Joel Worford, Denny Richards, & Kane Kyrie Edwards in the round

ICSF 2026 will feature daily showcases at The Black Angel featuring songwriters ‘in the round.’ Three songwriters will take turns sharing songs and anecdotes with the audience. All Black Angel shows are free and open to the public, but get there early, since the venue fills up quick.

Joel Worford

Joel Worford released the album Thoughts for Breakfast under the artist name Whitney & The Saying Goes in 2021. Composed of nine songs written by himself, Thoughts for Breakfast combines soul, blues, alternative rock, jazz, americana, gospel and funk music. Joel has performed at numerous venues and restaurants around Richmond, Virginia, opened for the band American Authors at the Englert Theater in the fall of 2024, and has toured the east coast. He recently graduated from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop with a Master of Fine Arts degree in Fiction.

Denny Richards

Denny Richards is a multi-instrumentalist from Southeast Iowa. In his 15 years in Iowa City he has proudly played in numerous bands of all genres and made tons of friends too! His current focus is writing for Lou Sherry and Dayvyd Lunch.

“music and songwriting is a personal thing I’ve done for a long time. I love it! I don’t really talk about it much though. It’s just something I hold near n dear to my heart and I’m honored to share songs and stories at the Iowa City Songwriters Festival.” -Denny

Kane Kyrie Edwards

Kane Kyrie Edwards is a local Iowa City rocker who you may know from Lipstick Homicide, Mopium, or one of the 20ish other bands they have played in around town in past years. If you are a fan of cats, queerdos, or TV shows from the 90’s, then you might not hate their songs.

Photo by Jason Rubin (@jmr_images)