News from Britt Hill – April 2025

WITHIN A FEW DAYS, the entire Britt LIVE 2025 season will be in your hands. I’m thrilled with this season, which features legends galore (Earth Wind & Fire! Wynonna!!!) alongside some of the coolest newer bands around (Waxahatchee!!! Hermanos Gutierrez!!!)—it’s going to be an incredible summer on the hill, yet again.

The longer days point toward a beckoning summer, and beyond our incredible Britt LIVE and BFO performances, we’re also delighted to welcome back Britt’s beloved Rock Band Camp for teens. Our campers will have the extraordinary experience of working with Raining Jane. The Janes have been to Britt many times, leading Rock Band Camp in past seasons and backing fan favorite Britt all-star Jason Mraz for his shows. They’re almost impossibly cool (but so warm, kind, and funny that you quickly forget to be in awe), and I hope you’ll encourage the teens in your life to come learn songwriting and ensemble playing with Britt and Raining Jane for a week in July.

As April progresses, you’re also going to see Britt’s logo change formally to the image above. The hand-drawn font is inspired by many of the historic hand painted signs in Jacksonville, and especially the Beekman Bank sign right next door to our new US Hotel headquarters. The flower emblem, a fritillaria gentneri, is a woodblock cut, reminiscent of American arts and crafts movement. This fritillaria is Jacksonville’s legendary flower, and blooms nowhere in the world except Jackson and Josephine counties; the largest patch of them is found just behind the fence on the Britt trails in the Woodlands. The fritillaria also represents the fleeting magic of live performance; like wildflowers that appear and disappear quickly and are uniquely experienced in nature, live performance is something that exists between the performer and the audience for a brief moment. We love the symbolism of our new logo, and I hope you love it, too!

Finally, an enormous thank you to all of you who joined us on March 2 for our Open House at the US Hotel. It was a total delight to spend an afternoon with you, and we look forward to all the brainstorming and magic-making as we embark on our renovation. There will be plenty of opportunities for news updates, so stay tuned!

Until then, be sure to get your tickets for this incredible summer! Before long, the lights will be shining and the stage will be set. I’m polishing up my dancing shoes, and I can’t wait to see you on the hill!

All best, Abby