Concert Venues

Country music is an amalgam of popular musical forms that has its roots in traditional folk music from the South. Country music is a catc hall for the Nashville sound, bluegrass, western ballads, swing, Cajun, honky tonk, Appalachian, rockabilly and jug band music.
Although there are various styles of country music, it is unique in the way its style is executed. a lot of tunes are recorded to fit the style of country music and those who sing it. Famous country music singers include Bob Wills, Willie Nelson and George Strait. Country music fans are mesmerized by the rhythms and the structures of the chords. In fact there are a lot of tunes that are adapted to suit the country music style like the Milk Cow Blues tune – an early blues tune composed by Kokomo Arnold. Famous singers like Bob Wills, Willie Nelson, and George Strait have all sung their personal versions of the Milk Cow Blues Tune.
It was in 1924, when Vernon Dalhart recorded “The Wreck of Old 97,” that Country music really took off. At that time other singers like Riley Pucket, Fiddling John Carson and Charlie Poole joined the country western scene, further popularizing the music. The popularity of country music continues to grow.
Country music has its share of male and female singers who, through the years, have contributed greatly to the long-standing popularity of this music. They include well-known musicians like, Johnny Cash, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Dixie Chicks, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Patty Loveless, Barbara Mandrell, Lonestar, Shania Twain, Dwight Yoakam and a lot of others.

When it comes to independent music, there are a lot of hotbeds of skill but Sweden isn’t normally one you would naturally imagine. Unfortunately, the music history of that nation appears to start and end with Abba for a lot of individuals, but over the past decade or so, there have been a growing number of bands from Sweden impacting on the independent world.
The most noticeable would be The Cardigans who achieved massive globally fame with their ‘Lovefool’ single and blend of charming and slightly tween independent -pop. Perhaps as a reaction to their fame, The Cardigans change d their style, their music got harder and Nina Persson went from blonde to brunette. They could not feature on the radio as much today as they used to but the band still draws a fairly large crowd to any festival they perform at.
If that was all that Sweden contributed to independent music, it would be a poor return, but when you contemplate the following acts, you’ll realise just how a lot of of your favorite tracks have hailed from Sweden:
• The Wannadies
• Peter, Bjorn and John
• The Hives
• The Concretes
• Love Is All
• The Shout out Louds
• I am From Barcelona
• Jose Gonzalez
• The Knife
For such a short space of time that’s an impressive list of bands and you may be familiar with some of these tunes :
‘Young Folks’ by Peter, Bjorn and John
You could not know the title but as soon you hear the whistling section of ‘Young Folks’ you’ll know exactly what the song is and recall what a phenomenon it was at the time. The track came second in the NME’s list of optimum tunes of 2006 and fifth in the Pitchfork review of tracks from 2006.
‘Hate To Say I Told You So’ by The Hives
Not a lot of bands could announce themselves as your new favorite band and keep a straight face but The Hives aren’t like a lot of other bands. Filled with a confidence that no other band seems capable of matching this track captured the garage rock revival of the early 2000’s to perfection. The snarling guitar riff and stop-start sections offer the optimum accompaniment to Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist’s trademark yelps and screams.
‘You Can’t Hurry Love’ by The Concretes
Starting off with a guitar riff that could al most have come from the Jesus and Mary Chain, it is a shock when the sweet vocals of Victoria Bergsman kicks in and transforms the song into a delightful and melodic upbeat number. The frantic drum build up to the payoff line for the chorus is joyous and although the band has ploughed on since this 2003 release, they have been unable to match its overall quality.
‘Heartbeats’ by Jose Gonzalez
Although this song was written by fellow Swedes, The Knife, Jose Gonzalez brought the track to a expansive r fans. The al most mourning feel of Gonzalez’s downbeat vocals mixed with a quiet acoustic backing ensures this is a song equipped to tug at your heartstrings. Appearing in a major commercial gave the track globally exposure and Jose’s brilliant cover of Kylie Minogue’s ‘Hand on Your Heart’ proved he could take any song and turn it into a downbeat classic.
This is by no means all that Swedish independent has to offer the world but it does offer a fantastic place to start checking this vibrant independent scene in Scandinavia out.

