05-05-2025
2025 Cosmic Songwriter Festival features Rodney Crowell, Tommy Prine, Elizabeth Moen
For the third year, Bloomington will experience four nights of live original music in a compelling structure: "the Cosmic format." In pairs, artists will take turns performing songs onstage at a variety of local locations and, between numbers, they'll talk about the stories that lie underneath their tunes.
This year's Cosmic Songwriter Festival headliners include Rodney Crowell, Tommy Prine, John Baumann, Elizabeth Moen, Thomas Csorba and Sam Moss. This year's festival will be May 14-17 at four different locations.
Maybe you've been to other Cosmic gigs, such as the monthly showcases called Cosmic Songwriters Club at the Orbit Room. In those, two songwriters take the stage simultaneously. One plays as the other listens; then they switch. It started in late 2021, and musicians and their fans have expanded it.
Willie Nelson's record release "Oh What a World" came out April 25, and all its songs are written by Cosmic festival performer Rodney Crowell. The album is the latest in Nelson's focusing whole albums on one songwriter. Hear the title track, "Oh What a Beautiful World," wherever you stream.
"This festival is cordial, noncompetitive," said co-founder Pablo "Oso" Fuentes, a musician who along with Shaun McDermott, organizes the Cosmic events. That in itself is refreshing, since getting music gigs as a performer often means elbowing out someone else to get a spot. "There's a lot of cooperation," Fuentes said.
The festival is also a way to experiment with new material. For instance, he said, "Carrie Newcomer tried out some new songs at our Cosmic Showcase (a different, but related, event) in April at the Orbit Room."
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"This year's Cosmic Songwriter Festival is tighter," Fuentes said. It's a slight departure from previous years; there will be two pairings per night instead of three.
"We are a listening-room event," Fuentes said, referring to the shows as concert-worthy, not barroom background music. He appreciates that "two hours is a long time for people to focus," but he hopes the audience will save their conversations for afterward.
"When it gets a little rowdy — we do have signs up to please keep quiet — we have conversations. We encourage people to shush their neighbors."
Fuentes has experience trying to maintain control among rowdies. He has 2-year-old twin boys. "They have ideas that I sometimes have to manage."
Images from a past Cosmic event: PHOTOS: Bloomington Music Expo with Cosmic Songwriters Club performances at Switchyard Park
Singer/songwriters are paired during the four nights of the Cosmic Songwriter Festival. For all the locations, doors will open at 6 p.m. with the show beginning at 7. Here's this year's lineup:
7 p.m. May 14 at The Orbit Room, 107 N. College Ave, Suite 001: Thomas Csorba, Sam Moss, Reece Sullivan, Sarah Grain. $26 pre-show.
7 p.m. May 15 at The Bluebird, 216 N. Walnut St.: Tommy Prine, John Baumann, She Returns From War, TAE and the Neighborly. $24 pre-show.
7 p.m. May 16 at The Buskirk-Chumley Theater, 114 E. Kirkwood Ave.: Rodney Crowell, Laurel Lewis, Elle Hodge, Jesse James DeConto. $34 general admission, with prices increasing on day of the show.
7 p.m. May 17 at The Blockhouse Bar, 205 S. College Ave.: Cam Clark, Elizabeth Moen, Jordan Smart, Father Kentucky. $24 pre-show, with prices increasing on day of the show.
After-parties at the Bluebird and the Buskirk-Chumley Theater offer special songwriter combinations and time to connect — and revel after all that hushed listening.
Prices vary; go online to for tickets and more information. For a special 20% discount on the May 16 show, use code "COSMIC20."
Cosmic went a step further and applied for a distinction: "Mayor Thomson declared May 16 Cosmic Songwriters Day."
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Cosmic Songwriter Festival Rodney Crowell Tommy Prine Bloomington Indiana
