Ben Thomas Ben Thomas

Amelia Songwriters Retreat: Where Songs Come Ashore

This October a small circle of writers will slip into a quiet house by the beach for one thing: songs. Time to write. Time to listen. Time to get back to the part of the work that doesn’t need a crowd.

Mornings come easy. Coffee. A guitar case on the table. A few soft chords before the words show up. Most of the week stays inside that house—workshops, co-writes, folks trading lines until they land. Out past the shrimp boats and live oaks, this town moves at porch speed, and the songs follow. Some nights open to the public so the Amelia Island community can hear what’s taking shape.

Public events

The workshop anchor

Thomm Jutz — Grammy-nominated songwriter and producer, Belmont professor. Songs cut by Billy Strings, Nanci Griffith, Del McCoury, and many more. His work appears across film and TV from BBC to Disney. He listens close, doesn’t rush, and points folks toward what the song wants. Friday morning he leads a workshop that favors process over polish.

This year’s writers

Tammy Rogers King (Co-host)
Co-founder of the Grammy-winning SteelDrivers, Tammy’s fiddle and voice helped shape modern bluegrass and Americana. She’s a longtime, in-demand session player and a charting songwriter, including “A Little Gasoline” for Terri Clark. She also co-founded the Fernandina Beach Songwriters Festival.

Eric Erdman
A guitar-slinging troubadour with lyrics that cut deep and hooks that feel like old friends. He wrote the Drag Race High theme; “Stone’s Throw” with Red Clay Strays appears on Moments to Remember and Live at The Ryman; and he co-wrote “Caddo County” for Twisters: The Album. Honors include 15× Lagniappe Solo Musician of the Year, 2021 Southland Music Line Musician of the Year, and 4× TRMA Songwriter of the Year.

Thomm Jutz
Grammy-nominated songwriter, producer, and Belmont professor whose songs have been recorded by Billy Strings, Nanci Griffith, and Del McCoury. His work turns up across film and TV from BBC to Disney. At the retreat he mentors and performs, bringing songs of people and place with a flatpick and a quiet kind of gravity.

Maxwell Sadler
He writes to understand the world and brings a calm that can hush a room. In Nashville he studied under Thomm at Belmont; with Maxwell & The Shakes he won the 2023 Country/Americana Showcase and Best of the Best, made a Bluebird Café debut, and earned indie airplay. Now musical director and guitarist for UMG’s Catie Offerman, he has shared stages opening for Parker McCollum, Ian Munsick, Ashley McBryde, and George Strait.

Brenna Wheeler
On fiddle since three, with classical roots at Vanderbilt’s Blair School and a Commercial Violin degree from Belmont. She co-founded Troubadour Blue with Daniel Ethridge and her brother Eli, writing from everyday life with detail and clarity. Her songs carry porch-light honesty and a steady melodic hand.

Sean McCarthy
Born in Gloucester and raised in Fernandina, he moved to Nashville in ’83 and played rooms like The Bluebird and Douglas Corner. His “Coastal Country” blends country, bluegrass, and salt-air stories about place and memory. He also co-founded the Fernandina Beach Songwriters Festival.

Chris Eitel

Moved to Amelia Island from Illinois in 2012. He is a primary writer for his brother’s band Ghost+Bones. After writing songs for 20 years and being a touring musician for nearly a decade, he took some time off from music. In the summer of 2022 he met a group of local musicians that shared his passion for original music, and can now be found playing local venues with multiple different outfits. He’s also collaborated with Andria Shinn, Monty Smith and Sean McCarthy on several new compositions.  

Tyler York

Grew up on the water in Fernandina Beach, Florida, and you can hear it in his songs. After years of playing other people’s music, he started writing in his mid-20s to tell his own stories. Influenced by Jason Isbell, Tyler Childers, and Chris Knight, Tyler leans into plainspoken, image-rich songwriting drawn from real lives and places. With a nudge from his local music community, he’s opened up, sharing work that ties his coast, his people, and his path together.

