Looking back, looking forward and saying thanks for 10 great years of Sandy Roots Records

Looking back, looking forward and saying thanks for 10 great years of Sandy Roots Records

Sandy Roots Records is a name that most music makers and music lovers along the Gulf Coast know well. Owners Nick Biebricher, Christina Crystal and Mark A. McBride have been a big part of our local music community since Sandy Roots Music Productions was started by Nick in 2014.
In the summer of 2014, Nick, Christina, Melissa Joiner and Maggie Beszko managed the Gulf Coast Songwriters Shootout at the Flora Bama. It was a six-week long songwriting competition that was and still remains the largest songwriting competition ever on the Gulf Coast with a prize package winner valued at over $10,000.
The shootout continued for two more years at the Hotspot in Orange Beach, but by the fall of 2016, Nick and Christina instead started the Sandy Roots Songwriter Series, a monthly showcase in the courtyard of the Point Restaurant on Innerarity Point that featured local, regional and Nashville songwriters.
The showcase ran from April to October every year through 2022. And in 2019, they added Key Writers Night to showcase local and regional songwriters and talented musicians on a weekly basis.
Key Writers Night started at the Purple Parrot Tiki Bar and later moved to the Perdido Key Breakfast Club. It showcased original music from a featured artist followed by an original music open mic.
Nick and Christina were showcasing so many songwriters and writing with so many great folks that they decided to offer live audio engineering services in 2016 as a way to pay it forward to the local music community. A year later, Nick and Christina built a recording studio to record their own music and to offer recording services to artists on the Gulf Coast and surrounding areas.
In 2019, they wanted to grow the business, and created Sandy Roots Records in partnership with Mark A. McBride of McBride Companies and founder of the Perdido Key Music Fest.
The partnership enabled the company to add new technology and new studio equipment for live engineering and audio services that allowed for more event management capabilities. They also added an additional independent record label.
Even though the live music industry was basically shut down in 2020 due to COVID, Sandy Roots Records continued to sign artists, publish songs, and stay busy in the studio while Nick, Christina and Mark continued to write songs and host small private house parties.
September of 2022 brought Hurricane Sally and even more economic hardship, but Sandy Roots Records stayed positive and continued to do whatever it could for the Gulf Coast music community.
“I got involved with Sandy Roots Records to help the local music community and have some fun,’’ Mark said. “Through Nick and Christina, I have been able to meet some great songwriters and have been fortunate to be able to write with many of them. Together we have been able to do some great things for our local community.”
Around the same time that Nick started Sandy Roots Music Productions, Mark started hosting songwriter cookouts at his RV Park, the Playa del Rio RV Resort on Perdido Key. That eventually grew into the Perdido Key Music Festival (originally known as HoodStock). It took place in May, and eventually grew into an annual music fest for the benefit of the Frank Brown Foundation for Music and a showcase for Gulf Coast based musicians. It also raised significant funds for the Frank Brown Foundation for Music and other local charities.
PKMF supports the local music community and raises money for many great charities and is still locked into the first weekend in May. It has outgrown the Playa del Rio, and plans are to host PKMF 2025 at the expansive Warrior Beer Company on Sorrento Rd.
By 2024, Nick, Christina and Mark were all doing their own thing and decided it was time for Sandy Roots to say goodbye as a company so everyone could pursue their own endeavors.
Nick is still writing songs, providing sound for festivals. He recently had a song cut by a new Warner Bros artist, Coby Swift that is currently climbing the Texas syndicated radio charts and is headed to Billboard. He also continues to be a recording engineer, producer, and live audio engineer through his new company Right Vibe, and is the in-house engineer for all the ticketed events at Docies Dock in Fort Walton Beach.
Right Vibe offers event management, entertainment and live audio services. The recording studio is currently in transition, and Mark plans to relocate the studio to Warrior Beer Company in 2025 where he wil work with proprietor Gary Hefner, who also owns Funky Octopus Records. Nick will be the in-house studio engineer and producer.
Christina, who everyone knows as a beautifully talented singer, songwriter, guitarist and artist, stays booked playing locally and continues to write songs, while she raises she and Nick’s son, Tucker.
Currently, she is working with some big names in Nashville to get some of her songs cut.
“I’m just writing songs and playing music now, and not ready to talk about what all I am doing in Nashville yet.” she said.
Mark is co-owner of Beachbilly Lifestyle, the owner of Playa del Rio RV Resort, and founder of PKMF, is retired and spends most of his time traveling and enjoying life.
“Life is short, enjoy every moment,” he says often.
He continues to write with some great songwriters, and through the Mark A. McBride Arts & Music Fund non-profit he created following his retirement, he continues to sponsor the Frank Brown Songwriters’ Festival, PKMF and other local songwriter and music events, including the recent Hwy. 98 Songwriters Jubilee at Johnny B’s Front Porch in Lillian, the Beachbilly Lifestyle Summer Concert Series at Playa del Rio, and the annual Gulf Coast Musicians Medical Fund fundraiser at The Point Restaurant.
McBride devotes most of his free time to philanthropy, and continues giving back to the local music family and community through charity events and fundraisers.
He proudly serves on the board for the HAW5 Foundation, Annie Mae Ministries, and his own non-profit.
“I believe that one of the most important things in life is philanthropy,’’ he said. “It does not matter how much you have or how much you give, as long as you do your part. Life is all about helping others and giving back.”

‘’That is what I want to be remembered for.” says McBride.
“And I know I speak for Nick and Christina when
I way thank you for 10 great years of Sand Roots Records.’’
Pictured: Mark McBride, Christina Crystal and Nick Biebricher with Tucker.