Music has been part of my life for as long as I can remember, but some of the best things music creates have very little to do with what happens on stage.
Music brings people together.
That idea is at the heart of Rising Tide Music Festivals.
I helped create Rising Tide Music Festivals with friends who share a love of live music, Florida’s coastal culture, and the belief that a good event can do more than entertain a crowd. It can support local musicians, bring people into local businesses, introduce organizations to new audiences, and raise awareness or funds for causes that matter.
For me, Rising Tide sits at the intersection of several parts of my life: music, business, community service, relationships, event production, and the Gulf Beaches I call home.
The concept was never simply to put a band on a stage and call it a festival.
The goal was to create events with personality – events that feel like the communities where they happen.
That means waterfront venues, local musicians, businesses that know the community, families and friends coming together, and charitable or civic causes that benefit from the attention and energy an event can create.
The name Rising Tide fits that philosophy. The familiar idea that a rising tide lifts all boats reflects the kind of community collaboration I believe in: businesses supporting events, events supporting musicians, musicians bringing people together, and the community helping causes that need attention.
A successful community event creates activity far beyond the stage.
People eat at nearby restaurants. They stay in local hotels. They discover businesses they may not have visited before. Sponsors meet new customers. Musicians reach new audiences. Nonprofits and community organizations gain visibility.
That broader impact is one reason Rising Tide makes sense to me. My professional life has always involved helping businesses become more visible and more connected, while my community work has consistently brought me into chambers, business associations, Rotary, nonprofits, and local events.
A music festival can bring all of those relationships into one place in a way that feels natural and fun.
Rising Tide Music Festivals also has a natural connection to the Surfin’ Raccoons.
The Surfin’ Raccoons website lists Rising Tide Music Festivals among the band’s festival and event partners and identifies the band as a Florida-based live act performing festivals, community events, venues, and private functions throughout the Tampa Bay area.
For me, that overlap is natural. The band is part of my personal music story. Rising Tide gives us an opportunity to help build a larger event around music, businesses, community partnerships, and causes.
The dedicated Surfin’ Raccoons page on RealLarryBell.com should tell the band story separately. This page should focus on the event/festival project.
Rising Tide Music Festivals is closely tied to the Gulf Beaches and the Tampa Bay coastal lifestyle.
That identity shows up in the venues, themes, music, partnerships, and the way people arrive and participate. A waterfront event in Indian Rocks Beach should not feel like a generic festival that could have been dropped into any city in America.
It should feel local.
The January 2026 Rising Tide Pirate Party at Jimmy Guana’s in Indian Rocks Beach is a good example. Public event listings described a two-day waterfront celebration with live music, pirate themes, family activities, local hospitality partners, and support from a long list of community organizations and businesses.
That kind of event reflects what I enjoy about Rising Tide: music can be the centerpiece while the entire community becomes part of the experience.
I want Rising Tide Music Festivals to continue developing events that feel authentic to the Gulf Beaches and Tampa Bay.
That does not necessarily mean making every event bigger.
Sometimes better means more local participation, a stronger cause, better partnerships, better music, a better experience for the venue, or simply creating an event people talk about the next day because they had a great time.
The long-term opportunity is to keep combining music, community, local business, and service in ways that are fun and sustainable.
Over the years, Belltech has had the opportunity to work with businesses and organizations throughout Florida and beyond.
Our work has included relationships with brands and organizations such as:
Some relationships have lasted for many years.
That matters to me more than simply counting projects.
I have learned that the best events usually share a few things in common.
When those pieces come together, an event becomes more than a date on a calendar. It becomes something people remember and want to return to.
One of the most important parts of Rising Tide is the ability to use an event to help something larger than the event itself.
RealLarryBell.com currently describes Rising Tide events as supporting causes ranging from hurricane relief to veteran support. Those are the kinds of efforts that turn entertainment into community impact.
When the project supports a nonprofit, relief effort, veterans organization, or another community cause, the dedicated page should document the actual organization, event, amount raised or donated when verified, and what the support accomplished.
Specific results are more meaningful than generic statements about giving back.
Events do not happen because of one person.
They require people willing to plan, organize, promote, perform, sponsor, volunteer, manage logistics, solve problems, and stay long after the crowd leaves.
RealLarryBell.com currently credits the creation of Rising Tide Music Festivals to Larry Bell, Hippy and Blondy Laramee, and Stacy Myers. The final page should accurately explain what each co-founder brought to the project once the team verifies the current roles.
That personal history matters because Rising Tide is a collaboration, not simply another Larry Bell business project.
My involvement combines several things I have spent years doing: marketing, websites, digital promotion, community partnerships, event planning, live music, sponsor relationships, and connecting people who can help make an idea happen.
There are times when I am involved as an organizer or promoter, times when I am working through Belltech Productions, and times when I am on stage with the Surfin’ Raccoons.
That combination gives me a perspective from both sides of an event. I understand what the musician needs, what the venue needs, what the sponsor expects, what the audience sees, and how digital marketing helps connect all of them before the first note is played.
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