A Yellowstone Songwriter Festival will come to downtown Cody next September, with 20 headliners, hit makers and rising stars of the songwriting world performing 20 shows in bars, cafes, restaurants, parks and theaters.

“Live music is an important element to the arts and music culture of Cody, for both residents and visitors alike,” said the festival’s executive producer, Mike Booth.

Event organizers say the songwriter experience gives the audience a unique insight, bringing the listener into the soul of a song with the songwriter’s story and inspiration.

“You grow up listening to Eddie Rabbitt perform a song like ‘I Love a Rainy Night,’” Booth said. “But when you sit in a listening room with Even Stevens strumming on his guitar and telling you why he wrote that song or how it hit the top of the charts, and then he sings that song from his heart — that is magic.”

Leading up to next year’s event, Yellowstone Songwriter Festival organizers will be showcasing the event’s performers on its website and Facebook page. While the full lineup has not yet been announced, it’s set to include two members of the Nashville Songwriter Hall of Fame, plus a dozen “rising stars,” including Kalyn Beasley of Cody.

With the event still a year away, organizers do not foresee COVID-19 causing cancellation or postponement.

“We are very optimistic of the current efforts to mitigate the transmission of the virus and the effectiveness of future vaccines will create a safe and near normal music experience,” organizers said in a release.

The Yellowstone Songwriter Festival is a production of the Rocky Mountain Songwriter Festivals (RMSF), a nonprofit with a mission to support music education in the communities where they host festivals. Since 2016, RMSF has gifted more than $40,000 to local music education efforts in the Red Lodge area. The foundation team said it’s now looking forward to “bringing that commitment to Cody and the Big Horn Basin.”

For more information, visit www.yellowstonesongwriterfestival.org.