A country music group from Nashville, Tennessee, is to tour Anguilla from February 19 to 20. This is another festival for the island. It is expected to have the support and appreciation of Anguillians, residents and visitors alike.

Millie Hodge, Regional Manager of American Eagle for the Northern Caribbean, which includes Anguilla, says American Airlines/Eagle had jumped at the idea and readily agreed to fly down the musicians at a special rate.

Mr. John Benjamin

Chairman of the Anguilla Tourist Board, John Benjamin, who has a special liking for festive occasions for their promotional value to the island, said he was delighted by the coming event.

Greg Travis, producer of a commendable DVD promotional presentation on the Anguilla Tennis Academy and the island in general, is one of the frontline organisers of the Country Music Festival. He spoke about it at a recent auction of paintings, held at Frangipani Beach Club, the proceeds of which were earmarked for the Tennis Academy.

Millie Hodge and Greg Travis

Travis, who is a frequent visitor to Anguilla (from Nashville, Tennessee) and a promoter of the Tennis Academy, said concerning himself and his fellow Americans: “We fell in love with the island. The people here are tremendous and our Production Manager who came down to the island is working on production, staging, lighting and sounds for this festival. We also had two people here from BMI, which is the world’s largest song writer organisation.” He said the Country Music Performers had done festivals in various places including Nassau, Bahamas and Key West, Florida.

The audience was treated with a short video presentation which featured excerpts from the Nassau festival. “It looks like we will be doing a Saturday afternoon luncheon and show out at Scilly Cay [on February 19] and we will have special tickets and can go there and be part of an intimate performance with these artists,” said Travis. “We are also looking at a couple of other places. CuisinArt is a possibility for Sunday [February 20] and we might even look at Bankie’s place [Dune Preserve]. It is a great stage and we are putting together others. We are going to have several Anguillian artists including Evan Webster [a noted country music player and singer].”

Travis said that the recorded festival in Anguilla would be shown on television in forty million homes throughout the United States. “It will not be aired just once, but will be repeated for a two-week cycle. It will be on every day for two weeks. So this is going to be a lot of exposure. We are going to have several performers in addition to the other musicians. We will do a small intimate show and then we will do a larger show.”

Some of the attendees at the function

Mr. Benjamin, overwhelmed by yet another promotional festival for the island, remarked: “Basically, all I want to say is thank you, thank you, thank you.”
He praised the Anguilla Tennis Academy, its Board and supporters, including Millie and Sutcliffe Hodge, for their work on the island. He went on: “For the people of Nashville to take on Anguilla, is like a blessing come true for us. We need your support and we appreciate it. We hope that the owners of our hotels and restaurants will come on board to support you and to make sure that your stay in Anguilla is a very good one.”

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