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Friday, September 27, 2019

Dani & Chris' MOTM AFTER PARTY BBQ – Fascinating, Fun, and Fabulous!!!




                                                                                     

“This was fascinating! The most interesting group of people I've met since moving to Key West”

Rusty Hodgdon – President of the Key West Writers Guild, on attending his first MOTM BBQ

                                                   Author, Rusty Hogdgon


Date: Monday, November 4th 2019


We somehow attract an incredible group of people to all of our BBQ's, especially our MOTM After BBQ! Musicians, writers, bar owners, IT directors, scholars, radio personalities, psychiatrists, people from foreign lands, environmentalists, local politicians, professors, sailors, distillers, brewers, artists, art consultants, executives, pawns, dogs and so many more, all rolled together!


                                                                                  

We've been doing this for at least five years and it's always fascinating, fun, and fabulous (FFF) !!!
                                                                                  

                                                                               

                                                                                  
                                                                             
                                                                               

                                                                             

RULE #1: UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES USE GPS TO GET HERE!

Our development is in two sections that do not connect. GPS only sends you to the other section where you will drive in circles for the rest of your life. Think of it as a geographic Twilight Zone Limbo.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Address: 130 Peary Court Unit C Key West  (This is our new location. We're no longer on Thomas St.)

Directions: Take White Street (Not Whitehead!) to the light at White and Southard. Turn into the development named Peary Court. If you're coming from Eaton St. it will be a left, from Truman a right.

Go left at the guardhouse at the entrance. First set of town homes on the left. You'll see us! Park on the street.


 
                                                                       


                                                                                 
                                                                            
What to bring:

Easier said, here's what we will have:

Steve Craigo will be making his incredible grilled Kielbasa as an appetizer!

                                                                               


We will also have homemade fresh salsa and chips. (please don't bring jar salsa. It tastes like crap after the fresh.)

We will have Keys Style BBQ pork and chicken. Keys BBQ is as good as Kansas City, Texas, Memphis, Carolina BBQ, but very different at the same time! Additionally, there will be homemade Jerk Pork and Chicken, and possibly Cuban Mojo Pork and Chicken.

To go with that we'll have Cuban/Keys Black Beans and rice.

                                                                           
                                                                            

                                                                                 

                                                                                 




                                                                               
                                                                                 
                                                                               


                                                                             

                                                                               

                                                                             
                                                                       
                                                                                 

                                                                           

That is what we will have. If you bring a dish, please put your name in the bottom if you need it back.

BYOB

This is an event where we all get to talk to each other. As musicians we always see other musicians on the run “Hi! Nice to finally meet you! Gotta run! See ya” At this gathering we all get to talk, laugh, share stories, and hang out together. So no musical instruments please.


Dani & Chris' MOTM AFTER PARTY BBQ – Fascinating, Fun, and Fabulous!!!


                                                                               



Please check out The Shanty Hounds NEW LIVE RELEASE!!!


“Unleashed! Live at Grunts – Key West”


A true, authentic sound of Key West 
http://theshantyhounds.com/

Also available at:
iTunes Store



Amazon






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

 Order paperback or download here! Paperback comes with a free download!

 26 Five-Star ratings!






Also, my first book, Bar Stories, is now available in paperback!


Available on Amazon! 18 Five-Star ratings!




Also, here's more of music here at iTunes!
Thank you for reading my blog!



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Thursday, September 19, 2019

The Hardest Working Band In Trop Rock/Coastal Americana







It's always nice to get a complement and recently Tim Gerlach of Bone Island Radio labeled The Shanty Hounds “The hardest working band”. I kind of laughed when I heard it, but later it dawned on me, at least in our genre and aslo location, as we are a duo and not a solo act, he very well may be right. As of September 1st we had 40 gigs booked for the month. That was an eye-opener as well, when I thought about it. I know of acts around the country that don't do that many gigs in a year!

