"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

https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/theshantyhounds 

https://www.amazon.com/Unleashed-Live-Grunts-Key-West/dp/B07J62HX58/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1540965037&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Shanty+Hounds+Unleashed 

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!

https://www.amazon.com/Time-Traveler-Oddities-Adventures-Bartender/dp/154977770X/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1510587586&sr=1-3&keywords=time+traveler&dpID=51-oZioDBAL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch 

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

Available on Amazon! 18 Five-Star ratings!

https://www.amazon.com/Bar-Stories-Semi-Fictional-Adventure-Tour-Witnessed/dp/1980365113/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1522339781&sr=8-1&keywords=bar+stories 

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

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/key-west-chris/442756330

Enjoy the sound of the Keys!

Fun Facts! #1

The song that kicks off The Shanty Hounds newly released album Unleashed is “Yippie Cayo Hueso!” Here are some fun facts about the song!

1. Cayo Hueso is Key West's name in Spanish. Interestingly enough, it does not translate to Key West! When the Spanish first came to Key West they found human bones, the result of a native American war that had taken place, on the beach. Because of this, they named the island Cayo Hueso, which translates to Bone Key. When the English obtained the island chain in 1763, they thought Cayo Hueso ( say: cai o WAY so) it meant Key West, as it sounds phonetically similar and Key West is the farthermost island in the archipelago that had fresh water. Today, many will say it translates to “Bone Island”. Technically this is incorrect. If that were the case the Spanish name would be “Isla Hueso”. Of course a key is a low lying island...
   
2. The song actually starts out with the chorus This is not all that common, but I've never followed the rules anyway! :-D
3. In the chorus the last line is “An island in the stream”. Yes, this is a tip of the hat to former resident and author, Ernest Hemingway, who wrote the book “Islands In The Stream”. The islands in the book were Key West, Cuba, and Bimini. Hemingway owned the house on Whitehead Street until his death.
   
   
   
4. In the first verse there is the line “Sailing out to Sand Key, a little bit north of the light” Sand Key these days is a shoal, not a key. It used to be however until a hurricane wiped it out, save for the lighthouse. The lighthouse keeper and her five children were tragically killed in the storm. The keepers house was destroyed, but the light was still in tact. The sands are always shifting. Islands pop up all the time. It's ever changing, so who knows if it will someday become a key again?
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. If you've ever had the pleasure of watching pelicans fly/glide inches above the water, you'll agree that it's a feat of grace before your eyes. The line “Pelican flies like a B25 a half a foot above the waves” is a salute to Lt. Col. James Doolittle and his fleet of B25s involved in “The Doolittle Raid” in WW II. They flew inches over the water .. under the radar... really!
   
   
   

6) I wrote the entire song, however you'll notice Joseph Gowran is credited with co-writing it. Shortly after I wrote it I was showing Joe and our friend Gary the song. They both said that Joe often used the phrase “Yippie Cayo Hueso”. I had no recollection of it, but we hung out a good deal, so I must have. Because of that, I credited him with the co-write. 99.99% of songwriters don't do this. My feeling is that if, in this case, Joe never said it, the song wouldn't exist, so he gets a co-write credit. I did the same thing with my song “Raise My Glass To The Upper Forty-Eight” and my friend George Cornejo.

7) The song was written on February 23^rd, 2013.

The song and album are available through all the major distributors. See the links below! 

Note: The author is a BMI  Nashville published songwriter since 2000 with McClure and Trowbridge Publishing, Nashville, Tn.

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

https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/theshantyhounds 

https://www.amazon.com/Unleashed-Live-Grunts-Key-West/dp/B07J62HX58/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1540965037&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Shanty+Hounds+Unleashed 

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!

https://www.amazon.com/Time-Traveler-Oddities-Adventures-Bartender/dp/154977770X/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1510587586&sr=1-3&keywords=time+traveler&dpID=51-oZioDBAL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch 

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

Available on Amazon! 18 Five-Star ratings!

https://www.amazon.com/Bar-Stories-Semi-Fictional-Adventure-Tour-Witnessed/dp/1980365113/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1522339781&sr=8-1&keywords=bar+stories 

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

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/key-west-chris/442756330 

Enjoy the sound of the Keys!

MOTM Album/CD Release Party

                                          Picture by Nataliya Pairmount

Key West: Many refer to it as America's Northern Caribbean Tropical Island in the sun. Key West also has perhaps the largest music scene per capita than any other city in the U.S. Noted Key West music photographer and author, Mr. Ralph De Palma, mentioned to me once that there are eighty-five music venues on the island. With a population of 24,649. That equates to 290 people for every music venue. That's pretty damn impressive if you ask me!

