The Franklin Theatre stage will see a special trio join together for the first time for a Songwriter Series performance on Thursday.
Erin Enderlin, Denitia and Maia Sharp spoke to the Williamson Scene about what they anticipate for the show as well as some of their current and upcoming projects.
Denitia and Sharp have both played shows with others in the Franklin Theatre before but say they are excited to be back to have some more time on the stage.
“It always feels like people are really there to listen,” Sharp says. “It feels like a genuine appreciation for the reason that they came, which is music itself. So, I jumped at the chance to play there.”
Denitia has played a show with Enderlin before and Enderlin has played a show with Sharp before but this will be the first time the three songwriters share a stage.
“There’ll never be another show like that,” Denitia says. “You never know what’s gonna happen with how our songs flow together. … It’s just like a really one of a kind, unique kind of a night. Then, of course, I’m just really excited to be in the company of such incredible songwriters. I just think we’re gonna get some great stories and great displays of the craft.”
Sharp says the writer in the round format for shows is one of her favorites because of how the group gets to trade songs and stories.
“Hopefully we can sing a little harmony on each other’s songs,” Sharp says. “It just has an intimate feeling to it, kind of no matter the size of the theater.”
The show at the Franklin Theatre will be one of Enderlin’s last for the year and she says it’s one of her favorite venues to play.
“It just has such a cool energy in it,” Enderlin says. “I’m a frequent guest there too, because a lot of my favorite artists play there. So, that’s one of the things that keeps me coming back to the Franklin Theatre specifically, and Julie Jackson is just so awesome to work with there on events.”
For those who haven’t experienced a show with the writers in the round format before, Enderlin says it’s unique in the nature of the banter between the artists.
“At shows like this, you’ll start a story or a song, and it kind of leads to things between people, or brings up a story that you hadn’t thought of in a while,” Enderlin says. “I know that I’ll be playing some of my own stuff that I put out as an artist and I’ll also be playing some songs I’ve had recorded by other artists like Willie Nelson and Trisha Yearwood and some different folks.”
Enderlin wrote the fourth song (“I Wrote This Song For You”) on Nelson’s latest album The Border which came out in May. And, he’s singing another one of her songs in the closing track on limited series “The Gray House” produced by Morgan Freeman and Kevin Costner which features tracks from other major country artists such as Shania Twain, Lainey Wilson and duo War and Treaty.
While some artists take the end of the year as a time to slow down, Enderlin is ramping up to cut a new record produced by Sunny Sweeney. It’ll be her first in at least two years since her Barroom Mirrors EP dropped in 2022 which is on pace with previous albums Faulkner County (2019) and Whiskeytown Crier (2017).
The songwriters celebrated each other’s successes during the interview and Denitia, one of CMT’s Next Women of Country Class of 2024, released her new album Sunset Drive in September. The record tells her story of returning to Nashville, where she went to college, and her journey in life from her hometown in Texas to her decade spent in New York City.
“The last part of this year has been like a big focus on the record and touring around,” Denitia says. “But, this is kind of like the last stop for 2024 and then also I’ll be announcing a bunch of tour dates next year.”
There are a couple dates she has already announced in a tour supporting Ron Pope next year, including a show on March 15 at The Basement East in Nashville.
Sharp is ending her year on a high note. While this will be her last local show, she’s got one more planned in Washington D.C. but will be available for anyone interested to tune into.
“Bonnie Raitt is getting honored at the Kennedy Center, and I didn’t realize this, but honorees get to curate a stage of their favorite artists earlier in the week,” Sharp says. “So, she’s being honored on December 8 and on December 6 she’s invited me to play her stage at the Millennium Stage, which will be live streamed on the sixth, and it’s Amethyst Kiah and me, so I’m really looking forward to that.”
In addition to Raitt, Sharp’s songs have been recorded by artists such as The Chicks, Trisha Yearwood, Keb’ Mo’ and Cher all while she’s recorded nine solo albums. She’s also done some work collaborating with a veteran to write a song based on his story through the organization Songwriting With: Soldiers. Sharp says it’s likely to come up as a conversation with the group during the performance on Thursday because Denitia and Enderlin also work with the organization.
“One of my veteran co-writers will be in the crowd, so I’m definitely going to sing the song that him and I wrote together at one of the songwriting the soldiers retreats,” Sharp says.
While an audience member will never know exactly what to expect from a show like this, the songwriters’ genuine support for one another is a guarantee that something special is bound to happen. Denitia calls both Enderlin and Sharp’s voices “uniquely classic” yet still “distinct to them.” Enderlin says Denitia’s lines make her wonder and bring “great introspection” and describes Sharp’s melodies as the kind of music that make her “want to go lay in a hammock somewhere and do nothing but listen to music.”
Sharp says: “There will be moments – 100 percent chance – where I forget that I have a job to do, because I’m just listening to these women that I love, and I’m like, ‘Oh, damn, I got to think of a song now.’”