Presented by American Songwriter
Opening Lines
Start writing. For the joy of it.
A long-weekend songwriting camp on the lake, open to every level. No audition, no experience required. Come write your first songs, or your next ones, in a room built to make you feel at home.
See what's included ↓Let's make sure this is the right fit.
Leave your info and our A&R director will give you a quick, no-pressure call to answer anything before you commit. Total beginners are exactly who we built this for.
Request my call- All levels welcome
- Every meal included
- Lakeside cabins & Airstreams
- Led by working songwriters
Less pressure. More songs.
This isn't an intensive, and it isn't an audition. It's a long weekend on the water with a room full of people who want to write. You'll spend your mornings in easy co-writing sessions, your afternoons on the lake, and your evenings playing what you made around a fire. Some campers have written a hundred songs. Some are about to write their first. Both belong here.
Hosts who want you in the room
Working songwriters and producers who remember exactly what it felt like to be new. They're here to write with you, not grade you.
Scott Graves
American Songwriter, A&R
Announced soon
More hosts to come
Announced soon
More hosts to come
Announced soon
More hosts to come
Full host lineup announced in the coming weeks.
You came to write. You'll leave with songs.
Songs you finished
Not fragments, not maybes. Real, complete songs you wrote alongside people who get it.
The confidence to keep going
You'll leave knowing you can do this, for the simple reason that you just did.
A room full of new friends
The co-writers, the harmony singers, and the stay-up-by-the-fire kind. The best part, every time.
How co-writing actually works
The thing nobody really teaches you, picked up the only way it sticks: by doing it.
Never finished a song? Perfect.
Been circling the same three for years? Also perfect. Written a hundred and just want a reason to write more? Come on down. Opening Lines is for anyone who wants to write songs and have a genuinely good time doing it. There's no audition and no level to clear. If you want to be in the room, the room is yours.
No application. Just say yes.Write, wander, share, repeat
A loose rhythm, not a syllabus. Enough structure to get songs done, enough room to breathe.
Masterclass & co-writes
Breakfast together, a masterclass to set the day, then into your assigned co-writing rooms.
Write or wander
Keep chasing the song, or take the lake — trails, the boardwalk, yard games, a quiet porch. Room to breathe.
Circle on the deck
Happy hour (first two drinks on us), dinner, then a songwriter circle to play what you wrote. Open mic if the night runs long.
Friday opens with check-in, happy hour, dinner, and meeting your hosts. Saturday and Sunday follow the rhythm above. Monday is one last breakfast together before the drive home.
Sleep in Dolly. Or Patsy. Or Loretta.
Wildwood's vintage Airstreams are named for country legends, and they're only the start. Cabins, lake homes, a floating cottage, and a waterfront inn, all on Cordell Hull Lake.
The Airstreams · Premium
More ways to stay
Every tier includes your room and all your meals. Pick your tier below; your exact spot is yours to choose at checkout.
Pick your room. Everything else is included.
Every tier comes with the full weekend of writing rooms, every meal, the showcase nights, and the run of the lake. The only thing that changes is where you sleep.
Shared
Inn room · two XL twins · paired with a fellow writer
Payment plans at checkout
- A bed at the table all weekend
- Daily masterclass + assigned co-writing rooms
- All meals: 3 dinners, 3 breakfasts, 2 lunches
- Nightly happy hour, first two drinks on us
- Songwriter circle & open mic on the deck
- Bonfires, s'mores, lake trails & yard games
- Shared Inn room with a fellow writer
Private
Lodge or Village Cabin · queen bed · all to yourself
Payment plans at checkout
- Everything in Shared, plus a room of your own
- Private Lodge or Village Cabin, queen bed
- No roommate, no pairing
- First pick of session times
- Quiet space to write between rooms
Premium
Lakeside cabin or a vintage Airstream · solo
Payment plans at checkout
- Everything in Private, plus a stay worth talking about
- A lakeside cabin or a vintage Airstream
- Dolly, June & Emmy-Lou, to name a few
- Priority session placement
- Reserved seat up front at the showcases
Wildwood Resort · Granville, TN, about 75 minutes east of Nashville on Cordell Hull Lake. Rooms are limited and held first come, first served. Travel not included.
A new camp, from a name songwriters trust
Opening Lines is brand new, but the people behind it aren't. American Songwriter has spent decades in the room with writers at every stage, through the magazine, the contests, and the camps that came before this one. This is that same world, opened all the way up.
Start where you are.
Opening Lines and Between the Lines are two steps on the same journey. Begin at your level, and grow into the next.
Opening Lines
All levels · beginners welcome
Experience first, no audition. Come write your first songs, or your next ones, in a room built to welcome you.
Reserve your spotBetween the Lines
Intermediate · ready to go deeper
When you're ready to sharpen the craft, Between the Lines is an immersive co-writing camp led by hit songwriters.
Explore Between the LinesQuestions, answered
Do I need to be any good?
What if I've never finished a song?
Where is it, and how do I get there?
What's included?
What should I bring?
Do I need to bring a co-writer?
Are there payment plans?
Is it really open to everyone?
Your first line is waiting.
A long weekend on the lake. Every level welcome. Come write.
Reserve your spotPartners