Key West emits a certain energy which stimulates the creative spot in one's brain. Over the decades we've seen countless authors, artists, songwriters, and poets do their most prolific work while living on this island. Does this creative energy rise up from the coral rock that it's based on? Perhaps it's something in the tropical breezes and trade winds that meander through the island? Could it have something to do with it being at the point where the waters of the Caribbean, The Gulf of Mexico, and the Atlantic Ocean converge? Perhaps all of the above? I apologize as I don't have an answer. Where it comes from I can not say. What I can say, unequivocally, with no doubt whatsoever, is that it does exist.

Regarding songwriters/musicians, one of the things that I noted very early on, long before I lived here, was that songwriters who live here write from a very different perspective than those who visit.

A visiting songwriter seems to mostly write about the “going to a Key West experience”. This is not a criticism, but rather an observation. After all, when someone lives in say, Peoria, the excitement of going to Key West for a week, or two is pretty fantastic! That can be pretty inspiring! I don't know how many songs are written about driving through the Keys, often miss-naming US1, calling it A1A, with Key West as the destination. Or a song about the crazy, possibly compromising situations some have found their selves in while visiting. Perhaps a tune about just a day sitting on the beach at Ft. Zachary Taylor. These experiences, and others that drew from the inspiration to produce songs that carry both the author and listener through their lives in the other fifty, or fifty-one weeks of the year, somewhere back on the mainland where they are from, which could be anywhere from Florida to Alaska. What this is, is escapism.

The local songwriter is different than that, however. It should be noted that most songwriters in Key West went through the aforementioned phase. Most songwriters in Key West are at best “Fresh Water Conchs”, people who weren't born here, but have lived here at least seven years. Those born in the Keys are “Conchs”.

Local songwriters breathe the air, feel the pulse of the island, and sense that the breeze has shifted and know to duck for cover before the squall brashly blows in with its half hour of wind, hard rain, and vengeance. They recognize the energy of the island even though they may not know where it emits from. Some things are best kept a mystery. They feel these energies 24/7/365, year after year. These folks are not here for a few days or a week. This is their way of life. So, they're not writing about escapism, they are writing about their daily life in the islands.

Believe me, and feel free to ask anyone who lives here who came from the mainland:

Living here 24/7/365 is a lot different than coming on vacation.

Living here 24/7/365 one becomes part of that energy. Additionally, the songwriter goes from being on vacation in Key West to living day-to-day. Listen to Michael McCloud's “Pool Shooting Woman”, or the Survivors “En Cayo Hueso”

Before I lived here, I wanted to live here. The planets, however, weren't aligned properly until May of 2008. Up to that point, I was not a tourist, but a visitor. Consequently, when I did move here I had a head start on Key West. I was attracted to the things that weren't so superficial. I searched out the local color and I started writing music about it. Though it takes time, the energy came through as well! However, I'd say I was here for over a year before I could actually say I was part of the island. To feel it and the pulse and the rhythm of the vibe.

My partner in life, Dani Hoy, will have her five-year anniversary in Key West next month and our band, The Shanty Hounds, is now over four years old! We have come out with our first collaboration album “The Shanty Hounds – Unleashed! Live at Grunts, Key West” This album captures both the escapism and the local feel, all with the energy that Key West somehow produces on its own!

Plus! We are having a CD Release party!

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1^st at Grunts Bar, 409 Caroline St, Key West 8 pm – 11 pm! 

                                           Grunts Bar 409 Caroline St.

                                 

                                          Garbo's  also on location at 409 Caroline St!

“Unleashed” captures the magic of Key West's creative energy. The songs on "Unleashed!"that you will already know, have an entirely different feel than on the studio recordings, so it stands on its own. Dani's voice comes through like you've never heard it before, bright and powerful! Additionally, we have three brand new songs released here, “Yippie Cayo Hueso”, “Liveaboard”, and “Tote The Load”! The album also features bassist Bob Tucker and drummer John Sausser, who will both be at the release party as well!

                                         Picture by Ralph De Palma

Giving credit where credit is due, the quality of the recording sets a new standard for an album recorded in a bar. The credit here goes to our engineer and producer, Ian Shaw, who will be at the release party as well, plus Denis Blackham, who did the mastering up in The Isle of Skye, Scotland, UK. Denis has also worked with Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Crosby Stills Nash, and Young, Bryan Eno, David Burn, Pete Townsend, Led Zepplin... So it goes without saying that we are eternally grateful that he took on The Shanty Hound's "Unleashed!" project! He also mentioned that he loved the energy!

It's the energy of the island!

We hope to see you there!

Also available at:

https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/theshantyhounds

https://www.amazon.com/Unleashed-Live-Grunts-Key-West/dp/B07J62HX58/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1540965037&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Shanty+Hounds+Unleashed

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!

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

 26 Five-Star ratings!

https://www.amazon.com/Time-Traveler-Oddities-Adventures-Bartender/dp/154977770X/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1510587586&sr=1-3&keywords=time+traveler&dpID=51-oZioDBAL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch

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

Available on Amazon! 18 Five-Star ratings!

https://www.amazon.com/Bar-Stories-Semi-Fictional-Adventure-Tour-Witnessed/dp/1980365113/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1522339781&sr=8-1&keywords=bar+stories

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

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/key-west-chris/442756330

Being a Key West Artist and What's In The Hopper!

