Chuck Bowling wore a Masters golf tournament polo shirt Wednesday during a chat about the incoming Las Vegas Songwriters Festival.
But this weekend, Bowling’s bag of clubs consists of the live music venues at Mandalay Bay.
The resort over which Bowling once presided is again host to the second annual Las Vegas Songwriters Festival. The three-day event opens with respected, hit-making country songwriters/singers David Lee Murphy, Craig Campbell and Jerrod Niemann at the House of Blues at 8 p.m. Thursday.
“Everybody loves our headliners who play all over the place in Las Vegas — we all do. In many cases, they are our heroes,” says Bowling, the former Mandalay Bay and Luxor president and COO and an event co-founder. “What I think is important about the Las Vegas Songwriters Festival, if we’re the entertainment capital, is that these guys are the real heroes. These guys, every day, are brainstorming and being creative and making real music.”
The event shifts to high gear Friday morning, running through Saturday night. Performance stages are the House of Blues main hall; the venue’s B Side club (in partnership with Nashville’s fabled Bluebird Cafe); Rhythm & Riffs; and for the first time, The Vinyl Room (formerly the Foundation Room) on the 63rd floor.
About 100 performances and 300 No. 1 songs are on the docket. The stories behind the songs are told by the writers. Performances start at 11 a.m. daily, featuring unique collaborations and songwriter pairings, with Q&A sessions filling the lineup.
Bowling has retired to his farm in North Carolina but continues in an MGM Resorts consultant role, including involvement in the MGM Osaka resort set to open in 2030. Bowling and MGM Resorts International President and CEO Bill Hornbuckle developed the outline of the annual songwriters festival.
Country artists and festival co-founders Matt Warren and Rob Hatch were in on the chat with Bowling at Rhythm & Riffs. The duo remain passionate about live music, even as AI has crept into the creative process and social media dominates fan outreach.
“It’s to the point now, you could have an amazing product, could be a killer artist, but if your social media isn’t strong, if you don’t have a lot of followers or whatever, you’re not in a good position,” says Warren, who has written for Darius Rucker and Gary Allen, among many other hitmakers. “It’s proof-of-fans now, verifying evidence that you already have a following.”
Warren says he posts online, but not music. He just talks.
“You’re never going to see me sitting in front of a camera playing a song,” Warren says. “I went viral just talking about Widespread Panic. Fans see that, they see the text across the screen and jump in because it’s Widespread Panic.”
If those fans like your video, they will be inclined to listen to your music.
“Those are the fans I want,” Warren says. “I’m trying to create an Instagram personality. If people like that, they will want to know about my music.”
Hatch co-wrote Megan Maroney’s “6 Months Later,” a No. 1 country hit last year. Similar to Hatch, he is based in Nashville.
“I hadn’t even known what songwriting was until I started looking into the stories behind the songs,” says Hatch, known as a behind-the-scenes songwriter focused on the craft over stardom.
“But I still love to play for a crowd,” he adds.
Warren and Hatch insist on creating organic music. AI elements, such as adding tracks to songs they are singing for each other, help to test how they sound with real musicians. They talk of how Nashville studios refuse to even listen to music primarily created with AI enhancements. Live music performances are becoming billed as “AI-free.”
“There’s a thing that happens on that stage when the lights are on me and there’s a crowd,” Warren says. “It’s kind of like, if you want to experience our music, this is what it’s supposed to sound like. Come and get it.”
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.
What: Las Vegas Songwriters Festival.
Where: House of Blues, B-Side, Rhythm & Riffs, The Vinyl Room at Mandalay Bay.
Tickets: $67.01 for Thursday’s opener; single-day GA Friday and Saturday $154.94; three-day GA $332.81.
Information: Vegassongwriters.com
2026 Lineup (subject to change)
Anthony L. Smith
Anthony Smith
Ayron Jones
Billy Montana
Bob DiPiero
Bobby Pinson
Brian Davis
Brian White
Brice Long
Bridgette Tatum
Brinley Addington
Carolyn Dawn Johnson
Clint Daniels
Craig Campbell
D. Vincent Williams
Dave Pahanish
David Lee Murphy
Dean Dillon
Dylan Altman
Earl Bud Lee
Elisha Hoffman
Eric Paslay
Jamie Floyd
Jared Mullins
Jerrod Niemann
Jim McCormick
Jimmy Yeary
Justin Wilson
Keith Stegall
Lance Miller
Liz Rose
Mark Irwin
Marla Cannon-Goodman
Marti Frederiksen
Matt Warren
Paul Jenkins
Phil Barton
Rachel Thibodeau
Ray Fulcher
Rebecca Lynn Howard
Rob Hatch
Shane Minor
Steve Bogard
Tyler Reeve
Wynn Varble
Thursday’s headliners:
Nashville Songwriter Hall of Fame member David Lee Murphy has helped shape modern country music with songs recorded by Kenny Chesney, Jason Aldean, Jake Owen, Luke Bryan, among many others, including hits such as “Big Green Tractor,” “Living in Fast Forward” authentic country sound and energetic live performances. The Georgia native has performed at CMA Fest and toured alongside Luke Bryan.
Jerrod Niemann first rose to national prominence with his RIAA Platinum-certified hit “Lover, Lover” and RIAA Gold-certified top five single “What Do You Want.” In addition to his success as an artist, he is an acclaimed songwriter whose songs have been recorded by Garth Brooks, Blake Shelton, Lee Brice, and many more.