Wild West Songwriters Festival

02/24/2026

🤠⭐️ The Wild West Songwriters Festival has been nominated for "Festival/Event of the Year" by Midwest Country Music Organization! Congratulations to every artist, writer & organization nominated this year, you might just recognize a few from previous 's Festivals: Birdy Young, Brad Morgan, Collin Donley Music, Clayton Ryan, Cory Waller & The Wicked Things!

A HUGE thank you to our talented songwriters from near and far (special shoutout to Danny Myrick for bringing in our national talent), our incredible sponsors big and small, especially HISTORIC DEADWOOD/Deadwood: Chamber of Commerce and Deadwood Mountain Grand, and most of all: YOU, the fans!

THANK YOU for being part of this journey! 💛 This festival is built on passion, storytelling, and community, and we’re grateful for every single one of you. Here’s to many more years of music in the Wild West, supporting live music, and making this festival a place where songs and stories come to life.

10/21/2025

🎶 “Anything that supports the arts and brings people together for music is great for the community.” – Johnny Hastings, 2025 First Place Regional Songwriter 👏

A huge round of applause to Johnny Hastings for taking top honors this year and to every songwriter who shared their stories, hearts, and songs with us. The talent this year? 🔥 Unreal.

Check out the full feature from Rapid City Post!

Rapid City’s own Johnny Hastings struck gold at this year’s Wild West Songwriters Festival, earning First Place in the Regional Songwriting Competition —

10/21/2025

"All roads lead to Nashville.." AND HISTORIC DEADWOOD 🎶 🩵 Thanks for the great coverage featuring two of our Featured Songwriters: Dean Alexander & Marv Green. We’re honored to have such incredibly talented Featured Songwriters apart of the fam!

Read more about them in the latest & greatest by Black Hills Pioneer!

DEADWOOD — Friday night, at Jacob’s Gallery, in Deadwood, a decade-long friendship between songwriters Marv Green and Dean Alexander came to life on stage as they swapped songs and stories

10/19/2025

A big congratulations to for winning First Place at this year’s Regional Songwriting Competition!

🎶 2nd Place:
🎸 3rd Place:

You’ve all blown us away with your powerful songwriting, stunning vocals, and musical magic. It’s been a true honor to witness your creativity and passion! More than anything, we hope you’ve made lasting memories, forged new friendships, and shared some unforgettable moments in the Wild West.

We’re already feeling the excitement from this year’s festival, and we can’t wait to see where your music takes you. Until next time, keep strumming, keep singing, and keep making the world a little more magical. We miss you all already! Cheers & hope to see you all next year 🤘🍻

10/18/2025

The guitars are strummin’, the stories are hummin’ and Day 2 is bringing the magic ✨🍻

Tonight: $10 Songwriter Showcase at Deadwood Mountain Grand! Don’t miss the grand finale of this years , it’ll hit you right in the feels (in the best way). Come hangout with us today in HISTORIC DEADWOOD! 🤠

10/17/2025

Voting for the Regional Songwriter Contest is LIVE! Don’t let your favorite songwriter get left in the dust, visit their songwriters' rounds, and vote like a legend this weekend in HISTORIC DEADWOOD 🍻

🎸Vote: Friday, Oct 17th 2PM - Saturday, Oct 18th at 5PM
🔥 Winners are announced at the Songwriter Showcase at Deadwood Mountain Grand on Saturday, October 18th.
🎶 Cover’s only $10 for the Songwriter Showcase, bring the crew & get your tickets: https://bit.ly/4pOdP4J

10/17/2025

🚨 VENUE CHANGE 🚨 Today (10/17/25): Wild Bill Bar is no longer a venue, head to The Celebrity Hotel to catch Harland Allen, Joe Schwader & Tommy Edwin today at NOON! 🍻

Tomorrow (10/18/25): Wild Bill Bar round eliminated. Catch Mark Thompson at noon at The Franklin. And go say howdy to Sherry Ann Taylor & Janice Gilbert at 11:00AM at Jacob’s Gallery.

Thank you for understanding! Now it’s time to have a brew & enjoy some tunes in ! 🤠

10/17/2025

From ballads to blues, country harmonies & indie-rock tunes… let’s get a lil western this weekend ! 🔥 Day ONE of kicks off today noon. We will see you here 🍻

Anyone recognize the writers behind “She’s Country” by Jason Aldean? We’ve got a feeling you just might 🤠

10/14/2025

You ever listen to someone and think, “Yep, they’re gonna be famous”? Well… now you can vote for ‘em this weekend in HISTORIC DEADWOOD, SD! Here is the updated voting process for the Regional Songwriter Contest for this weekend's festival 🤠

📅 Voting open: Friday, Oct 17th 2PM - Saturday, Oct 18th at 5PM. (You can only vote if you’re actually in Deadwood. That’s right, this thing is geo-fenced tighter than Wild Bill's poker hand grip)
🗳️ Vote. Change your mind. Vote again. It's legal. It's encouraged.
🔥 Winners are announced at the Songwriter Showcase at Deadwood Mountain Grand on Saturday, October 18th.
🎶 Cover’s only $10 for the Songwriter Showcase, bring the crew & get your tickets: https://bit.ly/4pOdP4J

10/13/2025

The only thing better than a weekend in the Wild West? A weekend with a songwriter schedule this stacked!

📌 Please save this image to your phones for quick & easy access to the weekend or download it from our website: https://bit.ly/WWSF. We will see you this weekend in HISTORIC DEADWOOD! 🤠 Don’t forget the Songwriter Showcase at Deadwood Mountain Grand on Saturday night! Admission is just $10 and tickets can be purchased at the door, online, or by scanning the event QR code. 🍻 Plan ahead & purchase yours today: https://bit.ly/4pOdP4J

*All venues/writers/times are subject to change.*

10/13/2025

See you soon in the Wild West! 🤠

Thanks for the great write up, Rapid City Post!

DEADWOOD, S.D. — Behind nearly every favorite song lies a writer whose name might not make the headlines—but whose words and melodies shape the soundtrack