The Longest Lasting Gig!!!!

A lot of people are familiar with the restaurant/bar in Card Sound, Key Largo, Alabama Jack’s. For those who are not, Alabama Jack’s is twelve miles east of The Last Chance Saloon, which is in Florida City, down Card Sound Road. Card Sound Road is the alternate route to Key Largo from the mainland. Here you have a place on a thin strip of land between Card Sound and Barnes Sound, in the middle of nowhere. Nowhere being the Everglades. It’s a fabulous, open air Keys bar. I’ll get into Alabama Jack’s in the book I’m writing “The Absolute Best Bars in the Florida Keys”, which you can follow the progress on Facebook at this link:

https://www.facebook.com/BestFloridaKeysBars

While Alabama Jack’s is a fascinating location, it remains the backdrop for this particular blog. Today’s blog is focused not on the bar, but on the band that plays there, The Card Sound Machine. The name of the band stems from a tongue-in-cheek take off on The Miami Sound Machine, a very popular Latin/American pop band fronted by Gloria Estafan, who were popular and from the general area.

If you go to Alabama Jack’s on a Saturday, or Sunday afternoon, you’ll catch the Card Sound Machine playing. Here’s the interesting catch: If you went to Alabama Jack’s Saturday or Sunday since 1985, you would have seen the Card Sound Machine!!!!!

The Card Sound Machine

Yes, The Card Sound Machine has had that gig for thirty one years, at this writing! They started there in 1985! Truly amazing! As you can imagine, over the years there have been some changes in the band, however the drummer, Billy Bob, and the pedal steel player, Jimbo, are charter members.

Here’s a fun one! Jeff, the lead guitarist, is the youngest member. Jeff replaced his parents when he joined the band! As I say, he’s the lead guitar player, but before that he was the bass player and another wonderful guitar player, Tommy Potter, was on guitar. Tommy left the band and Jeff stepped into the guitar player shoes. I was floored when this happened because I couldn’t believe what a great guitar player he was. I had only heard him playing bass before that! His sister, Salina, also sings with the band as a featured vocalist. 

Artie, the bass player, is the new guy in the band and my guess is he’s been with them ten years, or so, picking up where Jeff left when he moved to lead guitar. Keith will often accompany them on guitar. Before he passed, Bill “The Cox that Rocks”Cox would sit in with them as well on harmonica, keyboard, and fiddle. That was his biggest thrill too!

I recall reading years ago in a music magazine, about a band in the mid-west who lost their gig after twenty years. Most bands hold a gig for a matter of months, or even weeks. Some, a couple of years. I was amazed they held a gig that long! On the flip side, here we have The Card Sound Machine playing Alabama Jack’s for thirty one years and counting! Totally amazing!

These guys are the nicest guys you’d ever want to meet. I’ve known them for years, since I lived on the mainland in Southern Miami/Dade. I’d often sit in with them in various combinations of personnel, in a few bars in the Homestead/Redlands area.

It was funny. When we arrived there doing research for my next book (The Absolute Best Bars InThe Florida Keys), drummer Billy Bob was delayed. Jeff gave me his guitar and hopped on the drum seat and we belted out Kansas City, Girl From The North Country, and You Win Again. What a blast! Thank you guys!

Picture by Dani Hoy

This is a fun, Country based band! There will always be folks out on the floor dancing

You can catch The Card Sound Machine every Saturday and Sunday afternoon at Alabama Jack’s, Card Sound Rd. Card Sound, North Key Largo. It’s a Keys tradition so stop by for an afternoon of fun. Do yourself the favor and make it happen!

My book “Bar Stories” is available through Amazon!

http://www.amazon.com/Bar-Stories-Semi-Fictional-Adventure-Tour-Witnessed-ebook/dp/B01AHKCY1K/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1457639261&sr=1-1&keywords=bar+stories

To obtain my music:

My CD is available on iTunes, CD Baby, CD Universe, Rhapsody, and Beachfront Radio.

Search: Key West Chris

Thank you everyone!!

MOTM 2015 PIT STOP TOUR

 MOTM PIT STOP TOUR

The best way to get to MOTM 2015

It was quite funny actually. MOTM, when Trop Rock heads to Key West for the annual get together at the beginning of November, It’s actually set up perfectly for a Key West event. It runs from Thursday to Sunday, following Fantasy Fest, which ends the previous Sunday. Fantasy Fest is by far, the largest festival Key West hosts. At its pinnacle, Fantasy Fest has over thirteen times the crowd that MOTM has, which is quite respectable unto itself. However, there is that three day buffer zone between the two festivals to give it the cushion it needs.

Fantasy Fest ... yes, this girl is 100% naked, save for body paint.

That little cushion is the funny part of it all. Over the years folks have taken a few days to get to the Keys for MOTM. Some have left on the preceding Saturday and driven down from where ever they come from. Those who are smart, hit the Keys and take a few days to get to Key West, staying overnight at a couple of hotels along the way and just taking in the completely laid back atmosphere of the Keys. Those who do, understand me when I say Key West is in high gear for the Keys, don’t you? 

