Submitted By: Jacqueline Wilson
FORT MYERS – Celebrate Nashville singer-songwriters and music festival magnate, Joe Gilchrist, longtime owner of the world-famous Flora-Bama Lounge and the Frank Brown International Songwriters’ Festival. On the nights of September 18 and 19, 2019, Southwest Florida audiences will be treated to two nights of music, film, history, and the true story behind “The Godfather of the Country Singer-Songwriter Movement”.
Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Lynn Rabren and Dive Bar Country’s Live from Nashville music series invites audiences to enjoy a VIP film screening of the unreleased film Stories In Rhyme, live performances in the round by talented artists from Nashville, and a Q&A with Joe Gilchrist and singer-songwriters in his group of guests.
Stories in Rhyme, due to be released in 2020, features the story behind the evolution of the award-winning Frank Brown International Songwriters’ Festival, an annual event at the world-famous Flora-Bama Lounge on the west end of Florida’s Panhandle. The film, featuring Joe himself, tracks the humble beginnings of his establishment that began as a haven for those seeking a little beer and liquor as it evolved into the home of a world class musical event.
The festivities begin on Wednesday Sept. 18th at Ter-Tini’s Music Hall (located next to Gator Lanes) with a screening of the official film trailer and a live discussion with Joe Gilchrist and a few of his singer-songwriter friends. Following the trailer, several singer-songwriters will perform their greatest hits and explain the inspiration behind the music. Doors open at 6pm. Tickets are $15 or two for $25. A Bar-b-Que dinner will be served for $14.95 a plate, and a full bar will be available.
The second night of the event, Thursday Sept. 19th, will be presented on Captiva Island at South Seas Plantation’s Sea Pearl Ballroom. The event is hosted by Chapin Leatherwood of DiveBarCountry.com and is sponsored by Jensen Resorts True Captiva. This is a VIP screening event of the entire 80-minute film featuring a Q&A with Joe and the singers and songwriters in attendance. Doors will open at 6pm and the film will start at 7pm. Tickets are free but an on-site contribution to Captain’s for Clean Waters is appreciated. A full bar will be available.
Ter-Tini’s (Next to Gator Lanes) is located at 1901 Crystal Dr. Fort Myers, 33907. South Seas Plantation is located at 5400 Plantation Road Captiva, FL 33924.
To purchase tickets, visit www.DiveBarCountry.com For more information visit www.DiveBarCountry.com or call 239-470-5611.
About Joe Gilchrist & The Frank Brown International Songwriters’ Festival
Long before Joe transformed a small beach-front honky-tonk into a world-famous bar on the beach of Florida’s western panhandle, he showed his love for community and country. Joe has been honored by Governors for his contributions to music and education. In the Frank Brown International Songwriters Festival, he is able to combine both.
One of his partners in the Flora-Bama, John McInnis, may have said it best; “Joe always thought a bar was more of a community hub than a bar,” McInnis said. “He along with Pat McClelland built the Flora-Bama into a community center that was more focused on giving back to the community and supporting charities than it was making money. The success came because the Flora-Bama is loved and supported by the community.”
Joe created this event to show honor to all the magnificent songwriters who sometimes do not get the credit they deserve for putting joy in our hearts.
The festival is dedicated to the late Frank Brown, who was night watchman at the Flora~Bama for 28 years, and whose moral values, integrity and strength of character still endure.
For more information, visit https://www.frankbrownsongwriters.com/.
About Lynn Rabren
Lynn Rabren is a two time Emmy Award winning producer/director/videographer of television and documentary film success. Having produced notable projects for NBC’s “48 Hours”, CBS’s “60 Minutes” and “Sunday Morning” and for several ABC and PBS projects, Lynn’s latest project titled, “Stories in Rhyme” weaves the history of the Frank Brown International Songwriters Festival. The festival, which takes place in the world-famous Flora Bama Bar and Lounge on the beaches of Florida’s panhandle region, is one of the few festivals of its kind and draws singer/songwriters from across the world. Its history is truly unique, just one of the reasons that Rabren considered its story worthy of being preserved on film. Lynn resides on the Alabama gulf coast in the city of Fairhope, Alabama.
About Dive Bar Country
Dive Bar Country is a country music talent group and media outlet. Founded by Chapin Leatherwood in 2018, Dive Bar Country aims to locate and promote up and coming country music artists and offering them a platform and audience they may not have had before. Dive Bar Country has hosted concerts on Fort Myers Beach, Fort Myers, Nashville and beyond. Discover more at www.divebarcountry.com
About Jensen’s Resorts True Captiva
These events would not be possible without the love and support of the Jensen family. Being true lovers of the art of making music the Jensen’s have hosted many talented musicians, songwriters and industry supporters over the years including Joe Gilcrist himself.
First established in 1928 in Jensen’s Twin Palm Resort and Marina has been owned by the family and run by the Jensen’s for 41 years. They later added Jensen’s on the Gulf. Visit www.gocaptiva.com
Captains For Clean Water
Captains For Clean Water is a grassroots nonprofit organization advocating for clean water and healthy estuaries across Florida.
Captains For Clean Water started out as a group of fishing guides that “had enough” of Florida’s poor water management practices. Given the destruction seen firsthand, we were convinced that if everyone knew what we knew, the problem would have already been fixed. We discovered, the solution has been delayed for decades because of a lack of political will and public awareness.
