Three beloved singers and an up-and-coming talent will kick off the MSU Riley Center’s 2019 Spring/Summer Performing Arts Series on Saturday, April 6, at 7:30 p.m. The concert will feature soul-baring music and secret-spilling insider stories.

Melissa Manchester, Darryl Worley, Mo Pitney and John Ford Coley star in The Heart Behind the Music Songwriter’s Showcase. The showcase has become a Meridian favorite, returning several times with different lineups.

The musicians sit with their instruments on a bare stage, taking turns singing and chatting. Neither they nor the audience knows exactly what might happen next.

Manchester cut some of the signature songs of the 1970s and ’80s, including “Midnight Blue,” “Don’t Cry Out Loud” and “You Should Hear How She Talks About You.” Worley has three No. 1 country hits: “I Miss My Friend,” “Have You Forgotten?” and “Awful, Beautiful Life.”

Pitney, a young singer-songwriter, caught the Nashville music establishment’s attention with his debut single, “Country.” And Coley’s string of 1970s hits as part of England Dan & John Ford Coley includes “I’d Really Love to See You Tonight” and “We’ll Never Have to Say Goodbye Again.”

Tickets for The Heart Behind the Music Songwriter’s Showcase and the other performances in the Spring/Summer Series are on sale at the MSU Riley Center Box Office, open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and online at www.msurileycenter.com. Tickets are $39 and $33 and also can be purchased by calling the box office at 601-696-2200.