The Man behind Riversong Music Festival 2026
This year, I have the privilege of participating in the first annual Riversongs Music Festival in Muscle Shoals. I also had the honor to take a moment to ask the organizer of this festival about the process of taking his idea from a thought to a Full Fledge festival with many acts and vendors.
I first met Daniel through his songwriter cohort, Trick Arrow Publishing. At the time, this was my first songwriting group to be a part of and it opened up many opportunities for me to play around the Franklin, TN area. My first question for Daniel was to describe what Trick Arrow Publishing is for a non-musician who is wanting to know about the collective. He responded, "Trick Arrow Publishing is, for lack of a better one-line description, the modern-day equivalent of a stable. It's me and a group of friends that put a showcase together and try to bring it to as many venues as possible. There are recording plans for the future, and so on, but that's in the box for now. Because it's non-exclusive and collaborative, it's driven by artists desire or interest to be in the community. Nothing can be accomplished without the collective coming together with this structure, and I like that. The industry wants you to think that the only path to success is money, fame, and it's to be decided by a label; well I believe success means something different to everyone, and whether or not you find it, the most important part of any journey is those that you meet along the way. Fame and money is pointless if you're fighting loneliness. I emphasize supporting each other because that's how the "outlaw" movement and anything great about music history began -friends coming together.
We operate our Storytellers in Songwriting showcase in a realm where there isn't much revenue flow. Nashville is unique like that. To me it's always been about positively contributing to the Songwriter scene. Creating the moments that you'll remember about Nashville forever, the people you met as you were just getting things together... It's been very community driven and I think that's a part of the DNA that I always want there."
Daniel consistently works towards building a community of songwriters and providing opportunities for the collective to share their original music. One large obstacle, I faced while doing my own booking was finding a way to sell myself and showcase what I could provide after venues politely declined. Daniel has a way of selling the collective so that venues always respond with yes. When I asked Daniel about one obstacle he has overcome, he stated, "I'm still overcoming a lot of the same obstacles as any other artist in this town, and I think it never really changes to a certain degree. Obviously, we've been doing it for a handful of years now and we have figured out how to best contribute a lot of ways, figured out what works for us and what's doing too much... My musical journey was unique in the sense that I didn't come to Nashville for Music. I was working in film, and I wasn't doing too bad. The Pandemic is what changed everything for me. I lost a few friends, my car, all my jobs were put on hold, it was a terrible time. Music is what kept me above water, so to speak. When I decided not to get back into film, everything kept pointing to music. I was in the right place, and it felt like the right time. Writing with Billy Smith was a huge turning point, as he introduced me to the history of Nashville over the past 60+ years in an immersive way. Caught the Bluegrass bug and it hasn't let go. Nashville has shown me that the music journey is more about identity than anything. It's always changing but it ultimately stays the same, but it feels like maybe we're always trying to identify ourselves, inside and out, and so it's just a matter of finding the people that make you a part of their life in a positive way."
One thing that can be said for Daniel is that he is constantly collecting information for how to grow better as an artist, booking agent, and event organizer. Which brings me to the Riversong Festival. On May 16th, Daniel has gathered a large number of artists to showcase their original music as well as vendors for the event. When I asked Daniel his inspiration for this event, his response was enthusiastic, "That's actually a great story! I was invited down there in November of '25 by a friend and acquaintance to test some sound gear they were putting up in a venue. We played it and were going to plan a Valentine's Dinner show there, but another band got it. The nice couple that operates the venue mentioned that it'd be a good venue for an outdoor thing for summer... Well, you know how my brain works. My imagination got a little crazy and I started envisioning this indoor/outdoor festival. Our original ideas were pretty grand; we've toned it down a bit. Maybe we'll expand in the future years! But the idea spawned from the venue owner recalling a wedding tent they put up outside for an event. I just got to thinking how cool Muscle Shoals was in my few days there and I decided I wanted to do an event. People just kept getting on board, so it sort of evolved into a festival."
Daniel not only originated the idea of the festival from his own musings, but he will also be there performing his own original songs with his band, "The Neighbors" When I asked Daniel about his band's origin story. Daniel shared, "My band was formed around 2021 when I was living in an Apartment during the pandemic. Everyone was locked down, I heard some violin playing through the wall. So I went and knocked on my neighbor's door and asked if he was playing violin. At first he was all apologetic like, "Oh I'll play quieter" and I was like, "Nah, come over and let's play some music". So that's why we're called The Neighbors. Since then, Tom Hemby has retired, Alden Vines is now the second in my duo. He plays so many instruments and has given me a really good idea of how our songs can sound in so many different ways. I've enjoyed having Alden's talent, he's really added a lot to harnessing the Bluegrass sound I really strive for. I think my goal is for us to sound like Nickel Creek, Dwight Yoakim, Molly Tuttle, type sound. Lots of energy, less percussion, storytelling heavy kind of sound."
Which brings me to my favorite question to ask every artist I interview: Out of all your creations what is one that you hold special for yourself. Daniel's response, "There's a catalogue of songs I wrote with Billy Smith, who played with Bill Monroe and a bunch of other folks. He has a beautiful family that has been so kind and caring to me and my wife. Some of my first ever co-writes came from him, we wrote "Walking Boss Ballard" about my great-something grand father. He was actually a walking boss, and I heard all kinds of stories about him so we made this song from the stories I've heard.... He recorded it on his album. On our first song, I walked in the door with the prompt, "Music City". He found that funny because "everyone has done a Nashville song, we really say anything new about it". So that day we wrote a song about Nashville anyway. I play it at every gig."
What's next for Daniel Carr, his band, "The Neighbors", and Trick Arrow Publishing? Daniel shared, "Lots of things are still in the box, not ready to release a lot. But for Trick Arrow, one thing we're trying to really solidify is our physical venues that we play at weekly/monthly. We want 3 weekly shows, 2 monthly Saturday shows, and 2 monthly Friday shows. We'll continue to support WMOT Roots Radio, if you hear our mention. We want to bring our showcase to a few more cities this year, and we'll be getting involved in things like Spotify, Podcasts, Live Streams, etc... You'll have to wait and see ; ) For The Neighbors, my band, Alden has been great helping these songs evolve so I want to get them in a studio and record some demo versions. We've got another handful of radio appearances we're making this year so hopefully we can start getting out music out there on more stations. We want to play with more people, more guests, especially bands. We love to open for people, there's always so much positive energy that comes with that... for Trick Arrow, lots of the same, but growing. For the band, playing more on the airwaves in addition to the bar stages."
Comments