Last year it was Tuesday before MOTM, myself and Dani, with our friends from Albuquerque, Michelle and Brian Fields, left from Key Largo to head to Key West. We had a few stops to make, just to take in the Olde Keys. We had spent the day and night there and were at one of our stops, when Dani checked Facebook. Someone had posted that they got a speeding ticket racing to Key West.

This was the funniest thing to me! Someone was racing to get to Key West. That’s the irony. In the Keys, it’s all laid back. You take your time in the Keys, Rushing around… that’s a mainland mentality thing. These people were mentally still in Chicago, New York, Boston, or Atlanta. They sure as hell weren't in a Keys frame of mind, I'll tell you that!

Get used to it. Once you hit Key Largo, the speed limit is 45 mph. There are spots where it hits 55 mph further up the Keys here and there. On Big Pine Key at night, its 35 mph, because of the endangered key deer who sometimes wander onto the road there.

Entering Route 1, A.K.A. Overseas Highway, from either side, you’ll see the year’s fatalities to date posted on a large billboard. By year’s end it’s usually somewhere around 17 – 22 deaths. If you don’t like going the speed limit here, turn around and go back to the mainland until you can get your brain out of the “GO! GO! GO! I GOTTA GO!  Mainland Mentality”. Don’t become a statistic. That’s not the Keys. Here just relax and take it slow. That’s what the Keys are all about.

How does one achieve this? Well, if you are coming from the mainland, stop and spend a night or two in Key Largo, the first Key you’ll hit coming down. If you hit Key Largo Saturday, Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday, it’s perfect! It’s also substantially less expensive than Key West, by the way.

This year there are a few MOTM Pit Stop Parties in the Keys and one or two on the mainland as well.The Pit Stop parties are filled with live music from Trop Musicians likewise heading to Key West.

The first one in the Keys will be in Key Largo at Popp’s Motel on Monday, November 2^nd. Popp’s is the exact type of motel that I recommend for folks to stay at in the Keys Plus, there are many in Key Largo and Islemorada.. Popp's is a classic, small, family owned and run with cottages and a waterfront. Sure, you can stay in a Holiday Inn, or some other similar sterile, chain, cardboard cubical that could be anywhere in the U.S.A. that has no personality whatsoever. 

Here’s the difference. Six months later when remembering your trip you say to your friends and family who shared the trip with you “Hey! Wasn’t that little motel with the waterfront amazing???!!!”. You go through your pictures and reminisce with a smile as you look at the pictures of where you stayed. Are you going to do that with a Holiday Inn? Besides, staying in a Holiday Inn is like eating a sealed tuna sandwich in a wrapper that you buy in a gas station.

There are many places like Popp’s in Key Largo and Islemorada. Anyone who’s read the blog before may recall that Dani and I usually stay at Sunset Cove. We love places that have history and bring those fantastic memories back. On top of that, when we originally booked there a few years ago, it was very marginally more expensive. Hardly anything really and more than well worth it!

Sunset Cove, Key Largo

Sunset Cove, Key Largo

Here’s a listing of hotels/motels in Key Largo. This is the gamut, so some are exactly what I’m talking about, others are what I steer clear of. If there’s not a link, just google the name and check it out’

http://www.fla-keys.com/listing.cfm?id=163

Here’s a listing for Islamorada:

http://www.fla-keys.com/listing.cfm?id=159

In checking out rates, sometimes the motels post the seasonal rates. If you don’t see June – December rates listed, be sure to ask!

I just checked and Popp's is booked solid while Sunset Cove was totally empty as of this moment on August 12th. We're booked there now and highly recommend it. Here's their link.

http://www.sunsetcovebeachresort.com/

There are also pit stop parties at The Dockside Tropical Café in Marathon. Old Keys place and highly recommended! Marathon is the half way point between Key Largo and Key West

About twenty miles north of Marathon is Boondocks on Ramrod Key. Tammy and Marc Hollander of the Southernmost Coconut Castaways will be hosting their second Pit Stop Party here. Dani and I will be playing there on Tuesday, November 3. Time is TBA, however there will be a great assortment of players at all of these locations!

Here’s some Facebook links for the Pit Stop Parties

Pit Stop Party Tour

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Phollow-The-Phlock-2015-MOTM-Pit-Stop-Party-Tour/1155004257846976?fref=ts

Dockside Tropical Café:

https://www.facebook.com/events/923532964360111/

Southernmost Coconut Castaways Pit Stop at Boondocks
https://www.facebook.com/search/str/Southernmost%20Coconut%20Castaaways%20Pit%20Stop/keywords_top

So, in surmising this blog for MOTM folks, here’s what we have:

A)     Come to the Keys with a Keys mentality! Leave the rat race at home. There is a bumper sticker you’ll sometimes see here in the Keys that says “Slow down, you’re not on the mainland”. So true! Take your time. Relax. You’re in the Keys!

B)      Don’t blast through the Keys nonstop. Take your time and stop and smell the roses! Don’t be a dummy, take two or three days getting to Key West.

C)       Through the Keys… it’s cheaper too!

D)     Stay in a “Mom and Pop” motel that has some character and personality, rather than a cardboard shoebox. You’ll never regret it, believe me!

