to write songs.

David Borné is a beloved Nashville based independent singer/songwriter/artist who has been singing for his supper for over 20 years.  After honing his skills in bar bands from Louisiana to Tennessee, Borné burst on the songwriting scene in Nashville with the release of his 2016 debut, Break My Heart, which debuted at #4 on the iTunes Singer/Songwriter chart and featured collaborations with then up and coming Americana stars Sierra Ferrell, Leah Blevins and Ruston Kelly.  Borné has since shared the stage with the likes of Ferrell, Blevins, Kelly, Emmylou Harris, Buddy Miller, Delbert McClinton, Stephen Wilson Jr., Lainey Wilson, Big Al Anderson, Lucie Silvas, Ashley Ray, Kelly Clarkson, Brothers Osborne, and Sean McConnell.  He has also had his songs recorded by William Clark Green, Charlie Mars, Paul McDonald, Bre Kennedy, Sara Jean Kelley, Fancy Hagood, and many others.  Borné's artistry and songwriting is fully realized on his 2023 full length debut, GENESIS. Declared “A Masterpiece” by Revival Roadshow, produced by Jarrad K (Ruston Kelly, Lucie Silvas), and engineered by GRAMMY winner Gena Johnson (Jason Isbell, Chris Stapleton), an incomparable ethereal grit runs through the 13 track GENESIS as we follow Borné on his path of personal healing:  death, rebirth, and beginning again.

In 2024, Wyatt Espalin will release his first full-length album. 15 original songs have been recorded thanks to a tremendous turn-out for this Songwriter/Singer/Fiddler’s Kickstarter campaign. After the daunting task of whittling them into a 10-song, fully-produced album recorded in the mountains of North Georgia, the hard-traveling troubadour has decided to knock out an unplugged version of the same album. Wyatt has shared the stage with many of his songwriting heroes and has taken notes from the best performing singer/songwriters. This is his sixth appearance at 30A Songwriting Festival and his energy, dynamic vocals, story-telling and fiery fiddle only enhances his song-sharing.

Jessica Sharman is a #1, gold-disc selling songwriter, topliner and producer. She works across multiple genres including Pop, Americana, Country, Indie and EDM. Born and raised in London, she now lives in Nashville.

Writer / Topliner

Jessica turns the everyday into poetry and her melodies are the ones you just can't forget. She writes songs that help artists cut through the noise and connect with their audience, to make them think, feel and dance.

Producer

Working with artists on both major and indie labels, Jessica is the go-to producer for lofi percussion and intimate, layered harmonies that place the vocal front and center.

Artist

Peachkit, Jessica's sync artist project, is The Queen of Thinking Pop combining lyrical storytelling with unforgettable hooks.

Anna Grace was born into a musical family and began learning the piano at the age of three. With years of classical training and a background in singing at church, she started writing songs as a teenager. Her journey continued as she honed her performance and vocal skills while serving as a worship leader in Florida. Eventually, she joined a band and toured across Mexico as a background vocalist for a young Latin pop star, even performing in Spanish.

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After taking a break from music to pursue a career as a professional chef, Anna Grace reignited her passion for songwriting and singing in 2020. In 2024, she was given the opportunity to participate in Beyond Bars, a program that uses songwriting as a tool for healing within the prison system. This experience confirmed her desire to fully embrace her musical dreams.

Drawing inspiration from artists like Leigh Nash, Joni Mitchell, Norah Jones, and Eliot Sumner, Anna Grace leans into the Indie Folk Rock and Americana scenes, creating music that is both deeply truthful and vulnerably raw. Now based in Nashville, TN, she lives with her husband and daughter, continuing to write and perform music that speaks from the heart.

Brent Shuttleworth is a national touring artist, songwriter, producer, meditator and mental health advocate whose work bridges music, mindfulness, and personal transformation. After surviving a near-death experience in Nashville, TN in 2010, Brent’s creative journey continues to explore how art can heal, inspire, and connect.

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He has recently worked with the Beyond Bars songwriting workshop (through the Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County) at Walton Correctional Institution in DeFuniak Springs, Florida, helping incarcerated men use songwriting as a bridge for healing and self-expression.

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Brent’s songs and scores have been featured on Netflix, Amazon Prime, NBC, CBS, MTV, VH1 and more. He has shared the stage with artists as diverse as George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, Carlos Andrés Gómez, The Revivalists, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Skylar Grey, Pete Yorn, Emerson Hart, K.Flay, Kellie Pickler, Switchfoot, Pete Rock, and Saul Williams.

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Most recently, Brent composed the score for an upcoming live special by his longtime friend and acclaimed poet, Andrea Gibson. His work in film and music has earned 33 international film festival awards for composition, production, and filmmaking.

“Durable.” “Gritty.” “Superb.” A few words from fans and a former Air Force boss that capture the sound and temperament of retired Lieutenant Colonel and self-taught, Texas born, singer songwriter, Tom Pritchett. Tom has spent time flying AC-130s in Iraq and Afghanistan, leading airmen and building a life with his family of four. He has strived to find ways to weave his true passion of music into his life by creating in-home studio spaces, supporting local artists, collaborating with musicians in small towns throughout his duty stations and learning a variety of instruments to include guitar, bass, mandolin, harmonica and banjo. From an early age, music was an outlet for Tom to process life events. Since age 16 he couldn’t seem to put down the guitar. He later began to write his own songs to address the sense of alienation that came with being stationed in places with more airplanes than trees. Flying didn’t exactly come naturally but music was always a source of comfort no matter his location or phase of life.

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Tom’s music captures the surrealism of lived experiences by incorporating relatable, raw truths. Incorporating influences from his eclectic taste in style, his song “Beauty Queen” recently earned a finalist spot in the inaugural “Made in Walton County” Songwriter Showdown. Tom recently completed a fellowship to assist in breathing life into a small-town studio in Valparaiso, FL. He looks forward to finding more time and space to create meaningful melodies as he approaches completion of 20 years of active-duty military service and shifts his focus to songwriting.

"Music should befriend." That’s the motto of folk-rock singer-songwriter Sammi Accola, a Seaside, Florida native now based in Nashville.

At 23 years old, Accola is a force for good—writing songs inspired by the healing work of Thistle Farms, a nonprofit supporting women survivors of human trafficking, abuse, and addiction. She wrestles with life’s deepest questions and invites listeners to be honest, too.

This past March, Accola opened for Thomas Rhett in Watersound Beach, Florida. "Thomas is such an inspiration, and it was the most beautiful, full-circle experience," she says. Accola has performed at the 30A Songwriters Festival for the past three years, at the Opelika Songwriters Festival in 2024, and at Moon Crush in 2022 (where she opened for Lake Street Dive, Caamp, and Brandi Carlile). She was also selected as a Nissan x Bose 2022 student influencer and performed with a 10-piece all-female band at Belmont University’s “Best of the Best.”

Come feel it all—the tears, the joy, and the tension in between! Her introspective songs are inspired by artists like Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, and Lauren Daigle.