Did you ever study creative writing in English class? When you started your creative writing process you initially could have thought…I don’t know what I am going to write about, I am suppose to just write something without spend ing time thinking about what I am writing about? occasions are, you could have been thinking this, but before you knew it, you captured 2+ pages of a excellent story or experience you had before you even stopped writing once. You could apply this same concept when creating independent music from the comfort of your home.
1) Start music extemporaneously. Whether you try to compose a song on the piano, guitar, or drums etc. playing extemporaneously could really unleash your creativity, and endorse you compose music that you could not have even believed you were capable of creating. When you produce your independent music, unleash your creativity without thinking about it. Don’t contemplate every note or scale you’re playing, JUST performance to produce music that’s truly unique, and  set your music and skills apart from others.
2) Don’t over think when you’re creating your music. The excellent thing is your music creations will come together must faster if you don’t think too hard about what you’re playing and how it is sounding. Start your music, and there will be time later to refine what you create.
3) Start independent music that isn’t overly mechanical and contrived. To make sure your music sounds real and is a reflection of your creativity, again…JUST performance your music by expressing what’s inside of you…your rhythm, your creativity etc. The optimum way to unleash this is to do it naturally, when you’re relaxed, not over critical of every note you’re playing.
4) Start your music in an environment that fosters your creativity. like any artist, you want to produce your masterpiece in an environment where you feel comfortable and relaxed. Whether that’s your home recording studio, basement or patio etc. make sure you’re in a stress free environment, so your skills could really shine when you’re creating your music.
5) Just performance your music like you don’t have a care in the world. As you do that, you’ll could start playing a cool new lick and groove that you were surprised you could produce yourself.  Don’t forget, your 1st instinct in expressing yourself through your own music creation, is could your optimum instinct.
6) Record your music. An vital note is that you should capture the excellent new music you produce so you could share your creativity with others. Record your music, but try to forget that you’re recording so you could relax and performance what comes through your heart and soul.
Unleash your creativity, and don’t over think what you’re doing when you’re creating your independent music…chances are you’ll be extremely pleased with your determinations.

Although it could seem that country music has been around forever, it has actually only been around since the early 20th century. Although some could call it “cowboy music” the roots of country music could actually be found in the blues, gospel, Celtic and folk music. It began in the early 20th century in the Appalachians of the southeastern America. Country music is the “working class” music of the south. It often tells a story or has a moral. In today ’s fast-paced, high-tech world, it is amazing that “old fashioned” country music still has a place in the hearts of so a lot of -even if you listen to it on your ipod or MP3 player.
The 1st country music recording that really got noticed was of Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter family back in 1927. This type of music had been around for a few years before that, but this was the “breakthrough album” for the genre. Jimmie Rodgers played what was called “country folk” and told stories with his tunes. He sang about everything from alcohol to females and even included humor in a lot of of his tunes. The Carter family was multi- skill ed and not only sang beautifully, but also played skillfully on guitars and other stringed instruments in true Appalachian tradition.
The next “pioneer” of the country music industry was Hank Williams Sr. He took cues from his predecessor, Jimmie Rodgers and sang tunes about life, love, and loss. He died young, just as Mr. Rodgers did but not before passing on his musical genius to his kids and eventually his grandchild.
The country scene change d in the 1960’s just like everything else in the America. Two branches broke apart and one followed the traditional and the other put more emphasis on a smooth solo vocal and less emphasis on solo instruments- like the rock and roll of the day. This division continues to some degree today.
Another ample division occurred in the 1990’s when some of the young performers blended the country sound with some rock and other sounds. This led to more disharmony and some protests by the “old” school country performers.

