Sing Out Loud festival brings out stir-crazy locals. (SAR)

Our St. Augustine Amphitheater staff does a wonderful job. The annual Sing Out Loud festival is a triumph. Once upon a time in St. Johns County, after the Amp was built for $10 million (probably $1 million in waste fraud and abuse), there was a moment when St. Johns County Commissioners almost contracted with a new corporation called "Signature," to run the Amp. Corrupt Commissioner JAMES EDWARD BRYANT wanted to give the contract to cronies. They lost. Instead, we haver county employees running one of the best small concert venues on this planet, right here in our town. Three cheers!


From St. Augustine Record:





Sing Out Loud festival brings out stir-crazy locals
By Christen Kelley ckelley@staugustine.com
Posted at 5:03 PM
St. Augustine Record

After a week of uncertainty brought on by Hurricane Dorian, many residents were relieved to attend the annual Sing Out Loud festival that kicked off Friday.

The festival takes place every weekend in September at venues around town, hosting more than 200 free acts. This weekend’s lineup provided some much-needed entertainment for residents who have been stuck inside waiting out the storm.

“It’s a really nice thing to have,” said Steve Schildwachter as he waited to see Sam Pacetti perform on Friday. “I was a little worried it would canceled with the hurricane, but it ended up being perfect timing.”

Sing Out Loud was designed to benefit everyone involved — from residents, to local businesses and musicians.

Paul Linser, who works for the Gamble Rogers music festival year-round, said it’s an example of the local music industry working together. Gamble Rogers sponsored a stage on Aviles Street this year, where many of the city’s art galleries are.

“It’s a marriage between the music and the arts,” he said. “St. Augustine has always been billed as a haven for musicians. As the tourist economy has grown, the music scene has grown, and The Amp has done an excellent job at making St. Augustine a national and international music destination.”

For the musicians, especially, he said, festivals like Sing Out Loud and Gamble Rogers are their livelihood. The St. Johns County Cultural Events Division pays every performer through funding by the Tourist Development Council, which gets its budget from “bed tax” collections.

“It’s a paycheck,” Linser said. “But most local artists have a following here and they want to perform. They want to share their music.”

For businesses that missed out on Labor Day weekend sales due to the storm, Sing Out Loud might help make up the difference. The city of St. Augustine also encouraged visitors to the downtown area by maintaining free parking in city-owned spaces this weekend.


This year’s festival is sponsored by The Distillery, and co-founder Philip McDaniel said the festival is exactly what St. Augustine needs during the slow September month, worsened by Dorian menacing the state for the last week.

“We got blown out of the water over the Labor Day weekend, which is usually one of the busiest weekends of the year, and so this is a great opportunity to re-energize and recharge,” McDaniel said. “September is generally a slow month, so to have a festival where locals can come out, and if out-of-towners come out too, that’s great.”

Out-of-towners like Matt Everett and his daughter Shana Sorrells. Everett lives in Jacksonville, but Sorrells was visiting from out of state, so the two played tourist on Saturday.

“I wanted to show her St. George Street and we just happened upon the show,” Everett said at the Colonial Oak Music Park. “We’re both musicians so we think it’s awesome.”

Will Hensler just moved to St. Augustine to work for The Distillery’s new venture on St. George Street and was attending Sing Out Loud for the first time.

“We love it,” Hensler told The Record. “It drives traffic at a time when we need it, and it highlights St. Augustine as a music community. We’re excited to see it progress.”

While Dorian came close to forcing the cancellation of the first weekend of the festival — as Hurricane Irma did in 2017 — it ended up being the perfect excuse to get out of the house.

“We’re no longer under the stress of watching the Weather Channel, waiting for the next report to come out every hour,” McDaniel said. “We’re in a position where we can relax.”