Grand Dame

She's cowritten tunes with local pop-rocker Billy Livesay, folk-blues singer Kathy Fleishmann, and country songwriter Michael Judge, a former South Floridian who relocated to Nashville. The song she wrote with Livesay, "Breakthrough," is being considered by the Backstreet Boys, among others. "I've got a country song that I'd love to get to Clint Black, but he's very hard to get to," she adds.

She's also focusing more energy on seeking grants to fund music-in-schools programs similar to the volunteer effort started through Songwriters, and she plans to organize music showcases and bring in talent scouts from labels.

Joshua Prezant

Chrystal Hartigan makes South Florida safe for songwriters

Details

Monday, September 25. Admission to the 7 p.m. event is free. See "Concerts For the Week" for a list of acts. Call 954-929-0982 or 954-742-6874.

Alligator Alley, 2079 N. University Dr., Sunrise

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And while she's busy building a stable of songwriters for Hollywood East, she's also planning her first big event for next year, a songwriters festival.

"I've actually been wanting to do that for a couple of years, and I'm just really working away at it now," says Hartigan, noting that the idea came to her while attending Nashville's Tin Pan South, a full week of songwriter showcases. Her one-night event will be held in downtown Hollywood at roughly 15 clubs. "There are an awful lot of songwriters here, so that's not even a problem," she says. "But I would like to get some of the songwriters -- some of the accomplished ones who have hits out -- from Nashville, L.A., and New York, so I'm talking with some of the publishing companies in those areas to send their writers here. And just as I did with Lovefest, I'll invite A&R reps, managers, and producers."

She has the fest tentatively scheduled for next spring. The working title? "2001: A Songwriters' Odyssey."