Brandon Hester

is from the PNW where he fell in love with song writing and music in general. He has been writing original music for the better part of the last 5 years and has some music coming to streaming services soon!

Monty Smith

Monty Smith grew up in the southwest Georgia town of Bainbridge.  He's lived in Colorado, Idaho, and has called Fernandina home since 2021.  This Singer/Songwriter loves life, loves people, and has a passion for music.  His songwriting has influences that can be found in classic country, Rock, Folk, and Americana.  He performs with some regularity on the island solo, with Harmonica player Jeffrey Weathers, as well as with the band Andria Shinn and the Loyal Souls.

Andria Shinn (host)
Oregon born and Amelia Island based, she leans Southern rock and country soul. Her debut Lose That Fire tells resilience and healing plain and true, while she builds the local scene through new stages, her Salt Marsh Kids nonprofit, and this retreat. She helps promote the island’s artists and musical spirit all year long.

Fernandina’s emerging music scene

Sit on a front porch at dusk and you can hear it in the tide. Fernandina is becoming a place where songs come ashore. Writers and producers—more and more from Nashville and beyond—are lingering longer, and many are calling it home. The pull isn’t hype; it’s the air and the pace, the way a melody drifts from a screened porch to a stage by night. If you’re looking for kin, think of Key West’s long songwriters tradition, the 30A coastal circuit, late-summer sessions on Martha’s Vineyard, or story swaps on Hilton Head. Fernandina keeps its own lantern, steady and low, and the songs find it.

Details and updates: @andriashinnmusic on Facebook and Instagram.

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Andria . Andria .

Still Burning — How It Feels Now That Lose That Fire Is Out

Lose That Fire, the debut album from Oregon-born singer-songwriter Andria Shinn, is a raw, unfiltered journey through heartbreak, healing, and the grit it takes to keep going when the flame starts to fade.

Stream, share, and add to your playlists here: https://found.ee/LoseThatFire

When I shared Behind the Fire – The Stories Inside Every Song, I thought that might be the final page in this chapter. But turns out, the story keeps writing itself.

It’s been a month since Lose That Fire came out, and honestly… I’m still trying to find the words for what it’s meant to watch this music move.

I wrote these songs alone in quiet rooms, on late-night drives, and on porch steps with the cicadas buzzing. They felt like little secrets. Now they’re out in the world, in your playlists, your headphones, your car rides home. That’s the wildest kind of magic.

What I’ve Learned Since Releasing This Record

I thought release day would feel like a finish line. Instead, it feels like a starting line I didn’t even know I was waiting for. The songs keep growing as you give them your own stories and meanings.

Seeing someone yell “Rain No More!” from the crowd or getting a late-night voice memo from a friend crying to “Every Little Moment”, that’s the kind of connection that keeps the fire alive for me.

A Few Highlights So Far

  • 🌟 We had over 138,000 views on Facebook in the last 90 days, proof that these live videos, acoustic takes, and real moments are really landing with y’all.

  • 🤘 On YouTube, views nearly doubled, showing there’s a growing crew who wants to go deeper into the music and the stories behind it.

Favorite Moments

  • Watching folks in Fernandina sing Salt Marsh Blues like it’s their personal anthem

  • The first time someone got Go Away stuck in their head and sent me a hilarious car singalong video

  • Hearing my band family breathe new life into these songs on stage every single night

What’s Next

I want to keep building on this — more porch sessions, more raw acoustic versions, and a few surprise covers you’ve been asking for.

And… I’ve already started writing new songs. A few of them are just scribbles in a notebook, some are voice memos at 2am, but they’re coming.

I can’t wait to start sharing them with you soon.

Keep the Fire Going

I wrote Lose That Fire as a reminder to myself, and maybe to you too, not to let that spark inside die out.

