Media Contact:
Elizabeth Ray
FRLA Communications Director
850.224.2250 x255
ERay@FRLA.org
More than 150 Songwriters Head to Southernmost Point for 20th Annual Festival May 6-10, 2015
-Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association Sponsored Event to Benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital-
(Tallahassee, Fla.) – The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association (FRLA) is proud to highlight a diverse line up of more than 150 artists performing in more than 40 live shows at the Key West Songwriters Festival presented by BMI, a leader in music rights management. As a sponsor of the 20th annual event, FRLA is thrilled to bring five days and nights of well-crafted songwriting to the idyllic island of Key West from Wednesday, May 6 through Sunday, May 10 in conjunction with VISIT FLORIDA.
“We are honored to sponsor the Key West Songwriters Festival as it celebrates its 20th year showcasing songwriters and headlining acts in a one-of-a-kind destination,” said Carol Dover, President and CEO of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association. “This event gives festival-goers the chance to hear the stories behind chart-topping hits and experience the restaurants, bars and hotels in Florida’s southernmost paradise.”
A majority of the shows during the festival are free including “in-the-round” sessions with writers, the kick-off party presented by SunTrust Bank at Ocean Key Sunset Pier, and a concert in the heart of Duval Street featuring Grammy-nominated vocalist Chris Young. Additionally this year, the impressive list of artists performing at some of the island’s most popular beaches, boats, bars, resorts and historic theatres consists of Rhett Akins, Robert Earl Keen, Dean Dillon, Jeffrey Steele, Guthrie Trapp and The Mule Kickers, Aaron Watson, and many more.
Proceeds from the Key West Songwriters Festival benefit the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, a pediatric treatment and research facility leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases.
Please go to www.KeyWestSongwritersFestival.com for the festival schedule and a full 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 more than one 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, October 6-8, 2015 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 to www.FRLA.org and 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 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.