Hayden Coffman
Hayden Coffman is a 22 year-old singer/songwriter from Knoxville, Tennessee. While attending Cumberland University on a baseball scholarship, Hayden started singing cover songs with his friends and quickly discovered his passion for singing and performing. He soon began pursuing music full-time, playing regular shows with his band in the evenings and writing his first original song in April 2018.
As a newcomer to the Nashville scene, Hayden was selected as a semi-finalist in the Alan Jackson Road Show competition, which earned him the opportunity to play with the Grand Ole Opry house band in March 2018. He has already opened shows for numerous artists, including Aaron Tippin, Tracy Byrd, Confederate Railroad, Darryl Worley, Seth Ennis, and Jon Wolfe. Hayden has performed tours across the US, including a show at the world-famous Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles.
Hayden’s Debut single “That’s Just Me” and second single “Last First Date” are only a small peek into who Hayden is as an artist. His upcoming album will show his influences from country legend Alan Jackson to modern superstar Luke Combs.
Bryce Mauldin
The 22 year old from the small town of Webster FL got into music in 2016 by posting cover videos on social media. After ending a successful career in motocross he began to gain serious traction on the internet. His covers quickly reached millions of views and hundreds of thousands of shares. Shortly after Bryce moved to Nashville, TN and started writing his own music. He got in the studio to record the song “All the Proof I Need” which was written by the Warren Brothers and Jimmy Yeary. Following the success of the single Bryce released his self-titled EP, including fan favorite “Seeing Somebody Else.” Bryce is on a fast track and surrounded by great people!
Joybeth Taylor
There’s a famous saying in country music – that it’s all about the song. It’s never been more true than it is for Joybeth Taylor. A rising singer-songwriter and unflinching storyteller, her work is as authentic as it gets, like sitting with a friend as she unpacks the deepest corners of her heart. Taylor doesn’t just write and sing country music, she lives it. “Country is what I grew up on, it’s in my veins all the time,” she says. “You know who I am after hearing my first song.”
True enough. Twenty-years-old and hailing from Pelham, Alabama, Taylor’s country roots run deep, and fans will soon know the real her. She first hit the stage at the tender age of four and began devouring Patsy Cline’s iconic catalog shortly thereafter, inspired by the songs themselves and Cline’s ability to express the most powerful of emotions. Diving into the craft, she began writing her own tunes as a way to work through a difficult, at times turbulent childhood, and developed a taste for modern-day country poets like Lori McKenna, Chris Stapleton and Travis Meadows. “It got me to where I wasn’t going insane with all these thoughts,” she explains. “It gave me a way to put everything I was going through on paper, and just get it out.”
Arriving in Nashville in 2016, Taylor put her passion to work and quickly established herself as a gifted tunesmith. She spent the ensuing years immersed in Music City’s co-writing scene, honing a razor-sharp knack for that same expressive quality she so admired in Cline. And now, she’s ready to deliver the results.
Produced by hit maker Jamie O’Neal (“There Is No Arizona,” “When I Think About Angels”), Taylor’s debut single is “It Just Takes One,” a vivid can’t-help-myself anthem dedicated to her own broken heart – and to the guy who could mend it with a single, careless text. Featuring Taylor’s sugar-sweet Southern vocal and a propulsive, radio-ready groove, Taylor admits she wrote it because she was stuck in an old flame’s orbit for years. But once again, the music set her free. “He doesn’t know this, but I really got over him after I wrote that song,” she says. “It’s that idea that all it takes is one nice thing, and you get me back. But after I wrote that I was like ‘You know what? You’ll never have me again.’”
Likewise, the deeply personal “Inside This Guitar” finds Taylor exploring the framework of her own construction, discovering strength in weakness and ultimately knowing herself better for the experience. “This steel and wood was built to last / You can’t say the same thing about my past,” she sings in the triumphant ballad’s chorus. “But I know me better than I’ve ever known myself before.”
Both tracks are part of a full EP that will serve as a look inside Taylor’s soul – and as her official introduction to country fans later this year. According to her, she wouldn’t have it any other way. “I want listeners to feel like they know me one-on-one, like we just had a conversation outside of the song,” she explains. “The most important thing to me is not being a star, it’s that connection. There were a lot of times in my life growing up that I felt alone, and my only way of getting through it was listening to music by people I look up to. Hopefully one day, I can be that person for someone else.”
Drake Freeman
A new rising star on the Nashville scene and native of Atlanta, GA, Drake Freeman is an accomplished singer/songwriter and musician with his debut EP released in October 2015. While promoting his EP, he played with artist such as Chase Bryant, Brothers Osbourne, and Tara Thompson. His second EP, recorded in Nashville, was released September 2018 – with two singles out now on all major music platforms. As a versatile performer, Drake began with playing the piano at age 4. He then became influenced by musicians such as Mike Campbell, Tom Petty, John Mayer, and Duane Allman, to name a few and decided to pick up a guitar. At age 9, he learned to play electric and acoustic guitar. Since then, he has taught himself just about anything with strings such as bass, mandolin, banjo, and was classically trained on the viola. He sticks to his roots of the South and fuses his love of Rock N’ Roll to create a Southern Rock experience similar to that of the Black Crowes, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Blackberry Smoke.
McCoy Moore
McCoy Moore is an 18 year old country singer/songwriter born and raised in Lakeland, Florida. He grew up playing baseball but fell out of love with the sport in high school where he later picked up guitar and started writing his own music shortly there after. McCoy’s biggest influences are Randy Travis, Keith Whitley, Jason Aldean, and Luke Combs. McCoy currently resides in Lakeland, Florida but plans to make the move to Nashville in the near future to pursue a career as an artist.
