For the second consecutive year, the Orioles will host “Nashville’s Music Row Comes to the Ballpark”--an exclusive, on-field performance at Ed Smith Stadium--on Friday, March 17. Every dollar raised at the charity event will benefit the Library Foundation for Sarasota County’s early childhood literacy programs and Music Health Alliance. This year’s event is presented by the Orioles in partnership with the Greater Sarasota Area Chamber of Commerce and the Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County.
The performances will begin at 8:15 p.m. showcasing a cross-section of Nashville’s songwriting community. Performers will include Liz Rose, Grammy Award- and American Country Music Award-winning songwriter; Laura Veltz, Grammy-nominated co-writer and top songwriters in Nashville; Jimmy Robbins, award-winning country radio hit songwriter, Ryan Beaver, one of the “10 New Country Artists You Need to Know” according to Rolling Stone; and emerging Nashville writer Margaret Valentine. Country singer and songwriter, Jenae Cherry, whose husband is Orioles pitcher Brad Brach, will perform as a special guest.
Veteran MASN broadcaster Jim Hunter will serve as emcee for the charity event, which will feature a meet and greet with Nashville songwriters and Orioles players and a pre-show VIP cocktail reception at 7:00 p.m. Following the pre-show activities, Rose, Veltz, Robbins, Beaver and Valentine will perform in a country-style songwriter round, a concept made well known in Nashville and seen on the television show Nashville. This intimate setting will give fans a behind-the-scenes look at how the songs were written, while getting up close with stars of the stage and support two causes.
“At the intersection of Sarasota’s community values and the Orioles’ organizational mission is a shared passion for supporting music and the arts, youth education, and affordable health care to those most in need,” said John Angelos, Orioles Executive Vice President and Mid-Atlantic Sports Network President. “Through the special relationship shared by the Orioles Baseball and Nashville Music Row communities, we are proud to annually bring together world-class artists and athletes playing for their community through our ‘Nashville’s Music Row Comes to the Ballpark’ charity cocktail and concert event. This intimate evening on the diamond, hosted by Orioles players and hit Nashville songwriters performing and telling stories about their radio hits and newly-created hits of tomorrow, capitalizes on America’s love affair with country music and the game of baseball and unites our many friends in the Sarasota, Baltimore, and Nashville civic, arts and culture, and charitable communities in raising awareness and financial support for local charities and those they serve.”
For more information, visit orioles.com/Sarasota.
