Benefield: Songwriters in Paradise event means to create intimate evening of well known tunes

Guests may not know the faces, they may not recognize the names, but they will certainly know the songs.

That is the promise of Nashville-based singer songwriter Patrick Davis, who some 10 years ago started the Songwriters in Paradise series, a multi-night event that next week will bring 14 songwriters and performers to Healdsburg wineries, where they are scheduled to perform, gab and laugh a little, and perform a little more.

“We tell our stories and play our songs,” Davis said.

And the songs are where Songwriters in Paradise hang their hat — it’s about the music first and foremost.

“We all have songs where it’s ‘Oh I know that one,’” he said.

Chris Gelbuda has written for Lady A (formerly Lady Antebellum). John Driskell Hopkins is a longtime member of the Zac Brown Band. David Ryan Harris is guitarist and backing vocalist for John Mayer. Mark Bryan is a founding member of Hootie & the Blowfish. Kristian Bush is one half of the Grammy-winning duo Sugarland.

“He’s going to play a few songs and even if you don’t listen to country music, it will be ‘Oh sh**, I know that song,’” Davis said.

The Songwriters in Paradise concept has been alive for a decade, ever since Davis was invited to a do a series of intimate performances in the Bahamas.

He thought it’d be more fun if he brought some friends.

He’s been doing it ever since.

There are events in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, in Napa, and as of last summer, in Healdsburg.

This year’s Healdsburg event runs from July 18-22.

“It’s staggering how amazing it is,” Davis said of the settings the group plays over five nights at a variety of wineries. “This is a place that SIP will be for a long time.”

The idea is this: Attendees pay top dollar (individual ticket prices for one night start at $425 and top out at $5,000 for VIP all-access plus bonus meals) to sit in proximity to songwriters gathered together to discuss their craft, but mostly to play their songs.

Each night is at a different winery and seating each night is capped at 150 people, Davis said. Food and wine from the host wineries, A. Rafanelli, Aperture, Robert Young, Bella, Bricoleur and La Crema, are included.

“You can hear a pin drop,” he said. “I want it to be intimate. I want it for the folks who want the best things in life.”

And that is far different from a meet and greet ticket at a big arena show, he said.

“If you purchase a meet-and-greet at a normal show, you are going to spend a lot of money and you are going to get around 15 seconds. You will say, ‘I love your music’ to them and they’ll take a picture and they usher you out,” he said.

Not at this series, Davis said.

“They don’t go from the green room to the stage,” he said. “If you love Django Walker, whose father was Jerry Jeff Walker, Django is going to be hanging out at the bar.”

And there is a charitable component to the event. Over the three years the series has been held in Napa, event organizers have donated more than $35,000 to the Boys & Girls Club of St. Helena and Calistoga, Davis said.

Davis said the Healdsburg Education Foundation and Sonoma County Humane Society will be recipients of donations from the Healdsburg event this year.

Walker has been in on the Songwriters in Paradise concept with Davis from the beginning.

The son of country legend Jerry Jeff Walker who was perhaps best known for penning “Mr. Bojangles,” Django has written for folks like Jimmy Buffett, including “Something ‘Bout a Boat.”

There is something magical about pulling back the curtain on songs everyone knows — letting people know that the voice singing it might not be the person who penned it, he said.

Which leads to exchanges that sometimes go like this: Someone will mention the “Buffett” song and Walker will say he knows it fairly well.

“They’ll say ‘Oh my god, Jimmy Buffett’ and I say, ‘I’m the guy who wrote it,’ and they go, ‘No way,’” he said. “Well, I am.”

And it’s the music that keeps Walker coming back year after year. He loves playing in the small setting.

“I love acoustic,” he said. “I love me and my guitar. I’m a singer songwriter at heart. In an acoustic (setting), it’s ‘Oh wow, this person can actually sing.’”

And for a guy who grew up in the business, watching his dad ply his trade, Walker said he appreciates these events from a fan’s perspective. Sure the folks on the bill are his friends and contemporaries, but he’s also a fan of what they do.

“Chris Gelbuda is probably one of my favorite singer-songwriter- guitarists there is,” he said. “And Eric Paslay has written more number one songs and has the most amazing voice. There is not a weak link. Every single one on stage I’m a fan of as much as a friend.”

And that’s another selling point, Davis and Walker said.

Musicians on the bill, even if they aren’t on the stage that night, are in the crowd, enjoying the show as much as anyone.

“We are a very social group,” Walker said. “We want to go into the crowd and meet you and know where you are from. If you want to walk up to Mark Bryan from Hootie & the Blowfish, you can.”

It’s a formula that is working for music fans, Davis said. And year after year, quality musicians keeps signing on.

“It’s a good problem to have when you have Grammy winners calling you up and saying ‘Hey, is there space?’” he said. “It’s a good gig if you can get it.”

You can reach Staff Columnist Kerry Benefield at 707-526-8671 or kerry.benefield@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @benefield.