Rock and Roll music is a well accepted form of music, which is a combination of drums, guitars and bass. This music uses keyboard instruments like piano, synthesisers, organ, etc. There is a band of musicians who focus only on rock music and they are called rock band. Rock and Roll music is becoming increasingly popular throughout the world. Hard rock is specially like d by the western youth.
Today, individuals are crazy about music. They want to listen their favorite music whenever they have leisure time. Music is created to give you pleasure. The fascinating world of music lets you find pleasure in music in one form or other. There are various categories of music these days: pop music, folk music, jazz music and rock music. All these type of music are enjoyable to hear. The tunes take you through diverse emotions. Rock and Roll music is loud and fast than anything you have heard before.
In 1960, British and American rock bands became popular. Bands like Alice Cooper, Judas Priest, Queen, Black Sabbath, etc. are some of the famous bands. In 1980,the genre that was quite popular was glam metal. The various musicians like Twisted Sister, Guns N’ Roses, Bon Jovi, Queen, Kiss, Sweet and the New York(NY) Dolls were the musicians of 1980’s.
This type of music became popular in the 1950s in America and Europe. This famous music is mainly based on older musical styles like the rhythm and blues music originated by African American performers such as Chuck Berry and Little Richard. The music has a heavy focus on guitar, drums and dynamic vocals. The most popular musician of rock music in the early days was Elvis Presley. His dance and dynamic music could surprise anyone. “The Beatles” became successful in the 1960’s. This group was inspired by Blues and rhythm.
Rock and Roll music is evolving itself and coming in a variety of styles. Other music forms like heavy metal are also a form of rock music. Some of the heavy metal bands include Metallic and Megadeth. Rock and Roll music comes in a expansive  range of forms like soft pop and heavy metal. This ” Rock and Roll ‘N Roll” type of music became popular in 1950s and 1960s. This new sound came from a lot of musical styles.
In the initial days, this music was admired only in small venues and on radio. Afterwards, it became famous with the programs like American Bandstand. Then, individuals could view their favorite bands on the TV. a lot of individuals criticised about this type of music as they did not like the loud and fast lyrics.
Rock and Roll music began with jazz music, blues tunes, etc. It also featured electrically amplified guitars, drummers and harmonicas. By the mid-1950, performers like Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Joe Turner became famous with the white fans s. Radio disc jockeys named this music rock ‘n roll.
One of the optimum musical album, “Sticks and Stones” has everything from fun to catchy guitar riffs. It covers a range of emotions and depicts the depth of their skill. The album grabs attention with the song “Cathedral.”. The catchy rock beat combines with a variety of instrumentation. The title track “Sticks and Stones” is also benefit listening. The hard to resist lyrics would make your day. The instrumental track “ZOZ” is a classic jam track with brilliant double guitar interface. Another noteworthy feature of this track is the striking beats. Another beautiful track is “All Roads Lead to Home”. This track shows the fast and catchy style of the band. Finally, there is a song that most college students could appreciate. “Raise a Glass”, an old Irish folk song has individuals singing along in the background. The album is a mixture of a expansive  variety of the music in the history of rock. This rock album is definitely benefit listening and deserves a space on your iPod.
You could find a variety of rock music videos Internet and find the top tracks in the rock music charts. Don’t wait, just browse the Internet to get your favorite rock

Four Crucial Ingredients get together Planners Must Know

Involving live music into any business get together isn’t as simple as it seems. Besides deciding on the band, there are four facets you must contemplate in order to have a hope of having a successful event. They are, in the order of importance:

1) Venue
2) Agents
3) Technical  set Up
4) band Character

In a moment I’ll tell you the details of the crucial issues that could aggravate and potentially ruin an otherwise beautifully accomplished occasion. It will just take a few minutes, but as you read this page, more and more, you will start to feel better and better about engaging live music for your next business or social event. Virtually all vital ly is . . .

Venue Selection

As an get together planner, your ability to keep numerous things in mind when engaging musician s. Selection of the optimum Venue is the 1st ingredient you’ll need. This ability alone could distinguish you as a professionals in an industry filled with amateurs.

When selecting the Venue, be certain the room size is in proportion with the number of people in attendance who will be attending.

I got into this business as a singing piano player. When I am performing I need to connect with the fans. Assuming that the room size is proportionate to the crowd size, I could do my job successfully. Assuming that the room is too ample and there are not enough warm bodies in attendance, the fans will feel too intimidated to approach the band. When you keep the band close enough to your people in attendance will feel comfortable enough to interact with the musicians and vice versa.

