A new music festival arrives in Key West this weekend, featuring some of the biggest songwriters from Music City, USA — Nashville, Tennessee.
Island Revival Key West is produced by Nash West Entertainment, a partnership of Key Wester Dave Thibault and Nashville music heavyweight Rob Snyder, who founded the original Revival in Nashville.
“Island Revival will be a yearly event in Key West to celebrate the end of hurricane season and the beginning (revival) of a prosperous tourist season,” Thibault said. “Year one, this year, is our ‘proof of concept’ event and will heavily target our local community as a two-day music event and party for the locals.
“The objective is to build up a new five-day annual event that will attract locals and tourists going forward,” Thibault added.
The full, five-day Island Revival Festival will take place next year from Nov. 30 to Dec. 4, 2023.
“For the past nine years Nashville has been home to the Revival, a gathering of the town’s biggest hit writers who share their songs and introduce the next up-and-coming new faces to the ‘church pew,’” Thibault told the Keys Weekly. “The Revival highlights the best music in Nashville — the undeniable type by the talented people who make the room stand still.”
In 2022 the Revival took the “church” on the road with some of Nashville’s greatest songwriters playing festivals on a tour known as the Revival Roadshow.
That tour ends in Key West this weekend for the Island Revival, with shows from 7 to 10 p.m. Friday through Sunday, Dec. 2 and 3 at Ocean Key Resort’s Sunset Pier.
“Island Revival is honored to be showcasing some of the best talent Nashville has to offer in Key West this weekend,” Snyder told the Keys Weekly. “Revival’s mission since 2014 has been to celebrate the writers behind the hit songs that we all know and love. Key West has always been a welcoming harbor for Nashville talent. We’ll also be taking this opportunity to introduce some of Nashville’s best up-and-coming artists. Come out to see us this Friday and Saturday at Sunset Pier.”
The Key West lineup features: Wyatt Durrette, Bobby Pinson, Trent Tomlinson, Erik Dylan, Rob Snyder, Chris Canterbury, Vinnie Paolizzi, Tom O’Connor and Key West local Cliff Cody.
Nash West Entertainment has partnered with Ocean Key Resort and Sunset Pier to be the main stage host for Island Revival Key West in 2022 and future events. One- and two-day passes are available for $40 and $66.50 plus tax and fees. More information is at revivalroadshow.com.
