13th Annual Conference Chattanooga, TN
May 13-17, 2020

For many years, SERFA held its annual conference at the beautiful Montreat Conference Center in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Due to the success of our growing conference, we moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee in 2019. We're very excited about the new opportunities Chattanooga has to offer our community. You can make reservations for the 2020 conference at The Chattanoogan — our host hotel — online now.

Conference registration and official showcase applications for 2020 will open on December 1, 2019.

The annual conference spans several days in May, and brings together artists, songwriters, presenters, DJs, and other music industry professionals. Days are filled with informational seminars and workshops, and the evenings are music-filled, with featured performers ("official showcases") followed by late-night shows in intimate settings ("guerrilla showcases"). 

Mary Guathier to Give 2020 Keynote

SERFA is thrilled to announce that Mary Gauthier -- whose tenth album Rifles and Rosary Beads was nominated for a 2019 GRAMMY Award for Best Folk Album of the Year and who was named 2019 International Artist of the Year by The Americana Association UK -- will be the keynote speaker at our annual conference in Chattanooga, Tennessee, May 13-17, 2020. 

While Gauthier’s first nine albums were deeply personal, this most recent album showcases her co-writing with veterans to help heal their trauma through song. 

“Because the results are so dramatic, this could work for other traumas,” Mary says. “Trauma is the epidemic. You say opioid, I say trauma epidemic. As an addict, I know addiction is self-medication because of suffering, and beneath that pain is always trauma. Underneath so much of the problems in the world is trauma, it's the central issue humanity is dealing with. We've found something powerful here, that brings hope to people who are hurting. So they are truly seen, and know they are not alone.”

The keynote address will take place on Friday, May 15. More details as they become available.

The SERFA Conference Experience

To get a feel for what you can expect from the conference, watch the video below. For more SERFA-related videos, visit our YouTube Channel.