With a full schedule and more important things at hand, such as Hurricane Dorian relief promotions, the “Hardest working" subject rightfully took a back seat for a spell. There's still a long, long way to go so please donate what you can for The Bahamas here:


The other night I recalled a letter I had sent to my guitar manufacture, Ibanez, last year that I had forgotten about. I had done some research back then and the results were that we were playing in front of 2,500 – 4000 people a week or up to 16,000 per month (this month will be more). That's pushing 200,000 per year.  😮

As of this moment we've played 264 gigs this year. Conservatively, I'd estimate that we'll play over one hundred more gigs between now and the end of the year, so we should total out somewhere around 350 – 370 gigs. I haven't counted last year's tally, but it's about the same.

The man, the legend, the music sage, who has played in Key West for over 35 years, and recorded the finest live album (Fish Nuts) recorded in a bar that has ever been made in the world, Barry Cuda said




“When I was a kid all of my music heroes would be on the road touring and when they finally got home, they could go fishing for a week before hitting the road again. Well I came down to Key West and found I didn't have to tour. Here, it's the audience that's on tour!”



Truer words have never been spoken. The vast majority of gigs we play are between ¼ of a mile to 1 mile from our home and like Barry Cuda says, we have a different audience every gig because they are the ones on tour.





Like my soon to be released song, “Local Island Bar” says – "We're in the right place''.

Currently, we fall in the genre of Trop Rock, or Coastal Americana. Either name works. Calling ace's ace's, the majority of people attending our gigs have no clue what the genre is, or that it's actually genre to begin with.

We're different in so many ways to other bands within the genre. If you look at the other acts, they play either locally, or nationally. The people they play to are an audience predominantly looking specifically for that type of music and people who they follow in the genre.

We are very fortunate in that we get a LOT of fans of the genre coming from out of town to see us! THANK YOU!!!  While we also do play for local Trop/Coastal groups, from time to time, with us, the majority of the nearly 200,000 people at the 350+ gigs we play, are not fans, not because they have anything against it, but because they are unfamiliar with it and have no idea that it actually exists.



That's an important statement, as it pertains to the growth of the genre, so I'll say it again:

They are unfamiliar with Trop Rock/Coastal Americana and have no idea that it actually exists.

Because of my musical education and literary upbringing, my music often tends to be a good deal more cerebral in both composition and lyrics. I recall being taken aback once after playing my song “Seaplane”, which has …. twenty-four different chords in it, one day and when I was finished, this guy comes up to me and says “You sound just like Jimmy Buffett!”

My immediate reaction was to think “My music is nothing like Jimmy Buffett's!” And it's not. However, I stopped myself and thought: If someone never heard a symphony orchestra, then heard Stravinsky's “The Right Of Spring”, followed by Johann Strauss II's “Tales of the Vienna Woods”, they'd think they sounded just like each other, particularly from the pedestrian point of view. This is exactly the same as my new friend. He ended up buying a CD and left curious about the new genre he just stumbled across, that fit his vacation hideaway, Key West so well. This happens quite often.

Point being, we expose a lot of new people to our genre.

An important note: Although Key West may be Mecca for Trop Rock/Coastal Americana with Jimmy Buffett getting his start here and with Kenny Chesney so often in town just hanging out, if we played only Trop Rock/Coastal Americana, we'd be on welfare and live under the Palm Avenue overpass, because no one would hire us.

Therefore, we also play The Stones, The Allman Brothers, Fleetwood Mac, Elton John, The Grateful Dead, Buffett, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Kenny Chesney, Lucinda Williams, Asleep At The Wheel, Zac Brown, Tom Petty, Little Feat, Carol King, Jonathan Edwards, J.J. Cale, John Prine, Janis... the list goes on and on. On the flip side, Dani and I stuff a bunch of our own songs into every mix.

We deal with a pedestrian crowd, for the most part. They only really know the hits and predominantly that's what they ask us to play. However, if we play a few songs they know, we then have their attention and when we play a song or two of our own, they are are very receptive of it! “Wow! That's one of your songs? That was fabulous!”. More new fans introduced to the genre. Plus, our music fits their vacation locale! In a month they are missing Key West, so they pop on our album and... they jump back to to a live gig in Key West in their mind!





