David Olney, an uncommonly thoughtful singer-songwriter whose music has been recorded by the likes of Linda Ronstadt and Steve Earle, died on Saturday after apparently having a heart attack while performing onstage in Seaside, Fla. He was 71.

His manager, Mary Sack, said Mr. Olney was pronounced dead at a hospital nearby. He had undergone surgery for a heart attack a decade ago.

Mr. Olney was stricken while performing at the annual 30A Songwriters Festival, held at venues in and around Seaside, on the Florida Panhandle’s Gulf Coast.

“David was playing a song when he paused, said ‘I’m sorry’ and put his chin to his chest,” Scott Miller, a singer-songwriter who was performing with him, said on Facebook. “He never dropped his guitar or fell off his stool. It was as easy and gentle as he was. We got him down and tried our best to revive him until the EMT’s arrived.”