It Started in
a Living Room.
Before the Coffee Shop, before years of interviews and before this became an archive, 30A Songwriter Radio began with an idea: the musicians and songwriters of the Emerald Coast deserved a place to be heard.
A Geeky Experiment
Became a Radio Show.
30A Songwriter Radio began in 2013 with Shannon Ireland.
At first, there was no grand plan. Shannon was playing around with technology — building websites, experimenting with podcasting and figuring out what could be done with live streaming.
South Walton and the surrounding area were already known for the beaches, restaurants and shops. But Shannon saw something that wasn’t receiving the same attention: the music.
There were musicians, bands, songwriters and venues all around the area. The idea behind 30A Songwriter Radio became simple: give that part of the community a place to be heard.
There Was Another Story Here.
The Emerald Coast had no shortage of attention. Visitors knew about the beaches, restaurants and communities. But the people creating original music throughout the area were part of a story that deserved to be documented too.
What started as an experiment with microphones and technology became a way to introduce musicians, preserve their performances and let them tell their own stories.
The Show Began to Find Its Voice.
What began with Shannon quickly became a project shaped by several people who helped give 30A Songwriter Radio its early personality.
Shannon Ireland
Started 30A Songwriter Radio in 2013 while experimenting with websites, podcasting, live streaming and ways to give local musicians greater exposure.
Tami Reinhart
Became a crucial part of the early years, helping book artists, research interviews, cover live shows and take 30A Songwriter Radio into the local music community.
Derek Givans
Joined Shannon during the early shows and created one of the most recognizable pieces of 30ASR history: the original 30A Songwriter Radio jingle.
Tami Reinhart
Helped Build the Momentum.
During the first few years of 30A Songwriter Radio, Tami Reinhart became a crucial part of what was happening both on the microphones and behind the scenes.
Tami booked artists for the show and did the research before each interview. That preparation helped the conversations go beyond simply introducing a guest. The show could talk about who the artists were, what they were creating and the stories behind their music.
Her work also took 30A Songwriter Radio outside the studio. Tami covered shows at venues throughout the area, keeping the project connected to the musicians, bands and places that made up the local music scene.
It was an important period of growth. The combination of booking artists, researching interviews, covering performances and being present in the community helped 30A Songwriter Radio gain attention remarkably quickly.
Tami was a crucial part of that rapid rise in popularity within the local music community.
Derek Givans Gave 30ASR Its Jingle.
During the early years, Derek Givans wasn’t only a co-host. He wrote and recorded the original 30A Songwriter Radio jingle.
Like the familiar Lips artwork, the jingle became part of the identity of 30A Songwriter Radio — something listeners associated immediately with the show.
The Show Went
Where the Music Was.
30A Songwriter Radio wasn’t limited to microphones in Shannon’s living room. The project became increasingly visible at performances, venues and music events around the area.
Shannon Ireland and Tami Reinhart represented 30A Songwriter Radio out in the local music community, meeting artists and documenting a scene that was growing alongside the show.
Those relationships became an important part of what 30A Songwriter Radio was about: not simply talking about the local music scene, but actually being part of it.
The Studio Was Shannon’s Living Room.
Long before there was a public location, musicians came into Shannon’s home to sit down, talk and record.
The setup was simpler, but the idea was already there: put musicians in front of microphones, let them talk about what they were creating and preserve the conversation.
A Website. Microphones. Musicians.
There wasn’t a formal studio or storefront yet. What mattered was that musicians had somewhere to tell their stories and people had somewhere to discover them.
Josette Rhodes
Joined the Story.
Josette Rhodes initially came to observe some of the early shows. Before long, she became part of them.
She eventually took over as the show’s full-time host, bringing the personality and presence that helped define 30A Songwriter Radio as it continued to grow.
About a year into the show’s story, Shannon Ireland and Josette Rhodes also became a couple.
Together, they began thinking about how to take 30A Songwriter Radio beyond a living-room podcast.
Prudence Bruns.
Over the years, 30A Songwriter Radio had the opportunity to speak with many fascinating people, but one interview stands apart in Shannon’s memory.
Prudence Bruns sat down with 30A Songwriter Radio and shared a story connected to one of the most recognizable songs in music history: Dear Prudence.
It remains one of the interviews that best represents why the project existed in the first place — to sit down, listen and preserve stories connected to music.
30A Songwriter Radio
Music & Coffee Was Born.
Josette Rhodes had the personality. Shannon Ireland had years of restaurant experience and the technical background behind the show. Together, they decided to build something that combined those strengths with the music community that had grown around 30A Songwriter Radio.
In 2015, 30A Songwriter Radio Music & Coffee became a physical place.
Shannon and Josette built the coffee shop themselves, floor to ceiling, starting with a completely vacant, never-before-occupied unit next to Publix in South Walton County, Florida.
The podcast now had a home. Musicians came through the door for interviews and original performances. Open-mic nights brought performers together. The line between a coffee shop, a studio and a local music gathering place became increasingly hard to define.
They Built It Themselves.
The Coffee Shop wasn’t simply a concept handed to a contractor. Shannon and Josette took a vacant unit and built the place themselves, from floor to ceiling.
The microphones, the old radios, the Lips, the couch and the performance space became part of a place that musicians and listeners would remember long after that chapter ended.
The Coffee Shop was eventually sold. It continues to operate as The Coffee Shop, largely preserving the space while making its own improvements over the years.
The Coffee Shop Changed Hands.
The Archive Stayed With Us.
Shannon Ireland and Josette Rhodes retained the rights to 30A Songwriter Radio. What remains online is much more than an old website.
It is years of interviews, photographs, performances, podcasts and stories documenting musicians and a music community during a particular period of the Emerald Coast’s history.
Today, the goal is simple: preserve it, make it easier to explore and keep the original material available rather than allowing those years to quietly disappear.
The Story Is Still Here.
Search the original website archive, rediscover musicians and performances, or listen through the surviving podcast collection. The people and stories that made 30A Songwriter Radio are still here to be found.