So if these songs have hit you somewhere deep, I’d love to hear your story. Drop me a message, tag me, or come sing them with me live. That’s what keeps this going.

👉 Stream, share, and add the record to your playlists here: https://found.ee/LoseThatFire
👉 Sign up for my newsletter to get first dibs on shows, new music.

Thanks for holding this music, for sharing it, and for keeping this fire alive with me.

With love,
Andria

#ShinnionArmy #LoseThatFire #AndriaShinn #NewMusic2025 #SingerSongwriter

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Andria . Andria .

Behind the Fire – The Stories Inside Every Song

Stream, share, and add to your playlists here: https://found.ee/LoseThatFire

If Lose That Fire is a chapter of my life, then each song is a page that had to be written.

This record started as a whisper — one melody, one lyric, one late-night moment at a time. Now that it’s finally out in the world, I wanted to pull back the curtain and share what these songs really mean to me.

These aren't just tracks on a playlist. They're the journal entries I never thought I’d share.

Rain No More

This one’s about choosing light — even when everything around you feels dark and heavy. It’s a reminder that we don’t have to carry every storm. Sometimes, we get to look up and decide: no more rain today.

Every Little Moment (Live at the Mermaid Cafe - Ft Sean McCarthy)

This song came from grief — the quiet kind that lingers long after the big waves crash. It’s about love and loss, people who left too soon, and the tiny, beautiful seconds that end up meaning the most. This one came out raw, and I let it stay that way.

Salt Marsh Blues

This track is pure Fernandina. It’s gritty, groovy, and rooted in this little island I now call home. We started playing it live before the album was even finished, and it’s turned into something bigger — a kind of local anthem, our way of singing about the place that gives us so much.

Go Away

Not every love song has to be heavy. Go Away is a playful push-and-pull between two people who know each other a little too well. It’s love in its simplest, silliest, almost childlike state — where teasing is affection.

Broke-ass Chords (BAC)

This is the one that started it all. BAC is me, plain and simple — a girl with a guitar, trying to figure out her place in the world. It’s messy, honest, and maybe a little stubborn (just like me). But it’s where the fire first flickered.

Lose That Fire

The anthem. The title track. The reason this whole thing exists.
This song is about coming back to yourself — after burnout, heartbreak, and all the ways life tries to dim your light. For me, it’s a reminder to never give up on the spark. I hope it reminds you too.

Addiction

This one was hard to write. Sometimes we find our own struggles mirrored in someone else. Addiction is about that brutal honesty — when you’re faced with something (or someone) that feels impossible to walk away from, even when you know you have to.

🎸 Credits & Gratitude — The Heart Behind Lose That Fire

This album wouldn’t exist without the soul, time, and talent of some truly incredible people. Lose That Fire was built on collaboration — not just mine, but the voices, hands, and hearts of these musicians, writers, and friends. I’m so grateful for every single one of them.

✍️ Co-Writers

These are the folks who helped me shape the stories, emotions, and lyrics you’ll hear on Lose That Fire.

  • Neil Osbon

  • Monty Smith

  • Chris Eitel

  • Will Neighbours

🎶 The Loyal Souls – My Band, My Backbone

The team that’s been with me onstage and in the studio, helping bring these songs to life with heart and grit.

  • Andy Shinn (Live sound / Drums) there is no version of this album, this journey, or this dream without you. You’ve been the beat behind every show, the calm through every storm, the one who believed in the music even when I didn’t. Thank you for holding it all down so I could rise up. Your loyalty, love, and steady rhythm have carried me every step of the way. I Lose That Fire sometimes — but you never let it go out.