Have you noticed yet that keeping the Venue small so the band may be close to your people in attendance will increase your occasions of having a successful event? Depending on the act, you could leave a little dance floor in front of the band. But all in all, keep the crowd near the band and allow the band to be an integral part of your event.

I have often worked with get together planners who are clueless when it comes to what size stage is necessitated for a band.

“If you fail to plan ahead, then you’re getting ready ahead to fail.”

Here are the stage specs for various sized bands:

3 Piece – 8 feet by 16 feet
5 Piece – 16 feet by 24 feet
12 Piece – 16 feet by 32 feet

With the is newly acquired information, experienced event planners will always prefer to go with a room with a stage rather than just placing the band on the same level as attendees. Proper getting ready for stage requisites avoids major headaches the day of the show. also, having the band on a stage allows them to be seen by any person even by the individuals in back.

When selecting the Venue, you’ll also need to keep in mind the acoustics of the room. High ceilings and flat walls with lots of windows and no curtains to muffle the sound are not optimal environments for bands. Work with an experienced sound person to mix the band and equalize the room and eliminate feedback.

Agents

There are only a handful of wonderfully few good professional bands anymore. If you don’t know a good booking agent, you’ll be hard pressed to find them. A good agent will be the one to endorse you thru the minefield of mediocre, amateurs with amps that have no volume control knobs.

As an get together planner you need to figure out your get together theme and then contact a skill booking agency to see Assuming that the re are bands that fit.

The most popular bands performance a expansive  variety of styles. A good group of musicians knows tunes from the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. Frank Sinatra has never gone out of style. So make sure the band plays what  all of us  call “Jazz Standards”. Depending on your get together and your geographical location, it is either “Country Music is King!” or “Classic Rock and Roll Rules!”. Know your demographics before engaging a band.

As with any vendor, you get what you pay for. Let’s talk about budget. I wonder, even as you continue to read this report, if you realize the amount of time a band puts in before receiving a paycheck to practicing their instruments, learning and memorizing repertoire and coordinating lights and choreography. Virtually all bands require anywhere from $1,200 to $45,000 per gig. Experienced booking agents will be able to place the right band for the get together. With any event, experience wins every time. Ask for references and testimonials.

Technical  set Up

Once your musicians are booked, you now need to cover logistics. Tech  set up includes the movement and placement of equipment and sound checks. Bands often bring their personal equipment.

Amplifiers, instruments, a PA system for vocals, lighting towers all the way down to carpet for the drums need to be  set up and placed and checked and moved and double checked again. Allow enough time for all of these details to be adequately addressed well before show time. Because it isn’t IF something goes wrong, it is WHEN something goes wrong. And it always does with a band. Give them enough time to fix it.

Sound check must take place no later than 3 hours before the show start time. Load in should occur 1 or 2 hours before that. The sound check should take no more than an hour, and after that, let the band go back to their rooms, freshen up, take a nap, grab a meal. They should return NO LATER than 30 minutes before their performance.

Band Character

Musicians have traditionally had a reputation for being evil practitioners of any number of wonderfully colorful vices. It has been my experience, however, that  all of us  are no diverse than any other industry be it stock brokers, medical person nel or city workers.

Use these simple rules and you’ll notice you could keep any group of performers in line.

* Band members should not eat any food in buffet lines or inside the ballroom area. They should have a separate area or a “Greenroom” where they could eat, drink, warm up their vocal cords, stretch out and generally prepare for the gig.
* During a performance, bands should not consume alcohol or smoke. Assuming that the y can’t wait a few hours to partake of their favorite libation, fire them on the spot. You will avoid headaches and embarrassment down the road. In addition, you will get the reputation you will not tolerate any such behavior. Trust me. Word will get out you’re a professional get together planner.

Ultimately remember :

Treating musicians with dignity and respect translates into a happy band which brings you happy clients and people in attendance who find pleasure in the entire get together no matter what the occasion.

You are now armed with the four significant ly critical ingredients for success that you did not have before. If you have learned this information through the school of hard knocks, you can feel assured that you’re a true professional.

