Key West Music And Happenings: Corona Virus/Key West/Music

Dateline: Key West, Wednesday March 18^th 2020

The Developing Surreal Experience of the Corona Virus and Key West

The weekend was great for us! On Friday March 13^th we played The Curry Mansion, Saturday, Lucy's, Sunday, Willie T's and also Two Friends. Sunday was a particularly good day/evening, with very good crowds at both Willie T's and Two Friends!

With the approaching Corona Virus, COVID-19 epidemic at hand, those good crowds were a very welcome and pleasant surprise!

For myself, one of the hardest things to deal with is the uncertainty. Are we on? Are we off? The one thing that is certain: rent is due on April 1^st.

I was off on Monday, however, we did get confirmation that we were on for Lucy's later in the week. That evening it was a bit of touch and go for our gig at Rick's Key West Tuesday gig, but in the end we were on!

As I wright this in the early morning of Wednesday, March 18^th 2020, there are no reported cases of COVID-19 in all of Monroe County (the Florida Keys/Conch Republic - The Dry Tortugas to Key West, through Key Largo). On the one hand that's encouraging, however the reality is, not if it will hit here, but when. The writing was on the wall, as on Saturday the final cruise ship made Key West's last for the foreseeable future.

Photo by Sean Lindhal

We played our regular Tuesday gig at Rick's Key West, interestingly enough, it was St. Patrick's Day. On Monday evening, the night before the gig, Dani and I decided to go Facebook Live there. We only go live every now and then at Rick's, but with so much uncertainty in the air, we felt this Tuesday, March 17th, we should. As it turned out, it was the right decision

On Facebook over 3,400 tuned in to view and many tipped us electronically as well THANK YOU ALL!!!!

We had a fabulous show! The place was packed and we truly had a blast. The proof in the pudding was that we played without a break. Maybe about fifteen minutes before we were scheduled to finish on our usual 12 – 4 shift, Fred, the manager of Rick's complex, asked us if we'd play an extra hour. That wasn't a hard decision to make! We were having a blast! When it was all said and done we played a five hour gig non-stop, no breaks, just song after song. Frankly, we could have continued! We were having a great time!

However, at 5 pm, we were playing “Yippie Cayo Hueso!” (translation: Yippie Key West!) and the owner entered the bar with the motion to finish up. I went and turned on the house music and Miguel, our bartender, hollered out for me to kill it and suddenly all the patrons were leaving! What was happening?

As it turned out, at some point while we were playing, the order came through that all bars in the state of Florida were to close at 5 pm for thirty days. Additionally, restaurants food services have been reduced to doing takeout only.

During the course of the afternoon, messages came in from all of our employers stating that they were closing for the next thirty days.

Our primary income source is playing music, so this is going to be quite difficult for us. On the other hand, everyone is in the same boat, one way or another.

Dani Hoy and I will be doing live Facebook concerts. One of the things that shall be different will be, as it's not a bar gig, we can focus additionally on some songs that don't fit a bar scene, that we have. As for myself, I'll dust off some songs that I've had collecting dust for a bit, and that's always a positive!

We will do some at home, while others will be from around Key West. So, it will be combining the ideas of The Shanty Hounds and my Facebook page LIVE! Around Key West. https://www.facebook.com/groups/LIVEAroundKeyWest/

Our motto is:

"If anyone here is not having a good time, I'm afraid we're going to have to ask you to leave"😆

So, suffice to say, our intent is that you will be having a good time and smiling will be paramount, as it is at all of our gigs!

We'll be announcing these on our Facebook pages, though we don't rule out spontaneity! Following us there will give you the alerts when we go live!

https://www.facebook.com/ChrisRehm09

https://www.facebook.com/danihoy68

Again, as we depend on playing live music to keep a roof over our head and that's currently in Limbo, I ask that you take a moment and review what is offered below. Anyone who knows me personally will tell you that although I find laughter and mirth quite easily, when it comes to putting out a product, be it music or a book, I will only put out a top notch quality product. Those are my standards which I will not waver from. Thank you in advance!

"All The Best From Key West"!

Have a peek at the reviews! 😂