  • Monty Smith – Guitarist, live and studio player

  • Neil Osbon – Guitarist, live and studio player

  • Carmine Paolillo – Drummer

  • Tommy Pelkowski – Bassist (also of Gilberto77)

🎛️ Gilberto77 – Creative Collaborators

Deep gratitude to these collaborators for their musicality and production support:

  • Patrick Haynes – Producer & Multi-instrumentalist

  • Michael Hawthorn – Drummer & session player

  • Tommy Pelkowski – Bassist

  • Ernest Gonzales – Saxaphone

  • Andrew Christopher – Guitar

🎧 Mixing & Mastering

  • Ben Thomas – Mix & Mastering Engineer
    Helped shape the sound and polish every track

This Record is Real Life

I didn’t write these songs to make something perfect. I wrote them to tell the truth.
And if something in them feels familiar, I hope you know you’re not alone.

Thanks for listening — not just with your ears, but with your heart.

👉 If one of these songs hit you a little different, I’d love to hear about it. Tag me. Share it. Tell someone what it meant to you.
Let’s keep the fire going!


#ShinnionArmy #LoseThatFire #AndriaShinn

With love,
— Andria

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Andria . Andria .

🔥 Lose That Fire – My Debut Album Is Finally Here

Lose That Fire, the debut album from Oregon-born singer-songwriter Andria Shinn, is a raw, unfiltered journey through heartbreak, healing, and the grit it takes to keep going when the flame starts to fade.

Stream, share, and add to your playlists here: https://found.ee/LoseThatFire

Well... this is the post I’ve dreamed of writing for a long time.

My debut album, Lose That Fire, officially drops May 3 — and I couldn’t be more grateful, nervous, and proud to finally share it with you.

This record is more than just seven songs. It’s a chapter of my life I wasn’t sure I’d ever write down, let alone sing out loud.

Finding the Fire Again

A few years ago, I made the decision to stop waiting and finally chase the dream I’d carried since I was a little girl.

Then came Lose That Fire — the first song I wrote after a long, quiet stretch. And suddenly, the flame sparked back. That one moment became the seed for this entire album.

Every track that followed helped me come back to myself — through heartbreak, healing, addiction, anger, forgiveness, and all the quiet in-between moments.

Where It All Comes From

I grew up in Oregon’s Willamette Valley — full of foggy mornings, winding rivers, and fields that stretch forever. Being a farm girl taught me patience, grit, and how to listen to the quiet things. That quiet is in the songs.

Rain No More and Salt Marsh Blues are soaked in that sense of place. Broke-ass Chords and Go Away came out raw and unfiltered. These aren’t just songs — they’re pieces of truth.

Made with Grit, Gratitude, and Good People

This album was recorded independently across Florida and Nashville, with no label, no filters — just a tight circle of friends and collaborators who brought these songs to life with heart.

Special thanks to:

  • The Loyal Souls — Andy Shinn, Neil Osbon, Monty Smith, Carmine paolillo, and Tommy Pelkowski — for the soul you poured into this music.

  • Local legends - Patrick Haynes, my producer and creative anchor throughout this process. Ben Thomas, whose work on mixing and mastering gave these songs their shape. Also thanks to Chris Eitel, Neil Osbon and Monty Smith for the incredible songwriting input.

  • The incredible musicians of Gilberto77 — Michael Hawthorne, Patrick Haynes, Tommy Pelkowski, Ernest Gonzolez and Andrew Christopher — for bringing depth, groove, and joy to the project.

What You’ll Hear

Tracklist:

  1. Lose That Fire

  2. Rain No More

  3. Adddiction

  4. Broke-ass Chords

  5. Salt Marsh Blues

  6. Go Away

  7. Every Little Moment

Each track carries its own story. I hope they meet you where you are and give you something you didn’t even know you needed.

Be Part of the Journey

If you’re new here, welcome. If you’ve been with me since open mic nights and rough demo days — thank you from the bottom of my heart.

📬 Want to stay in the loop?
Sign up for the newsletter below to get exclusive updates, early track drops, and behind-the-scenes content straight to your inbox.

📸 Share your favorite track when the album drops and tag #ShinnionArmy — I’ll be watching and reposting every single one. Let’s build this community together, one song at a time.

This is just the beginning.

With love,
Andria

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