Vermilion Songwriters Night to be held Saturday at Richard Sale Barn

A night of songs and the inspiration for those melodies are on the slate for the Vermilion Songwriters Night on Saturday at the Richard Sale Barn located south of Abbeville.
The first-ever “Vermilion Songwriters Night” will showcase the talents of Wade Richard (Gueydan), Garland Thompson (Abbeville), Jason Harrington (Abbeville) and Michael Juan Nunez (Erath).
These four musicians will take center stage together along with moderator and event organizer, John Buckelew to perform their own songs and tell what inspired them. It will be a special opportunity to get to know these talented artists and hear their stories. They will perform their original songs.
“It lets people see their diversity of style of music,” said Buckelew. “It is something that has never been done in Vermilion Parish. It also lets people know about the songwriters’ backgrounds and who they are as a person.”
Tickets for this concert are $15 and can be purchased online at www.richardsalebarn.com, Robies Food Center, and Piazza Office Supply in
Abbeville. For more information on this show, you can email Kathy at lebayousalebarn@gmail.com or call 337-893-5760.
The Richard Sale Barn is located at 1307 S. Henry St. in Abbeville, and is always a smoke-free concert. The doors open at 6 p.m. with the performance beginning promptly at 7 p.m.
Here is the list of the four song writers who will be featured Saturday night.
• Wade Richard hails from Gueydan, the Duck Capital of American and has performed for the past 50 years. He currently provides his extraordinary guitar abilities to the bands of T.J. Gautreaux and Damon Troy. His long list of achievements include traveling the world with Wayne Toups, being selected in the second round of America’s Got Talent with his son Joey, and having three of his many songs recorded “Please Explain”, Heartbroken Little Boy” and “She’s Mine”.
• Garland Thompson is known across Vermilion Parish for his gritty voice, his long repertoire of classic country and Cajun music, and the stories that go along with them. The influence of the late Merle Haggard, George Jones and Hank Williams can be heard is all his songs. His natural talent and love of music was demonstrated at an early age as he was mentored and supported by Louisiana legend JB Pere.
•Jason Harrington’s been playing music for as long as anyone can remember. Born and raised in Vermilion Parish, Jason took to lyrics and melodies fairly naturally. Singing along to tunes in his dad’s welding truck has evolved into composing, recording, teaching, and performing music that people want to listen to. Now, as a resident of Lafayette, he’s substituted the gear shifter for an actual microphone and has even started building them himself. He is known for his songwriting, craftsmanship, can be found on stage, in the classroom or in the studio learning and teaching and always exploring the ways to push boundaries of his own artistry.
• Michael Juan Nunez has performed many times (thirteen Christmas Blues of the Bayou Concerts) at the Richard Sale barn. His original music and guitar styles are what bring fans to hear him year after year. He has four CD’s to his resume and has his own label: Parish Line that keeps his songs in his own hands and control. Sounds from Nunez’s deep Vermilion Parish roots are what stir fans when they hear his lyrics and melodies. But it is his love of family that stands out most in his songs.
John Buckelew will serve as moderator and it was his idea to begin hosting a Vermilion Songwriters Night at the Barn. He is a Louisiana native, whose talents include being a songwriter and a musician. He learned to play the fiddle from James Marvin Choate (The Melody Aces Band) who backed rising country stars such as George Jones and Jimmy C. Newman at The Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport, LA. A resident of Vermilion Parish for 40 years, Buckelew is a fiddler and vocalist in the soulful and swingy Jazz and Blues band; The Nouveau String Band and is also a founding member of the all star Lafayette Western Swing ensemble, Stop the Clock Cowboy Jazz band.