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Alabama Music Office.com goes to the 30A Songwriters Festival 2014 in South Walton County, Florida. This was their 5th year and is one of the very best Songwriters Festivals that I have covered. The Saint Johns was at Hibiscus Coffee & Guesthouse in Grayton Beach to entertain.

So rarely does a moniker truly pay homage to the soul of a band, but in the case of The Saint Johns - the name stands for just about everything.

Florida natives Louis Johnson and Jordan Meredith - whose project bears the name of the river that winds through their home state - are on a long, winding journey of their own. A few years back at a friend's gathering, Louis picked up a guitar in a brazen attempt to impress a girl he had just met. That girl - Jordan -- fired back with an original song of her own. The guitar was passed back and forth, and what started as competition turned into companionship, a duel became a duo. They began writing songs together, pushed off the banks of that river, and haven't looked back.

Like the Saint Johns River, Louis and Jordan's melodies flow with a quiet peace and gentleness. Their harmonies seem easy, natural, like something ancient made them that way. But just as the calm meandering of the river belies its churning currents below, the duo's lilting melodies often contradict the heaving conflict flowing beneath each song. Though Louis and Jordan write graceful, earnest pop melodies, their songs are kept afloat by the tension beneath—songs about love and love lost, longing and regret. The pair's harmonies, lyrical themes, and writing styles all seem to have submitted to the flow of a grand river. "I feel like I'm better with him because we work differently," says Jordan. "Louis loves arranging and finding cool ways to make a song unexpectedly exciting, and I love lyrics."

"Yeah, we lucked out," says Louis. "I'm more certain that I'm going to write a really good song with Jordan than I am with anyone else."

Louis and Jordan's own current brought them to Nashville, which they now call home. After planting their roots in the Music City, the duo began eagerly and diligently writing new material. Late last year, The Saint Johns assembled a group of musicians to record live versions of four new songs. "Sometimes, I just want to see a video of the actual recording being done," says Louis. "I want to see the setup and what they look like. We want to see that from artists we love. It was our way of introducing ourselves." The Live Sessions are now available for free download on the band's website.

In addition to writing and recording material for a forthcoming EP, The Saint Johns spent the early part of 2013 on the road with Delta Rae and The Lone Bellow. The band will join Drew Holcomb in October, before teaming up with Stephen Kellogg on their first full US tour.
Open Water EP now available on iTunes! http://smarturl.it/thesaintjohns