Now picture the night of the event. After dinner (if it is served), lights should be dimmed, the band is introduced, they hit the 1st chords and the excitement ripples through the room. individuals move towards the dance floor and the smiles appear on any person in the room. Why? Because you did your job and offer d an exquisite ingredient that every business get together needs: Live Music.

Formal weddings go with live music. It has al most become a standard. The reason why live music fits into a formal wedding is simple. The volume of visitors is large and it involves extensive protocols. You wouldn’t want to offer deejay music at such a grand occasion.
A live music requires so much getting ready and presentation that it is the least considered option for a lot of individuals. It requires careful consideration every aspect.  all of us  present some things to take note of if you wanted to go for this type of music.
The performers must in business some choreography into their show. They should not be mere players but be able to present dance forms that will make the people in attendance happy. Not any person will be dancing. Some will watch whilst others would be listening. A dancing live band group offers more amusement.
It’s recommended that the live band music performance classical music. Classics often appeal to everybody. It’s neither too colloquial nor too formal. In a lot of instances, a lot of bands have played popular tunes in classical forms. This makes it appealing to both the young dancers and the elderly.
The output of the equipment is of prime importance. In a noisy environment, the sound should be loud enough and undeniable. A creaky speaker would make a live show look sub standard and mar your get together.
The decorator of the reception Venue must in business this type of music into the decorations. Live music would need an elegant and glamorous  set ting. Soft lights and dull candles would be appropriate for the occasion.
Hire a band that specializes in playing at wedding s. This way, you could count on their experience and quality. A wedding band would not need elaborate rehearsals for your performance. Their tunes will come naturally and any person will be delighted.

Austin is the capital of Texas and boasts a lot of attractions, rousing places to visit and culture to view. It’s local/regionals like to  promote  the “Keep Austin Weird” slogan, but there is plenty of history and architecture in addition to the more modern music and media life that makes Austin the “Live Music Capital of the World”.
The traditional places to visit such as Bob Bullock State History Museum and The Texas State Capitol Complex are impressive buildings. The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum is enormous and holds the original goddess of Liberty, not to mention a full sized windmill and a Texan Airplane from the 1940’s in addition to smaller displays and multimedia presentations. The Texas State Capitol complex is a true treasure of the state and is in fact larger and plusher than the original America Capitol buildings. It’s a place that visitors must try to visit, if just to walk in the well kept and picturesque gardens.
Austin is a cosmopolitan city with plenty of modern architecture mixed with classic styles. Just to walk around some of the local/regional streets and neighborhoods is enough for some visitors. You could visit the Pennybacker Bridge which is surrounded by urban picturesque scenes in all directions or take a stroll near the Congress A Venue Bridge around sunset which is the home to over 1.5 million Mexican free tailed bats. The bats live under the bridge for 8 months of the year and come out around sunset to look for insects to eat. It’s quite a phenomenon to see the clouds of bats growing from the bridge during a warm summer evening. The bats migrate to Mexico for the winter.
Animals and nature are all part of Austin’s culture. In fact the Austin Zoo is known as a rescue zoo and sanctuary for over 300 animals that have been saved from the wild or extinction. The Barton Springs Pools and the Deep Eddy Pool are the largest and oldest man made pools in the country and are fed from water from the Barton Spring. The water temperature in the Barton Springs pool is always a constant 69 degrees and thought to be a wonderfully heal thy place to swim and bathe in the grounds of the Zilker Park. Apart from these two famous pools there are a lot of nature trails, parks and recreational facilities to visit and spend time while taking a break from the more upbeat sights and sounds of Austin.
The reason for Austin’s famous name as the “Live Music Capital of the World” isn’t just because of the hoards of graduates from the a lot of music schools in the area but also the infamous 6th Street. 6Th Street is the home to a multitude of music Venues and night venues located in architecturally unique buildings. Strolling down 6th street by day is entertainment in itself to view the buildings and meet the cosmopolitan residents. All of these attractions and more may be seen from the comfort of the Dillo, an historic reproduction of the trolley cars that will take you downtown, to the capitol complex and around the University complex all for free. It’s a optimum way to start your trip around Austin and decide which of the a lot of attractions and places of interest that you want to see.

