Annual Songwriters Festival Begins
The annual Lyrics on the Lake Songwriters Festival begins Wednesday, June 13th and runs through Sunday, June 17th. It is the largest songwriters festival on the east coast. In addition to a lot of great musical entertainment and an opportunity to rub shoulders with some of the nation’s most talented songwriters, the festival also raises money for Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) Hospitals, through The Musicpreneur Storehouse Foundation.
CMN Hospitals is an organization which raises funds for 170 children’s hospitals across the United States and Canada, to provide training, research, equipment and care for the treatment of children with all manner of diseases and injuries. Contributions collected at the Lyrics on the Lake Songwriters Festival will remain local, to be used by Carilion Children’s, Centra Virginia Baptist and Lynchburg General hospitals in Roanoke and Lynchburg, Virginia.
Lyrics on the Lake is a local, all-volunteer organization dedicated to serving the community, especially its children, through fundraising, toy drives, flood relief efforts, etc. It does this primarily through hosting musical events, such as the Songwriters Festival. Its parent organization, The Musicpreneur Storehouse Foundation is a non-profit organization, inspired by the life of Erik Blumenfeld, that provides mentorship, consulting and other resources for artists and entrepreneurs in the music industry. In return, it requires its recipients to repay them by “paying it forward,” by serving other charitable organizations such as, in this case, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.
This year’s festival will run for five days with nine shows taking place at five different venues around Smith Mountain Lake. The festival will culminate with an afternoon-long show on Sunday at Mango’s at Bridgewater Plaza. There is no cover charge for the public to attend any of these shows; however tax-deductible donations to the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals will be gratefully accepted. In addition, there will be opportunities to purchase various valuable items and collectibles, with proceeds also going the CMN Hospitals.
More information regarding the songwriters, the schedule and the venues can be found at www.lyricsonthelake.com, or on their Facebook page.