A true, authentic sound of Key West 

http://theshantyhounds.com/
Also available at:

iTunes Store










It's a formula that works.

We love every minute of it and we bust our ass once, twice, sometimes three times a day doing it.

The Shanty Hounds – Show some love  😍😍😍



Thank you for reading my blog!!!

Please donate for the relief of the Bahamas Hurricane Dorian. Key West Cares is a group of Key West citizens, business owners, and politicians volunteering to assist our Mother City, Green Turtle Cay ,a barrier island off the Abacos. They've been doing a tremendous job!!! Please donate directly via the link. Thank you! 




25% of The Shanty Hounds tip jar is being donated to Key West Cares as well.


Please check out The Shanty Hounds    NEW LIVE RELEASE!!!


“Unleashed! Live at Grunts – Key West”


A true, authentic sound of Key West 

http://theshantyhounds.com/
Also available at:

iTunes Store









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!

 Order paperback or download here! Paperback comes with a free download!

 26 Five-Star ratings!







Also, my first book, Bar Stories, is now available in paperback!


Available on Amazon! 18 Five-Star ratings!





Also, here's more of music here at iTunes!







Enjoy the sound of the Keys!
 




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Monday, September 9, 2019

Devastated Green Turtle Cay, Bahamas and Key West Cares







                                         

Green Turtle Cay, an absolutely beautiful island in the Bahamas is often mentioned as being Key West's “Sister City” and by legal decree, Green Turtle Cay and Key West are, in fact, sister cities.

However, that's a polite way of cities bonding in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Green Turtle Cay is, in fact, much, much more than a “sister”.

More accurately, Green Turtle Cay is Key West's mother city.

Additionally, not only Key West, but the entire archipelago of keys stretching from Key Largo to Key West, Green Turtle Cay is the “Mother Key” (Note: The words Key and Cay have the exact same meaning and, for the most part, the same pronunciation).

In the 1700's people from Green Turtle Cay would sail to the Florida Keys for the fishing. These fishermen continued fishing here in the Keys, then in the very early 1800's they began to settle throughout the Keys setting up actual communities, the majority of these people settling in Key West. Prior to this, the keys were just a staging ground for fishing. The Bahamian's from Green Turtle Cay were the first to actually set up an actual civilization with communities throughout the Keys.

The population of Green Turtle Cay is nothing short of fascinating. The people there were Tory exiles from Massachusetts who supported the King. They left at the end of The American Revolution seeking refuge in The Bahamas, a British territory. These exiles and their offspring were of British lineage and hence, Caucasian. A significant note here:


Affectionately, white Bahamians are referred to as “Conchs” and that holds true to this day.

These Conchs settled throughout the Keys and to this day their decedents born in the Keys are refereed to as Conchs. That's their heritage, after all.

After the first Conch's arrived, others came and settled here First, naturally African Bahamian people came and settled in both Key West and Coconut Grove in Miami. These people are very proud of their Bahamian roots and all Bahamian-heritage citizens proudly will tell you what generation they are! Later, Cubans brought the cigar industry here, New England sea captains built winter homes here and they, like their "cousins" from Green Turtle Cay, added to the New England style architecture originally brought to Key West from those Conch's.




Other Americans from all over the U.S. came and settled here. In local Keys lore, today it doesn't matter if you're heritage, or skin color is from The Bahamas, Cuba, or the mainland, if you're born in the Keys you're a Conch. It's interesting. I had seen a YouTube video that was made about twenty/twenty-five years ago interviewing a man of Cuban decent, over by the Cuban Club on the 1100 block of Duval. He was talking about the neighborhood and said where he was, on Duval at rebuilt The Cuban Club location, was where you'd find “the Cubans”.  He then stated living and up a block to Virginia St. was where you'd find “The Conchs”. So, at that point, not everyone was a Conch! 