You would expect a city with a large university student population to have some dance venues and other live music Venues that cater to a young crowd. To say that about Sheffield is an extreme understatement. The vibrant live music scene in the city has been the soundtrack to life for citizens of Sheffield for over 30 years.
Past and present Sheffield musicians have enjoyed excellent success. Names from the not too distant past include Joe Cocker, Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker, Def Leppard, The Human League to name a few. More recently the Arctic Monkeys, Pink Grease, and The Long Blonds are wonderfully popular in and outside of Sheffield. The live music Venue s, such as venue s, pubs, hall s, and stadiums fill the air with music, and vibrate the cities streets with a baseline.
So a lot of skill ed acts come from Sheffield that’s seems an odd coincidence. Perhaps something in the water that endorses vocal cords develop, not like ly, but something has to explain the large volume of musicians coming out of this fairly small area. Well, it is not that ample of a mystery.
It seems that in the early 1980s when the steel industry was on a down turn, someone on the Sheffield City Council heard about the ample resources involved in music. The multi-million dollar incomes of rock stars looked like an attractive way to bring a lot of resources into the city. By 1982, a year that saw double-digit unemployment rates and 20,000 jobs lost, the City Council decided to do something about it by producing a few rock stars of their personal.
It could not have occurred quite that way, but the fact is, the council got involved in the music business. They figured out that to have a excellent income producing music scene a few things were needed. An infrastructure for the music industry was vital, so the Council began funding projects associated with music. A recording studio was necessitated to attract top acts and lot of live music Venues were necessitated to showcase the local/regional skill.
Sheffield City Trust owns Sheffield International Venues and operates Hallam FM Arena, and Sheffield City Hall to name a few of the 13 Venues for music, sports, and entertainment. (SVI) Sheffield International Venues vision is to  promote  Sheffield as an international and cultural center point for sport, leisure and entertainment, something they have been quite successful at doing since 1988.
Red Tape Studios is a training web site for Sheffield City Council. It offers training to individuals interested in careers in the music business. band Development, band and Artist management, Music Technology, Music Business Courses and even deejay training courses are available. Because these courses are part of a local/regional government backed system, they are competitively priced and the program really endorses  promote  the music scene in Sheffield.
Of course the City Council offers other training units. Aspiring caterers, ( Assuming that the re is such a thing) could train at Sheaf Training alongside aspiring construction workers and customer service representatives. Tritec PC Training is the City Council’s IT training ground and every city has at least one of these. The fact that the city recognizes and promotes popular music is just so surp growing, and what’s more rousing and surp growing is how well it works.
That answers the question how one small area could produce so a lot of skill ed musician s. Not really a mystery, it is more of a plan. Council backing is only a small part of the music scene however, and the Venues that have been committed to growing the live music scene for the past twenty five or thirty years deserve much of the credit as well.
The Leadmill celebrated its silver anniversary in 2005, and has grown from a derelict flour mill in a rundown part of the city during the last stages of the steel industry’s demise. Unemployment and hopelessness was the consensus among young individuals at the time. A group of volunteers, students, musician s, and unemployed individuals, who described themselves as “insane but likable” came together to  set up a center for arts and music for individuals like themselves who had nowhere to go.
The Leadmill has grown into a landmark, and the live music has grown legendary. The occasion in 1980 of what was a performing arts center with jazz, pop bands, theatre, education workshops, and venue evenings began a tradition of live music that Venues the world over have tried to emulate. The “insane but likable” founders turned out to be visionaries, except when they turned down a strange young blonde girl for a show in 1983 who turned out to be Madonna. But who would have thought a venue where the toilets backed up onto the dance floor would do so well. It’s not the bricks and mortar, but the bands and the experiences of the individuals who have been there time and time again that are memorable. The Leadmill is a launching pad for stars in the music business, and the place to see up and coming musicians in Sheffield.
The Leadmill is of course not the only famous live music Venue in town, and is just one of the excellent live Venues. There is a venue in Sheffield for whatever your taste is. Live Music, deejay & MC stuff, techno, synthpop, independent poppunk, and whatever other combinations of music are left over are represented somewhere in the city. Starting from a forward thinking city council and bright young individuals who love music, the city of Sheffield has been producing musicians like other cities produce butchers for the past 30 years.

