The 55th Annual GRAMMY Awards - MusiCares Person Of The Year Honoring Bruce Springsteen - Show

LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 08: Kenny Chesney performs onstage at MusiCares Person Of The Year Honoring Bruce Springsteen at Los Angeles Convention Center on February 8, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage) (Kevin Mazur / WireImage / Courtesy / February 8, 2013)

by Phillip Valys, SouthFlorida.com

March 5, 2013, 2:51 p.m.
When the Tortuga Music Festival debuts on Fort Lauderdale Beach Park on April 13-14, it will do so with a seasoned sea dog as one of its headliners: Kenny Chesney, the man whose salty songs (“Guitars and Tiki Bars,” All I Want for Christmas Is a Real Good Tan”) prove he’s all about the beach-bum party.

The music-and-ocean-conservation-minded event is being handled by the Rock The Ocean Foundation and Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, and co-produced with Landshark Lager and promoter HUKA Entertainment.

Chesney’s on a bill with a handful of headliners on three stages, including Grammy-nominated indie darlings the Avett Brothers, country singer Gary Allan, blues guitarist Gary Clark Jr. and budding country star Jake Owen, the latter a returnee from January’s Kiss Country Music Festival.

Also on the rock, pop and country bill: The Texas-based four-piece  Eli Young Band; the sociopolitically-minded hip-hop/funk/folk band Michael Franti and Spearhead; Georgia country man Kip Moore; Philly alt-hip-hop stalwarts G. Love and Special Sauce; Nashville threesome Gloriana; Gainesville alt-rockers Sister Hazel; session musician Mac McAnally; and others to be announced.

Complementing all those beachside sounds are environmental vendors offering ocean conservation-related wares and sustainable seafood. The festival will also contain a “Conservation Village,” created by the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation and Ocean Conservancy, which will educate Tortuga-goers with information about protecting the world’s oceans.

The $99-$999 early-bird tickets sold out in December, as did the two-day advance tickets starting at $129. Regular-priced two-day passes ($159-$1,299) are now available at TortugaMusicFestival.com.