E)      Enjoy the Pit Stops music and events!

PLEASE HELP SUPPORT THIS BLOG!

To obtain my music, be sure to check my website for downloads and physical CDs!! This site also has material not available on other sites.

http://keywestchris.com/

Also My CD is available on iTunes, CD Baby, CD Universe, Rhapsody, and Beachfront Radio.

Search: Key West Chris

Thank you everyone!!

Key West! The MOTM Adventure 2014 Part 2!

MOTM Part 2

Continued….

We left Key Largo for our next stop down the Overseas Highway which, as I’ve noted before, everything in the Keys is measured by Mile Markers (MM) which start in Key West with Mile Zero. That next stop was Robbie’s. at MM 77.5. Robbies is a must stop in the Keys! Old time Keys place where the main attraction is a rickety old dock, where you can purchase a bucket of small, dead fish and feed the large Tarpon there! Tarpon are a large fish, native to the Keys, Florida, and the Caribbean. Here’s a good video I found on Youtube from there!

There are other arts, crafts, and locally accented novelties (T-shirts, hats, …) available there as well. Our friends from New Mexico, Brian and Michelle, had never been there in previous trips to the Keys and were thrilled! Robbie’s is highly recommended!

Having spent about an hour there, we continued on our journey south to Marathon and and off Overseas Highway to MM 54. We took a right at the light where there’s a Publix Supermarket and drove just past it to the first street on the right and then about ¼ mile to The Dockside Bar at Boot Key Harbor.

FYI, Boot Key Harbor is where Bogart was heading at the very end of the movie “Key Largo” on the boat when he radioed the Coast Guard! ;-)

The Dockside Bar, owned by Eric and Kim Stone was the site of our second Pit Stop Party en-route to Key West. The Dockside was voted one of the ten best bars in the Keys a couple of years ago in this blog and rightfully so! Loads of Keys character! Naturally, there were loads of people attending and it was also one of the events that was a Beachfront Radio event! It was also broadcast live on the radio!

I had to be careful. The last time I played the Dockside, this happened!

The Dockside is a true blast and is highly recommended!

Dani Hoy and I were fortunate enough to do a few songs too! We did Dani’s “I like It Hot”, a steamy jazzy song which can be found on her latest CD “Songs of Love and The Ocean”. As well my song “Liveaboard” (© 2006 Christopher R. Rehm BMI), which was actually inspired from events that occurred at the Dockside Bar in 2006!  Additionally, we did Dani’s song “Mallory Square” and my song “The Beach!!!!”. We finished it off with a new original song “Sometimes We Tote The Load”, which is a duet that Dani and I have been singing together and getting great compliments on! That always is wonderful on a new song! For performers, it’s like heading out on thin ice when you do a new song. Getting a great reception certainly takes a load off the shoulders. For all of our performances of this song, thanks to all who complimented us! It really means a lot to us!

Half of the Dockside actually sits out on the water with the view of the Boot Key Harbor mooring field.

A big thanks to Eric and Kim for hosting this great event and also to Bob Jaeger for handling the sound!

After several hours, lunch, hearing a bunch of great performers like Rick Schettino, Eric Stone, Brian & Michelle (B Man and the Miss Beehavins) and many others, it was time to head further south to Ramrod Key and the final Pit Stop Party at Boondocks hosted by Tammy and Marc Hollander of the Southernmost Coconut Castaways!

Another great event, as is everything that Tammy and Marc put together is! A great turnout over their two day event, as well with musical host Steve Tolliver and his band TheTtrop Rock Junkies!

(The Shanty Hounds at The Pit Stop Too event at Boondock’s)

(Rick Schettino at Boondock’s Pit Stop Party Too)

Tammy and Marc are good, personal friends and I know that the organization that they put into it started about six or seven months before. It puts things into perspective of all the work that goes into these affairs and can easily be taken for granted by the rest of us who just attend.It short, they bust their tails!

So a very big thanks to Marc and Tammy, ( Bondocks), Eric and Kim The Dockside Tropical cafe, Ray Yu (The Original Pit Stop Party in Key Largo) for all of the three Pit Stop Parties!!!!!

From there we were off, dashing to Key West for our beer show “Key West Beer Tales, The Sum of All Beers”. We had the top people from the Stiegl brewery in Salzburg, Austria in specially for us to interview!

We arrived in haste, but nonetheless, on time and ahead of the Stiegl folks! A very big thanks to Robert Schraml, president of Stiegl, who was just a fabulous guest! The show just clicked on every level! It was our finest moment thus far with the beer show, without doubt! A very big thanks to Robert and also Roger Thompson III, the local rep for Stiegl’s importer!!!

I’ll post a link to that show after it airs.

To see Part 1:  http://keywestmusic.blogspot.com/2014/11/fantasy-festmotm-part-1.html

To be continued… keep an eye out for “Part 3” coming soon!

To obtain my music:

My CD is available on iTunes, CD Baby, CD Universe, Rhapsody, and Beachfront Radio.

Search: Key West Chris

Thank you everyone!!!!!

All the best from Key West!

Key West Chris