The annual Key West Songwriters Festival, presented by BMI, has announced the lineup for its 30th anniversary event April 29-May 3. Additional songwriters and show schedules will be announced later this month at keywestsongwritersfestival.com.
The Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association and Rams Head Presents will welcome more than 200 BMI creators to the festival, when Music City makes its way to the Southernmost City.
Free and ticketed shows at the Key West Theater will feature prominent songwriters like Ashley Cooke, Hardy, Brian Kelley, Chuck Mead, Rissi Palmer, Bruce Robison and Robert Randolph.
The festival launches Wednesday, April 29 with the Sunset Pier Kickoff Party at the Ocean Key Resort & Spa, featuring Jeffrey Steele and the Brummies. On Saturday, May 2, Ernest will host the annual free public block party at the Main Stage on Duval Street.
“Sunday Songs: Music & Mimosas” will return to Williams Hall on Sunday, May 3, while Rams Head Southernmost Bar & Restaurant will serve as the event headquarters.
BMI songwriters Bob DiPiero and Jeffrey Steele, who helped establish the festival in the late ’90s with festival founder Charlie Bauer, return this year. They are joined by perennial local favorites Chuck Cannon and Tia Sillers, alongside Wendell Mobley. James Slater also returns, continuing his streak of consecutive appearances since 2004. The festival’s history continues with the return of Tim Nichols and Craig Wiseman, who first appeared in 2005, as well as Danny Myrick and Bobby Pinson, both of whom have been event highlights since 2007. With their 2008 debuts, Doug Johnson, Robert Earl Keen and Bridgette Tatum have cultivated a steadfast following in Key West.
The lineup is further bolstered by musicians such as Rebecca Lynn Howard, Phil Barton, Lori McKenna and Liz Rose, who have been integral to the event since 2010. Following their 2013 debut, Ryan Beaver and Tyler Reeve will return, as will Jack Ingram and Lee Thomas Miller, who first joined the festival in 2015. Taylor Phillips, Aaron Raitiere and Trent Tomlinson will perform after their initial mark on the festival in 2017. Ronnie Bowman will perform for his ninth consecutive year.
The Key West Songwriters Festival has served as a place of discovery for the likes of Chris Stapleton, Randy Houser and Jamey Johnson, who first performed at the event in 2005. This tradition of identifying generational talent continued with early appearances by Thomas Rhett, Dustin Lynch, Kacey Musgraves and Charlie Worsham in 2011, followed by 2013 debuts from Drew Baldridge, Gary Clark Jr., and Caitlyn Smith, as well as Kane Brown, Luke Combs, Hardy, Walker Hayes and Maggie Rose in 2016. In recent years, the festival has maintained its status as a launchpad for headliners, hosting Morgan Wallen and Ashley McBryde in 2018, Ernest in 2019, Carter Faith and Riley Green in 2022, and Elle King and Ella Langley in 2023.
About BMI
BMI represents the public performance rights of over 22.4 million musical works created and owned by more than 1.4 million songwriters, composers and music publishers.
About Rams Head
Rams Head Presents provides programming for the Key West Theater and the Key West Amphitheater in Key West and for the Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts in Annapolis. The company bought the Key West Songwriters Festival in 2021 and launched the Annapolis Songwriters Festival in September 2022.
