Starting Nov. 6 and running through Nov. 16, more than 200 acclaimed songwriters will converge on the Florida-Alabama Gulf Coast to celebrate the 30th annual Frank Brown International Songwriters Festival. They have written some of the biggest hits in modern music.
What began in 1984 as an end-of-season party for local performers has turned into one of the largest songwriter festivals in the U.S., inspiring the Southeast Tourism Society to name the 2014 Frank Brown Songwriters’ Festival one of its Top 20 Events.
Frank Brown was the night watchman at the Flora-Bama Lounge for 28 years, and it was there that the Frank Brown Songwriters’ Festival started in 1984, the year that “Mr. Frank,” as he was known, turned 91 and retired. That same year, he was featured on Paul Harvey’s The Rest of the Story. Brown passed away four years later at the age of 95, but the festival named for him continues to grow, bringing music lovers from all over the country to the Gulf Coast for the chance to see Grammy Award-winning artists, chart-topping writers, and up-and-coming young musicians perform their original works in intimate settings. Thirty festival venues in Perdido Key and Pensacola, Florida and along the Gulf Coast of Alabama will host a diverse lineup of songwriters, some of whom will team up to turn the low-key sets into spellbinding jam sessions.
Among the featured songwriters are Austin Church, whose music has been featured on albums by Jimmy Buffett and Lyle Lovett, and Scotty Emerick, whose songs have been recorded by Toby Keith, Ronnie Milsap, Sawyer Brown and George Strait, and who was named 2004 Songwriter of the Year by the Nashville Songwriters Association International.
The festival begins Nov. 6 at 6:30 p.m. at Pensacola Little Theatre, with “Celebrating the Life of Larry Butler,†honoring the life and music of the late Grammy-winning music producer and Pensacola native. The musical tribute features Jim McBride, a CMA Award winning, Grammy-nominated songwriter and former president of the Nashville Songwriters Association International, along with Mike McGuire and Chris “Lucas†Roach, both members of the Grammy-winning group Shenandoah.
On the final day of the festival, Nov. 16, superstar songwriters Dean Dillon and Jamey Johnson will salute the legendary Hank Cochran with a tribute concert at Flora-Bama. Cochran’s songs have been recorded by Chet Atkins, Jimmy Buffett, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Emmylou Harris, Waylon Jennings, Tom Jones, Loretta Lynn, Dean Martin, Wayne Newton, Elvis Presley, Reba, Linda Ronstadt, George Strait and many others. He penned some of the country’s greatest hits, including “I Fall To Pieces” recorded by Patsy Cline. Dillon and Johnson, along with Buddy Cannon, Scotty Emerick and others, will perform beginning at 6 p.m.
Most of the shows are free, however a few venues charge a modest cover charge. For a complete list of venues and schedules, visit www.fbisf.com.