Wayward Jones is a singer/songwriter duo with deep southern roots. Bicycle Jones and Amanda Jones met at a package show in 2016 and have been writing and touring ever since, often playing up to 150 shows a year. With ties to Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas, and South Louisiana, they bring an eclectic flavor to their music, heavy with elements of blues, gospel, country, folk, and rock. They are the winners of Boswell Media’s 2019 Mississippi Songwriter of the Year Contest and recorded their 2019 award winning song, “Holding It Together” in Muscle Shoals at the world famous Wishbone Studios. They have been featured in multiple songwriter festivals, including Ozone, Black Warrior, Pensacola Beach, Third Street, and Mississippi Songwriter Fest. These days, you can most often find them leading worship at Gautier Methodist Church.
Bob Ray is an award winning singer-songwriter from the hills of north Mississippi. He has been writing & performing for over 25 years. He founded the Gum Tree Songwriters Festival which operated in conjunction with Tupelo’s Gum Tree Arts Festival for over 30 years. Currently, he is the co-host of Songwriters Sessions Live at The Blue Canoe, in Tupelo, a monthly songwriters show. He has twice been named a Kerrville New Folk-Songwriting Finalist. He has been a prize winner in the Ozark Folk Festival Songwriting Festival. He has won awards from &/or performed at The MAX: Mississippi Arts & Entertainment Experience, The Memphis Music & Heritage Festival, The Mississippi Songwriter's Festival, The New Orleans Song Festival, The Highway 80 Songwriter's Festival, The Nashville Songwriter's Festival, the Natchez Song Festival, & The Frank Brown International Songwriter's Festival. He has shared club, concert hall & festival stages with Marty Stuart, Paul Thorn, Keith Sykes, Kate Campbell & Rhiannon Giddens among many others. Bob's music has been featured on the playlists of such programs as "Folk Sampler," MPB's "Grassroots" & Radio Free Texas.
Every third Thursday of the Month
the Mississippi Songwriters Alliance
host a Songs and Stories showcase
at the Mary C. O'Keefe
Cultural Arts Center
located at 1600 Government St,
Ocean Springs, MS 39564.
For information on being one
of our monthly showcase artist
contact MSA @
admin@msafestival.org© 2010-2026 Mississippi Songwriters Festival. All rights reserved.
