Media Contact:
Elizabeth Ray
FRLA Press Secretary
850.224.2250 x255
ERay@FRLA.org
(Tallahassee, FL) — The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association (FRLA) is proud to showcase more than 100 performers at the Key West Songwriter’s Festival. As a sponsor of the 19th annual event, FRLA is thrilled to bring five days of well-crafted songwriting to the idyllic island of Key West from Wednesday, May 7th through Sunday, May 11th in conjunction with BMI, a leader in music rights management.
“This is a one of kind festival that takes place in one of the most unique locations in the world and brings together some of the best songwriters in the business,” said Carol Dover, President and CEO of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association. “We are thrilled to be a part of this event that gives festival-goers the chance to hear chart-topping writers and experience the restaurants, bars and hotels located in Key West.”
Most of the shows during the festival are completely free, including more than 50 in-the-round sessions with multiple writers, a kick-off concert at Ocean Key Sunset Pier featuringAnders Osborne, and a free Sara Evans show in the heart of Duval Street. Additionally, top-tier writers and GRAMMY nominees such as Kacey Musgraves, Robert Earl Keen,Kree Harrison, Matraca Berg, Tony Joe White, and Dean Dillon will perform some of their original, award-winning songs and tell the stories behind them.
Proceeds from the Key West Songwriters Festival benefit the SHARE Military Initiative at Shepherd Center, a comprehensive rehabilitation program that focuses on assessment and treatment for service men and women who have sustained a mild to moderate traumatic brain injury and PTSD from the Afghanistan and Iraqi conflicts.
Please go to http://www.keywestsongwritersfestival.com/ for the festival schedule and afull list of songwriters who will be performing.
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About the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association
FRLA is Florida’s premier non-profit hospitality industry trade association. Our mission is to ‘Protect, Educate and Promote’ Florida’s $76.1 billion hospitality industry which represents 23% of Florida’s economy, $4.6 billion in sales tax revenue, and nearly 1.1 million employees – making it the state’s number one industry. We offer regulatory compliance and food safety training needs (RCS and SafeStaff®); industry developed career-building high school programs (FRLAEF); sponsor the only event in Florida exclusively serving the restaurant and foodservice industry (FR&L Show, September 7-9, 2014 in Orlando); and we safeguard the needs of the hospitality industry by providing legislative advocacy. We represent and serve more than 10,000 independent and household name members, suppliers, and theme parks. For more information, go towww.FRLA.organd find us on Twitter @FRLAnews, Facebook and YouTube.
About the Key West Songwriters Festival
The Key West Songwriters Festival is the largest festival of its kind in the world. The event’s 1995 debut was small but memorable, featuring Mickey Newbury and Shel Silverstein. BMI stepped in as a partner and sponsor in 1996 and has helped it grow into both a tourist attraction and favorite of island locals. The festival revolves around five days and nights of more than 30 free shows, staged at an array of the island’s most popular drinking holes and hot spots, where live music introduces crowds to the faces, voices and stories behind the songs. Diverse lineups featuring more than 100 top songwriters deliver rare, “Key West-only” moments. More info available at www.keywestsongwritersfestival.com.
About BMI
Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) is a global leader in music rights management, serving as an advocate for the value of music. BMI represents the public performance rights in more than 8.5 million musical works created and owned by more than 600,000 songwriters, composers, and music publishers. The Company negotiates music license agreements and distributes the fees it generates as royalties to its affiliated writers and publishers when their songs are performed in public. In 1939, BMI created a groundbreaking open-door policy becoming the only performing rights organization to welcome and represent the creators of blues, jazz, country, and American roots music. Today, the musical compositions in BMI’s repertoire, from chart toppers to perennial favorites span all genres of music and are consistently among the most-performed hits of the year. For additional information and the latest BMI news, visit bmi.com, follow us on Twitter @BMI or stay connected through Broadcast Music Inc.’s Facebook page.