On “(We Don’t) Color on the Dog,” I recently had an in-depth conversation with professional musician and songwriter Jessie Ritter about her exciting new project, Pensacola Unplugged.
- Pensacola Unplugged brings the intimate storytelling tradition of Nashville’s songwriter rounds to the Gulf Coast, combining hit-making Nashville talent with exceptional local artists.
From Missouri to Music City to the Coast
Ritter, who grew up in Missouri but has called Pensacola home for nearly a decade, brings a wealth of experience from Nashville’s legendary music scene. “I spent a lot of time in Nashville, so I am pulling from there. I went to college there. I lived there for a long time performing, and I got to play the Bluebird Cafe.”
- The Bluebird Cafe experience shaped her vision for Pensacola Unplugged. “Nashville’s full of these songwriter rounds where you have three writers, 2, 3, 4, whatever in a round, and they one by one tell their stories and play their songs, and you get to hear where the song came from and who they wrote it with.”
A Thriving Creative Community
Ritter praises Pensacola’s unique position for musicians: “The great thing about the coast is there’s this mix of tourism and creativity that allows you to make money and at the beach bar gigs, and then also so many songwriter festivals and events that let you share original music, and people are thrilled about both.”
Her songwriting draws from everywhere. “Songs come in different forms. Some I say really fall from the sky, and those are the songs that you. They’re usually very emotional,and you’re writing, and it comes out in half an hour,” she shares. She recently co-wrote a fun beach song called “Head Over Flip Flops,” with friend Erica, describing it as “a fun beachy love song that is just going to make you smile.”
The Quarterly Experience
Pensacola Unplugged operates as a quarterly event at the Studer Community Institute, thanks to support from Quint and Rishy Studer. “We are making Pensacola Unplugged a quarterly event, and it’s two hours long and it’s on a Saturday night,” Ritter explains.
- The intimate venue accommodates about 120 people, creating “a listening room here” where audiences can experience that face-to-face storytelling magic. “There is nothing that is going to replace that face-to-face intimate storytelling, live performance. And we’re going to hold onto that.”
For tickets and show information, visit the Pensacola Unplugged website and Eventbrite page.
Photo by Ian Powell on Unsplash