The bottom line of all of this is that throughout the Keys, we are all tied to the Conchs of Green Turtle Cay. Green Turtle Cay now desperately needs our help. Category 5 Hurricane Dorian not only hit them with a vengeance, but one it's fury hit the island, it just stayed there. Death and destruction was left in it's wake. All Bahamians need our help!





As a band, the Shanty Hounds started last night to collect a portion of our tip jar to the aid and relief of Green Turtle Cay. I have also donated personally via Pay Pal. I urge everyone to send what you can.

A group has been started “Key West Cares”. You can also donate directly to their website:




They also have a Facebook page:



A lot of Key West folks are helping out on site! Former mayor Craig Cates, Danny Hughes ... an employer who after Irma hit KW, knowing full well he was going to lose his tail, put everyone back to work at his restaurant, Two Friends Patio Restaurant, because he knew they needed work. The Shanty Hounds are proud to play there every Sunday for the last three years. Danny, also a pilot, is helping to organize flights from Key West to Green Turtle Cay. Paul Menta, owner of Key West First Rum Distillery, Carol Tedesco, Commissioner Clayton Lopez, Radio Station 104.9 The X has been helping out both on the are and on site with Gary Ek and Parker Chapman... the list goes on and on of fabulous Key West citizens volunteering to help out our....

Mother City - Green Turtle Cay  


                                             Picture by Craig Cates



                                            Picture By Craig Cates

                                             Picture by Craig Cates
Please donate!!!!   
Thank you!!!!!



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Saturday, September 7, 2019

"TOTE THE LOAD" Story Behind The Song


                                                                           

Recorded 9/6/2019 by Steve Craigo

I've been honored to be in the Key West Songwriter's Festival seven times. It sounds like a quaint little island songwriter's event to any outsider, but in reality, it's run by BMI Nashville, with local co-ordination assistance from Smokin' Tuna Saloon, here in Key West and it is the largest festival of it's kind in the world.

After the first couple of events I was in, I was paired with my dear friend Misty Loggins, who is based in Nashville, for virtually all the rest!

One October I had a phone call from her and she was excited to say she was coming to Key West in November. This was a surprise. Her trips here were usually in May for the festival, but she was hired for a week to play Smokin Tuna!

I suggested maybe we could cut a song together, which she thought was a great idea. I quickly wrote a song with a Patsy Cline/Willie Nelson Country Blues feel to it, “Island Blue”. We managed to cut the song while she was down and it turned out fabulous!

As I said, Misty and I had played a bunch of the Key West Songwriter's Festivals together and after the 2015 event I had the idea and inspiration to record another song with her. Right after the event that year finished up I sat down and wrote a new song with the aforementioned in mind.



This song would be a duet. The protagonists in the song were two Nashville based singer songwriters, who were a couple as well, albeit on different schedules.

The song starts out with the woman charging out the door, having received a sudden, off the cuff gig in Savannah. In this last minute haywire run off to Georgia, she laments on how she misses her man who is “...somewhere down the road”

In the next verse, it's the male and we learn that he's on the road in Houston. Like his significant other, he laments being on the road and away from her, but understands the hardships of living the life they lead.

A note: Both of these verses end with the exact same line:

THE ONE THING IS THAT I MISS YOU
AND YOU'RE SOMEWHERE DOWN THE ROAD

This is by specific design, In between the lines it says two very important things about their relationship.

A) They are very much in love

B) They have a very, very well established relationship to the point that they think alike.

Next is the chorus, which again, between the lines, hammers A and B home as again, they are thinking the same and share the same work/reward values, even though at the moment he's in Houston and she's in Savannah

SOMETIMES WE'RE LIVING HIGH

AND SOMETIMES WE TOTE THE LOAD

And in this song at the moment they are toting the load, without question.

While that settles in with the listener the opening guitar riff plays again.


The next verse the male returns and this time he's traveling through a blinding rainstorm. More of the ytrials and tribulations of being on the road. “I see your face in that misty haze, my heart's on overload” (Yes, the use of the word “misty” was intentional :-) )

The female comes back for the next verse suggesting as it's raining in Savannah as well, maybe they could rendezvous in sunny Key West?

