Key West Music And Happenings: June 2018

Saturday, June 23, 2018

"This Is Key West Calling" Is calling out for Trop Rock artists!

This is Key West Calling is a very, very unique event held on Sunday, November 4^th from 11 am – 4 pm at Sunset Tiki at The Galleon in Key West.

The event will be broadcast live by the absolute best Trop Rock radio stations on the planet Radio Trop Rock, Tiki Man Radio, Beach Bar Radio, 104.9 The X, Tiki Pod Radio and Shore Life Radio! These stations will be all working together at the event!

Additionally, Digital Publishing will be airing the video of the event on the web live, as well as Shore Live TV.

Beachfront Radio is planning on airing the show subsequently, while Island Time Radio and Songwriter's Island Radio hope to air particular performances subsequently as well.

This is a TRMA recognized event.

Having six stations working together on the same broadcast has never been done by anyone else in the history of radio. Butting heads is old school. Working together for the advancement of Trop Rock is our way. Therefore, it's newsworthy! We're sending out press releases to all of the major news agencies, both national and international.

The entire purpose of this event is to promote the growth of Trop Rock Music

Having this event during MOTM is a natural, as so many Trop musicians are here in Key West, enjoying the event and getting a lot of exposure to both new and old fans. With six Trop Rock stations broadcasting the event live, two live video feeds, and three additional stations/shows rebroadcasting the event, either in whole or in part, it's more than obvious that this event will have the largest media reach by far, of any event during MOTM week, no matter what venue.

While the exposure is a super-major plus, showing the world that we all work together for the benefit of the genre, is the name of the game here. We have a great genre that is 100% positive! Let's show the world!

The objective is to bring more fans into the fold. Let's face it, there are people out there that like Trop Rock, but don't even know it exists. We'd like to change that and help Trop Rock grow into a better-known genre. We'll be starting off with this event and hoping to branch out with others during the next year.

If you are a solo performer, duo, or band who would like to participate in the event, here are the basics.

Sets are twenty minutes long
The turn around is 5 minutes to set up/5 minutes to tear down.
Maximum players on stage, 3
This is a non-paying event.
Hold membership in the TRMA

We are hoping for both seasoned Trop Rock artists, up and coming artists, and anyone in between! If you would like to help us promote Trop Rock to the world and help attract new fans to the genre by playing this event, please contact me at:

keywestchris2018@gmail.com

The choice of acts will be made based on the time, flexibility and amount of artists who submit applications to play.

Thank you!

Chris Rehm (Key West Chris)

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Thank you for reading my blog!

Please check out my book "Time Traveler - The Oddities and Adventures of a Key West Bartender". Follow Mark Straight's continuing journies and friendships from current Key West, back to historical Key West and elsewhere!

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Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Fans/Friends - Friends/Fans

The Shanty Hounds is a very, very, very fortunate band! We have the absolute BEST folks who follow us! Some are local Keys residents and others are from all over North America, plus a few from Europe as well, not forgetting those from Australia too!

Our local friends all seem to make it out to see us play anywhere between a couple of times a week to once every six weeks. It's always great to see everyone and we appreciate your support!!!

For the friends that are not from the Keys, some are down once a year, others two, three, four, or more times a year. We always hook up with everyone when they come, not just at gigs, but also on our off playing time.

It's important to get to know people outside of the stage, and I mean both people in the audience, as well as fellow musicians. If it's only on stage, it's “Hi! How are you? Thanks for coming! See you later” This is not getting to know someone!

That brings to mind a funny story. Last year there was a guy who sat in with us and played harmonica quite well. I invited him over to a BBQ we were having and when he arrived he asked “When is everybody going to start playing?” to which I answered “Playing? Oh, we're just hanging out doing a BBQ.” “No playing?” “No, just enjoying everyone's company. This way everyone gets to know each other” At this point, he got on his bicycle and rode off and I've never seen him again! While I admired his passion for playing music, I felt not wanting to get to know the people he played with was quite shallow. From experience, I realized he just wanted a band he could play at. Not play with, mind you, but play at. That's not my cup of tea, so it's just as well it turned out the way it did.

Often we invite out of town musicians and radio people visiting from out of town to our house, mostly, but not always, for BBQs. We hang out and have a blast! It doesn't happen all the time. Many times we don't hear back from visiting musicians, or sometimes they may call with other commitments and can't make it. It's a shame when they can't make it because, as author, Rusty Hodgson stated: “I've met the most fascinating people I've met at your BBQ since I've moved to Key West!”

It doesn't always work. A funny note. There was a popular group in town and I've played with one whom I had a good rapport with. When I invited them to a BBQ the one I had played with promptly un-friended me on Facebook.... well, like the saying goes, the cream rises to the top.

We also invite our friends over who are in visiting from out of town! These folks we met here at The Cork and Stogie, or a gig and they've become great friends over the years! Hanging out with the folks who show up at our gigs is a fabulous way to make new, strong friendships with fabulous people. Something that would never happen if all we did was have a thirty-second chat from the stage.

We have some friends from around the country who look forward to our live little pre-Rick's gig intro vignettes that I'll do on Facebook. They're only a few minutes long and I air them on my Facebook page every Tuesday, preparations permitting, just before noon, EST. What a nice surprise it was to hear people tell me they look forward to seeing these every week!

So, as I say, we are so blessed to have the absolute best friends/fans in the world!

Understand, music is subjective and we won't appeal to everyone. That's a given. While I don't actually see people that don't care for us, as they are someplace else. most likely.

There is one patron who makes us laugh, however! As soon as we start setting up, or start playing, they leave the establishment! This happens every time unless they are working an event we're playing! We laugh every time!

Our motto/creed is a saying I made up from something my old friend, Rick Asci said when he had to throw someone out of the business we worked at thirty years ago. Rick was always extremely well spoken and polite. The guy was totally out of hand and Rick calmly said to him “I'm sorry sir, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave the facility”. That stuck with me over the years and being the jovial guy that I have adapted it to the band! You may have heard me say it at gigs, now and then?

“If anyone is not having fun, I'm afraid we're going to have to ask you to leave”.

Call us what you will, but no one will ever say The Shanty Hounds are not fun! HA HA HA!

In closing, just a salute and a “Thank You!!!” to all who enjoy what we do and give us all of their support!

I can't begin to tell you how much we appreciate you, not just as fans of our music, but much more importantly, being our friends!!!!! We're your fans!!!