Key West has always been a hot spot for live music. When tourists finally get to the end of the road after making the long trek down the Keys, it does something to their psyche. Normally respectable citizens of the mainland tend to breathe in the free air of the tropics and start doing some pretty uncharacteristic things – things like drinking rum runners and stripping down to barely perceptible clothes. And they naturally congregate on Duvall Street, where the local/regional venues are happy to contribute to the anything-goes atmosphere. Live music pours out of nearly every bar.
The music leans heavily towards a Jimmy Buffett, island-flavored sound, and you’re sure to hear “Brown-Eyed Girl” at least ten times a night from ten diverse venue s. And that’s as it should be, because any person is often in an island kinda mood. But there is much more to be found. You could hear jazz, reggae, hard rock and blues, from places like Rick’s, Sloppy Joe’s, The Bull, La Concha, The Hog’s Breath, and, if you don’t mind walking an extra ten blocks or so, Jimmy Buffett’s own Margaritaville Cafe. What makes the whole scene so appealing is that most of the venues are open to the outside, and all this music makes a potent gumbo of sound in the humid air as you walk down the street.
Long ago, before there was ever a road to Key West, most of the town was populated by pirates, who endorse ed to ‘salvage’ goods from ships that were wrecked on the reefs because someone had switched the signal lights around. Everyone knew who switched those lights in the 1st place, of course. But salvaging was a tempting, lucrative profession in those days. That outlaw spirit still lives in Key West, and it may be heard in the music of performers in the venues and from street performers on nearly every block.
I individual ly got to experience heal thy doses of Key West music every April for 15 years, when I played at Sloppy Joe’s with the duo Faust and Lewis.
We developed our music and comedy act on that famous stage, and wrote gobs of funny tunes about life in the islands.  all of us  always did the 5-9 PM shift, so after our show there was plenty of time to do the Duvall Crawl and check out the other acts in town. I became a excellent fan of Hugo Duarte, who was performing at the Hog’s Breath Saloon late one night in early April. It was uncharacteristically cool that night, with the temperature all the way down in the low 60’s, but my wife and I braved the chill to listen to Hugo for over an hour. His original tunes are nearly perfect, and tell excellent stories about life in the islands, and about ship captains heading somewhere down south.
I also got to know Terry Cassidy, who still does after noons at Sloppy Joe’s. He adds a smooth, bluegrass feel to his island music, and his song “Hooked On the simple Life” just about sums up the attitude of the local/regional s.
Pete and Wayne currently handle the 5-9 shift at Sloppy’s, and you may be sure they are continuing the “What Me Worry?” attitude down there, with their adult humor and tunes.
There are so a lot of more musicians that have made a real splash on the Key West scene. Pat Dailey, the legend of Lake Erie, has been performing in February and March at Sloppy Joe’s for over twenty years. Bill Wharton, The Sauce Boss, one of the finest blues players I have ever seen, also makes hot sauce during his shows and serves it up in gumbo to individuals who stay around until the end. He makes regular appearances at Margaritaville. Ben Harrison, who with his wife Helen own Harrison Gallery, is also a renowned singer-songwriter who puts on mini operas about some of the colorful characters in Key West history, including a guy who kept his wife’s body in his parlor for years after she died.
All of us who have performed and written tunes about Key West owe a tremendous debt to Shel Silverstein, who lived in Key West until his death a few years ago. Shel wrote a lot of famous tunes, including “The Unicorn Song,” and “Cover of the Rolling Stone,” as well as countless award-winning kids ’s books, including “Where the Sidewalk Ends.” He generously gave of his time and skills to mentor songwriters that made their way to Key West. I individual ly spent an after noon at his house, and I knew I was truly in the presence of greatness.
I recently did a weekend back at Sloppy Joe’s for the 1st time in four years. You could rest assured that the music and fun continue on, as vibrant as ever. could be it is the gulf breeze. could be it is the rum runners. Whatever it is, I hope it goes on forever.