Again, reverting back to A and B, as these two are in love to the point that they think the same, the verses end with virtually the same line

I SEE YOUR FACE IN THAT RAINY HAZE
MY HEART'S ON OVERLOAD

The song ends with a repeat of the chorus, instilling their love, they think alike, their values, work ethics, and the rewards that come with them:

WELL I WAS THINKING BACK IN HOUSTON TOWN

AND I WAS THINKING ON THE ROAD

SOMETIMES WE'RE LIVING HIGH
AND SOMETIMES WE TOTE THE LOAD

AND SOMETIMES WE TOTE THE LOAD

AND SOMETIMES WE TOTE THE LOAD



And that's how the song ends. The emphasis being that they are toting the load, if you will. Someone once asked “Well, do they get to Key West?”.

The answer to that is found in the gist of the song. She suggests that they go to Key West. Not forgetting that they think alike, the implication is obvious. That will be the follow up song. :-) 


Misty and I never had the opportunity to do “Tote The Load”. Dani is here and we play over 300 gigs a year together, plus she sings the heck out of that song! It only makes sense that she sings the woman's part of it!

To begin with, Misty Loggins is based in Nashville and her stays were mostly during the Key West Songwriter's Festival, so time was not a good commodity. Then, major complications arose for her after a small medical procedure over a year ago and she's been very ill since. Please keep her in your prayers.



TOTE THE LOAD

1)

I LEFT NASHVILLE ON A MIDNIGHT FLYER
GOT NO TIME FOR BUTTONS AND BOWS
SUDDEN CALL TO SAVANNAH
LAST MINUTE, OFF I GO


THE ONE THING IS THAT I MISS YOU
AND YOU'RE SOMEWHERE DOWN THE ROAD

2)

I'M ON THE ROAD IN HOUSTON TOWN
HIT THE BRICKS AND YOU STAYED HOME
SUDDEN CALL TO SAVANNAH
THE PRICE YOU PAY WHEN BUSINESS CALLS


THE ONE THING IS THAT I MISS YOU
AND YOU'RE SOMEWHERE DOWN THE ROAD



WELL I WAS THINKING HERE IN HOUSTON TOWN

AND I WAS THINKING ON THE ROAD

SOMETIMES WE'RE LIVING HIGH

AND SOMETIMES WE TOTE THE LOAD


3)

RAIN OFF THE TIRES IN FRONT OF ME
THERE'S FLOODING AHEAD SO I'M TOLD
FORTY MILES STUCK BEHIND THAT BUS
AT LEAST I KNOW I'M ON A ROLL

I SEE YOUR FACE IN THAT MISTY HAZE
MY HEART'S ON OVER LOAD

4)
WHAT DO YOU SAY WE RENDEZVOUS
AS WE'RE SO FAR AWAY FROM HOME
RAINING HERE IN SAVANNAH TOO
I HEAR IT'S SUNNY IN KEY WEST

I SEE YOUR FACE IN THAT RAINY HAZE
MY HEART'S ON OVERLOAD

WELL I WAS THINKING BACK IN HOUSTON TOWN

AND I WAS THINKING ON THE ROAD

SOMETIMES WE'RE LIVING HIGH
AND SOMETIMES WE TOTE THE LOAD

SOMETIMES WE TOTE THE LOAD
SOMETIMES WE TOTE THE LOAD

© 2015 Christopher R. Rehm BMI

Tote The Load is available on our album "The Shanty Hounds Unleashed Live at Grunts, Key West" below! 😃


Thank you for reading my blog!

Please check out The Shanty Hounds    NEW LIVE RELEASE!!!


“Unleashed! Live at Grunts – Key West”


A true, authentic sound of Key West 

http://theshantyhounds.com/
Also available at:

iTunes Store









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!

 Order paperback or download here! Paperback comes with a free download!

 26 Five-Star ratings!







Also, my first book, Bar Stories, is now available in paperback!


Available on Amazon! 18 Five-Star ratings!





Also, here's more of music here at iTunes!







Enjoy the sound of the Keys!
  






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