The lead single “Come As You Are Beach Bar” now available for streaming

Memphis, TN (April 12, 2016) – Memphis-based singer songwriter Keith Sykes is releasing Songs from a Little Beach Town an extended play (EP) recording on April 22 and the songs pay homage to coastal life and the people who make their homes by the sea.

The first single “Come As You Are Beach Bar,” was officially released last month and the music video, shot on location at various Caribbean locations, is getting great reviews online.

Every year, Keith spends the winter in a little beach town somewhere in Texas. He holes up for a month, with the salty air and his guitar, unloading his mind of all the half-written lyrical lines and lonely guitar licks a year can bring. A very successful songwriter for big names in the Nashville music industry, Sykes says being in a little beach town, there’s a certain stripe of song he just can’t help but write: beach songs.

And so, this is the story of how a former member of Jimmy Buffet’s Coral Reefer Band came to write a sublime, transporting EP called Songs From A Little Beach Town.

“I’ve always had a natural tie to a certain kind of music anyway, even before I was a Coral Reefer,” Sykes says. “Because of my love of the islands, the little beach towns, and the people I meet when I’m in that environment.”

 “Come As You Are Beach Bar,” is the story of some of those people. It came to life out of a snippet of guitar, Sykes says. “That’s what I had first, just a little guitar thing that I liked.” 

Next thing he knew, he was waxing on the tale of Captain Bobby and a dive bar whose characters he paints so vividly you can almost feel yourself sitting next to them at the bar, salt spray and stale beer hanging in the air.

There’s a different feel to this song – Sykes is playful in his phrasing, almost spoken word – an indication that after more than 40 years in the business, Keith Sykes isn’t slowing down or taking it easy. He’s looking for new sounds, new ideas and new challenges. He’s risen to this one with splendid result.

Keith Sykes and his pals celebrated the release of the single "Come As You Are Beach Bar" with a party at the Warehouse in downtown Memphis, and at the same time the Memphis music industry honored Keith’s contributions to music by inducting him into the Beale Street Brass Note Walk of Fame. Beale Street is the most famous street in Memphis and musicians, DJs, songwriters, promoters, and other music supporters are honored with a personalized brass note embedded in the sidewalks along Beale Street. With his own brass note, Keith Sykes joins music greats that include Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Otis Redding, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins.

Songs From A Little Beach Town is a perfect snapshot: sublime and sunny, the songs almost float. The title track “Little Beach Town,” “The Best Day” and the simple, sincere love song “I Pick You” round out the track list. Sykes recorded the EP in Nashville with engineer/producer Brent Maher (The Judds, Kenny Rogers, Willie Nelson) and a roster of some of the city’s best backing him up: Nir Z. (drums and percussion), Willie Weeks (bass), Bobby Ogden (piano and organ), Brent Mason (electric guitar) and Thom Flora (backing vocals). Downloads will be available on iTunes and Amazon. 

With this EP, Sykes has dropped his suitcases in the trop rock world – fans will surely hope that this visit isn’t over too soon.  For more information on Keith Sykes visit his website www.keithsykes.com, call 901.867.7175 or e-mail jerenegirl@aol.com.