BMI Announces the 18th Annual Key West Songwriters Festival

Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), the leading global music rights organization, and the Smokin’ Tuna Saloon will once again join forces to present the Key West Songwriters Festival from May 1-5, 2013. Featuring many of the most beloved songwriters, the event has become an annual pilgrimage south for country and pop music heroes for 18 consecutive years.

“BMI’s support of the Key West Songwriters Festival illustrates the commitment to our songwriters to put them in front of meaningful audiences to further expose their music,” said BMI’s Executive Director of Writer/Publisher Relations Mark Mason.

The 2013 list of performers features country hit-writers Jeffrey Steele, Paul Overstreet, Bob DiPiero, Lori McKenna, Bobby Pinson, Chuck Cannon, Keith Stegall, Liz Rose, Paul Jenkins, James Slater, Doug Johnson and Even Stevens; icon Steve Cropper; power-trio the World Famous Headliners, made up of chart topping writers and virtuosic musicians Pat McLaughlin, Shawn Camp and Al Anderson; revered Texas singer/songwriter Robert Earl Keen; critically acclaimed young blues journeyman Gary Clark, Jr.; top-flight guitarist and songwriter Guthrie Trapp; and many more, to be announced in the coming weeks.

This year, Gary Clark, Jr. will headline the festival’s official kick-off party, sponsored by the National Recording Academy on Wednesday, May 1 at 6 p.m. on the Sunset Pier at the Ocean Key Resort. Five days and nights of more than 30 free shows at favorite island venues will follow, featuring uniquely diverse lineups in Nashville’s signature in-the-round setting. A free street concert on Saturday, May 4, will be a highlight of the festival with a full-band and a Key West-style throwdown, featuring exciting new Sony recording artists Bush Hawg, Joanna Smith and X-Factor winner Tate Stevens. The Key West Songwriters Festival is presented in association with the Tourist Development Council of the Florida Keys and Key West.

Proceeds from the Key West Songwriters Festival will benefit 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.

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