About Us
Jesus was called a wine bibber and a glutton during his time on earth because he was often seen eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners. His very first miracle was turning water into wine. He loved people from all walks of life, especially those who were the most broken. This leads us to believe that if he were visiting the earth today you might find him sitting in a bar somewhere having a drink with a complete stranger and that stranger might leave that bar forever changed. Churches and bars are similar in that they are filled with people looking for a community or an escape from life’s heartache. We have seen these two worlds collide with Jesus in a Bar. We decided to continue with our songwriter nights in a big way. To reach more community we wanted to bring them ALL together for one large festival to celebrate how God is growing this ministry. Introducing Jesus in a Bar's "Storytellers Festival".
Storytelling
Storytellers Festival is a brand focused on providing a faith-based platform for songwriters of all genres to share true stories inspired by faith. We also hope to introduce the people of Nashville to the love of Jesus through these songs and testimonies.
Storytellers Festival is committed to allowing both signed AND unsigned independent artists to play. We love our independent Christian music community and we want to foster their careers and writing by encouraging them to continue to write christian music and share the gospel.
Storytellers is the culmination of writers who have played “Jesus in a Bar” all year. We’re using the festival as an opportunity for them to share the gospel message to a larger audience. We also want to celebrate these songwriters and giving them a fun opportunity to be part of a festival is our way of doing that. We want a space for these writers to feel valued and part of celebrating all they’ve done for Jesus.
What's To Come?
This year we will have over 50 vendors, a predicted 5,000 people in attendance, 10-15 food trucks, 30 artists and 10 hours of music.
A Message From the Founders
I have been passionate about spreading the gospel through songwriting my entire life. Getting to showcase these songwriters and artists and allowing them a space to share their testimonies through song has been such an incredible gift from God. I have seen audiences moved to tears and the build up of an incredible Christian songwriting community. What started as outreach to the city of the Nashville bar scene with “Jesus In A Bar”, has quickly shed a light on the lack of platforms these artists have to share their faith-bases music. We can confidently say, that because we’re providing the platform, we have seen the artists be encouraged to write more about their faith and in turn touching more lives where people in the crowds have more questions about Jesus.
As someone who has traveled into almost every state in the U.S. at Christian concerts and festivals across the country, there’s no excuse for Nashville to not have one! This is what we hope to bring. Nashville needs Jesus, too! We hope that Storytellers Festival can help spiral this city to fully embrace Christian music regardless of genre and regardless of signed or unsigned artists. It’s all God’s anyway.
All for His glory,
Krystal Polychronis
Storytellers is our annual grand finale event. It’s a time to celebrate what the Lord has done on all the unique stages we’ve played throughout the year. It’s also an opportunity to share the gospel in a very public setting. Last year we held it on the outskirts of town and this year we’re taking it to the heart of our city. Music is a universal language that transcend words communicating to the soul of a person. What better way to share the gospel than on the wings of song? As songwriter’s share their personal stories of faith, joy and struggle, they’re collaboratively telling the most hopeful story ever written. We hope you join us this year as we bring Jesus into Nashville.
To God be the glory,
Josh Willcutts