Music With a Mission
Date Posted: Aug 29, 2022
The Frank Brown International Foundation for Music and the University of West Florida team up for Foo Foo to put songwriters in the spotlight
The Frank Brown International Foundation for Music has worked for years to provide a stage for musicians to thrive. In fact, the Frank Brown International Songwriter’s Festival has given a stage (literally) for nearly 40 years. This year, the Foundation partnered with the University of West Florida to produce another musical event that will shed light upon the songwriters and the stories behind the music with Music City Hit-Makers: The Songs, Their Stories, A Symphony, presented by The University of West Florida & Frank Brown International Foundation for Music.
Peggy Butler recently sat down to talk about this one-night event and what it means for Pensacola.
Q: Foo Foo Festival selected Frank Brown International Foundation and the University of West Florida to be one of 12 grant recipients this year. What does that mean for this event?
A: We are thrilled to have this event we are so excited about being part of the Foo Foo Festival. This has been a dream for so many of us for years. Thanks to the generous grant from Foo Foo, we’re going to be able to see that dream come to fruition. This program will be a musical event that’s going to mean a lot not only to Pensacola but to any fan of music.
Q: Tell us what we should expect.
A: Music brings people together, and with The Songs, Their Stories, A Symphony, we’ll be bringing together two different genres of music. The show will feature three hit Nashville songwriters—Jon Nite, Rivers Rutherford, and Brett James—and they will be performing their famous hits alongside the Pensacola Symphony Orchestra. These are three of the hottest songwriters from Nashville. They have close to fifty #1 hits between them, having written songs for some of country music’s biggest stars. They will be telling their stories and singing their songs with the symphony accompanying them. It’s going to be an amazing show with amazing talent in a beautiful venue.
Q: It sounds like a can’t miss event! When and where will it be?
A: The event will be on November 8 at Saenger Theater. Doors open at 6:30 pm, and the show starts at 7:30 pm. Adding to the reasons to attend is that proceeds will go to the University of West Florida and the Frank Brown International Foundation for Music to continue helping students. It’s truly a win-win.