Jake Owen Goes Home, Raises Thousands for Hometown Community

(All Photos Courtesy of Cyndy Porter)

Last weekend, for the fifth consecutive year, RCA Nashville recording artist and Vero Beach, FL, native Jake Owen headlined his annual hometown Jake Owen concert called “Mardy's Tennis & Jake's Music Fest.” This year's event moved to Holman Stadium, where Owen and special guests Platinum-selling Capitol Records Nashville group Little Big Town entertained a crowd of over 4,500. Singer-songwriter Chris Cavanaugh also performed.

This year, the event also took on a new dimension with the creation of the Jake Owen Foundation, which joins longtime event beneficiary the Mardy Fish Foundation as a new vehicle for charitable support geared toward children. The Mardy Fish Foundation, established by tennis pro Mardy Fish as a way to support youth organizations and programs in the Vero Beach area, will be a key beneficiary of the Jake Owen Foundation, together with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Jake Owen presented a check to St. Jude for $30,000 and a check to the Mardy Fish Foundation for $33,000.

“Every year I'm reminded how privileged I am to have been raised in this wonderful and charitable community,”said Jake. “It is such an honor to be a part of giving back to the children of Vero Beach.” He continued, “And a special thanks goes out to my friends Little Big Town and Mardy Fish for helping make this year's event so incredible.”

One of the highlights of the Friday concert was a Jake and Little Big Town acoustic performance of their Grammy nominated “Life In A Northern Town.”

In addition, Jake performed his hit “Tell Me” with Ty Bates, the winner of LongHorn Steakhouse’s “Sing It Like Jake” contest.

If you follow us on Twitter or Facebook, you know that we were lucky enough to attend the concert…It was great! Little Big Town wow-ed the audience with their amazing harmonies and Jake rocked the crowd with his high-energy set. The “Life In A Northern Town” performance was definitely a highlight of the evening. Jake also treated fans to a few new songs…which are fantastic!