WSRE has announced the artists selected to perform for the 15th season of the public television station’s “StudioAmped” music series. Six concerts will
be presented in the Jean & Paul Amos Performance Studio at Pensacola State College, starting Friday, Oct. 4. Admission is free.
Three artists from the Pensacola Beach Songwriters Festival—-Kensie Coppin, Jim McCormick and CJ Solar—-will kick off the concert series on Friday, Oct. 4. The series will continue with Bangarang Peter on Tuesday, Oct. 8; Civilized Natives on Thursday, Oct. 10; Johnny Hayes & The Alabama Fire on Monday, Oct. 14; Jordan Chase on Wednesday, Oct. 16; and Justin Jeansonne on Friday, Oct. 18.
The public is invited to attend the concerts, joining the studio audience for each show. All shows start at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m. Donations for Manna Food Pantries are collected at the door.
“StudioAmped” presents the original music of regional artists. Bill Harrell is the executive producer. More information about the Season 15 artists and free concert series is published at wsre.org/events. Past seasons of “StudioAmped” are streaming at wsre.org and on the PBS app.
LYRICS OF LIGHT
WSRE invited Pensacola singer-songwriters Greg Bond and Faithe Franklin to bring their stories and original music to Pace Center for Girls the past two Fridays, Sept. 20, and Friday, Sept. 27.
These are two of three sessions, now billed as the Lyrics of Light project, which will conclude with the Pace girls collaborating to write a song of their own during a special songwriting workshop at Pensacola State College on Friday, Oct. 4, at 10:30 a.m. Accomplished Nashville artists Anne Buckle and Teea Goans will lead the workshop while in town for the Pensacola Beach Songwriters Festival.
For the past 12 seasons of the “StudioAmped” music series, WSRE has partnered with the festival to present a special concert featuring visiting songwriters who have penned hits or otherwise found success in the music industry. In recent years, this longtime partnership has evolved to include an educational and uplifting project for Pace Center for Girls.
What started in 2019 as an annual songwriting workshop has grown to include the preliminary songwriter sessions presented by local artists and a girls’ night out to attend the “StudioAmped” Pensacola Beach Songwriters Festival concert and TV production at WSRE. This year’s concert features Kensie Coppin, Jim McCormick and CJ Solar sharing their hit songs and the stories behind them on Friday, Oct. 4, at 7 p.m. in the station’s Jean & Paul Amos Performance Studio at Pensacola State College.
With a 2019 grant for community engagement around the Ken Burns “Country Music” documentary series on PBS, WSRE first proposed that the Pensacola Beach Songwriters Festival help facilitate a songwriting workshop for Pace Center for Girls similar to those the festival has conducted at local schools for many years.
Festival director Reneda Cross extended the invitation to Buckle, who has since conducted the Pace workshop with help from fellow festival artists Tim Buppert, Caitlin Evanson and Jerry Vandiver—all Nashville songwriters, many of whom participate as songwriting partners in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Words & Music® education program.
“We are so grateful to the singer-songwriters, The Bear Family Foundation and WSRE for bringing Lyrics of Light to our girls and our staff,” said Laurie Rogers, Pace Center for Girls executive director. “These one-of-a-kind experiences leave lasting memories that generate feelings of great times with great people. We are especially thrilled that the orchestrators of these musical moments have expanded the opportunities provided to the girls to include three singing events plus a TV station tour and an evening out to enjoy a performance in person.”
In 2023, The Bear Family Foundation awarded WSRE a grant to help fund “StudioAmped” production and elevate the songwriting project for Pace Center for Girls to increase its impact.
With that support, the station has fortified the project with the Lyrics of Light branding, the new songwriter sessions with local artists, and the project’s first night out where the girls can see award-winning and acclaimed songwriters during the “StudioAmped” production.
In addition to attending the concert, the girls will have their hair done by Pensacola State College cosmetology students, enjoy a pizza party compliments of Jet’s Pizza, and get a behind-the-scenes look at how a television program is produced.
“The Pensacola Beach Songwriters Festival concert brings the heart of Nashville to WSRE’s ‘StudioAmped’ series this year with talent you’d be lucky to see perform at famous venues like the Blue Bird Café,” said the show’s executive producer, Bill Harrell. “It will be a special acoustic evening of storytelling and song, and we all look forward to sharing that with young people who might not otherwise have had the opportunity.”
FLORIDA ROAD TRIP
WSRE PBS will host a free film screening of “Florida Road Trip: Pensacola” at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 3, in the station’s Jean & Paul Amos
Performance Studio at Pensacola State College.
In its 10th season, “Florida Road Trip” is an award-winning public television series produced by WUCF in Orlando. Programs explore the history, culture and quirks that make the Sunshine State unique. Emmy-winning storyteller Scott Fais contributes his passion for Florida history as the show’s new host.
WSRE invites the public to watch the new Pensacola episode on the big screen in the station’s Amos Studio. “Florida Road Trip” Executive Producer Heather Bailey, WUCF Executive Director Jennifer Cook and local stars of the show will be in attendance for the screening event.
Appearing on the half-hour program, in order of appearance, are Judy Bense, University of West Florida president emeritus; Robert Overton Jr., UWF Historic Trust executive director; Capt. Sterling Gilliam, USN (Ret.), National Naval Aviation Museum director; Maj. Paul Entrekin, USMC (Ret.), Veterans Memorial Park Foundation of Pensacola past president; Lt. Cmdr. Scott Goossens, former U.S. Navy Blue Angels pilot; Cmdr. Jon Fay, former U.S. Navy Blue Angels executive officer; Jon Hill, Pensacola Lighthouse executive director; and Casimer Rosiecki, Gulf Islands National Seashore park ranger.
“We are thrilled to bring ‘Florida Road Trip’ to our Northwest Florida viewers. The new Pensacola episode is something to celebrate and shows the rest of the state that we truly are America’s ‘First Place City,’” said WSRE General Manager Jill Hubbs.
In its 10th season, the “Florida Road Trip” series airs on PBS stations across the state and can be streamed on the PBS app.
An early release of the new season is available on-demand for station members with WSRE PBS Passport. The season’s broadcast and general streaming premiere is Sept. 12 with “Lakeland” being the first of ten episodes. “Pensacola” is the season’s final episode, premiering on Nov. 14.
The new season also visits Winter Park, Clearwater, DeLand, Highlands County, Kennedy Space Center, Oviedo, Tarpon Springs and Winter Garden.
Reservations are requested for the Oct. 3 screening at WSRE. Register online at wsre.org/events or on Eventbrite. Admission is free.