Being A Key West Artist

Island Time Radio up in Cleveland recently were kind enough to interview me for the release of my new book, Bar Stories. Island Time has always been a great supporter of both my music, as well as having both myself and the “Key West Bar Tales – The Sum of All Beers” on for a beer segment on their show. As a matter of fact, the podcast was an off shoot of the segment of the Island Time Radio spot! The Beer Chat segment was on for almost a year before we started the podcast, which was inspired by being on Island Time. It most likely wouldn’t have ever happened without Island Tiles Beer Chat segment! Thanks Island Time!

The book interview went great! Dennis King, a.k.a. DK, is a fantastic guy and knows his way around the microphone like most know the back of their hand. It’s always great to be interviewed by a pro!

Naturally, the conversation drifted to include my music, which is my main focus. One of the things DK touched on was inquiring on what I’m doing currently, as well as the future. In the thick of this portion of the interview, DK made an observation which I actually took as a complement. He said something to the effect of “Your music isn’t really Trop Rock so much”.

The question brought me back to when my album “Shanghai’d And Marooned In Key West (things could be worse)” first came out. For starters, Island Time was always a great supporter of the album! Thanks DK and his sidekick, Amo Bennett! The late DJ Jeff Allen was also in love with it. I’d hear it on his station (Beachfront Radio), plus, I’d get calls and messages from friends that he was playing it left and right! Jeff often commented to me “You’re doing things that no one else is doing in Trop Rock!”. That’s me alright. HA HA! I never follow the crowd. Seldom do I drive the crowded highway. I’m the one who prefers blazing a new trail in most anything I do. 

Take my book, “Bar Tales” for example. I can’t find one other book that is available on Amazon, out of something like 20,000,000 (Twenty million) available books, which is about bar stories from the customer’s side of the bar. This wasn’t my intent, but when I finished writing it I thought it would be a good idea to see what others wrote on the same subject. Oh, there were books on bars, how to run them, guides to bars in various cities, how to mix drinks from a particular bar’s recipe, but nothing on stories about the antics that go on with customers. I didn’t set out to do this, I only discovered it after the book was completed! Apparently I blazed a new trail and never knew it! HA HA!

With that as a backdrop, getting back to DK’s observation, yeah, my music isn’t the same as all the others. The funny thing is, around 95% or more Trop Rock artists, don’t live in the tropics. As a Key West artist, I write about the daily goings on here, verses from the perspective of someone visiting for three to seven days.  I live here. I pulled that trigger eight years ago and moved 138 miles from my home in Cutler Bay, to Key West. Eight years down that road and I see things from a day to day perspective, as opposed to that of a visitor or a tourist.

Additionally, I’m different from a musical structure point of view. This stems from my major influences in my musical interests. Almost all Trop Rock musicians’ number one influence is Jimmy Buffet. I love Jimmy Buffett. He’s a great songwriter and I have the highest respect for him. For myself, bands and artists such as The Allman Brothers Band, The Grateful Dead, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Frank Zappa, Bob Dylan, Dire Straits, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Santana, The Who, Martin Denny, the improvisation found in some of the said groups, as well as jazz,  all play a very much larger influence in what I do. All of that mixed in with the Tropical feel and lifestyle that Buffett brought to light, as well as living right here in Key West, the source, is what my music is. It’s bound to sound different. Story wise, it’s based on a local perspective. Locals and visitors will get it, tourists wont. Additionally, an artist is someone who creates. All artists have influences of course, but the artist creates, we don’t copy. DK’s observation made my night! What he said was actually a great contradiction, without being a contradiction at all, because although it was between the lines, it point blank at the same time. DK stated my music is original! As an artist, thank you DK!

What’s in The Hopper?

What’s in store for the future? Well, I had a bit of a bombshell dropped on me around a month ago in that Dan Simpson, resident musician and recording engineer for thirty five years here in Key West, is pulling up stakes and moving to Ashville, N.C.!  Dan produced my album “Shanghai’d and Marooned in Key West (things could be worse)”, to the extent that engineer and producer Shelley Liebowitz (Miles Davis, The Rolling Stones, Ella Fitzgerald, Dr. John, … etc) wrote me from Los Angeles and said “Chris I love your album!”. It was in the cards that he’d do the same on my next project album “Jump Into de Fi-Ya!”.  Regretfully apparently those cards had a couple of Jokers in them and their name is Ashville, N.C.

There are some producers that will take artist’s songs, from a demo they were sent. The demo may just be a very simple recording made with a guitar and a vocal. The producer may make an arrangement of the songs, or get someone else to do that part of it, then gather musicians together who record them. The original artist then records the vocal track and essentially from that point, they’re done, save for the mixing and mastering.

For myself, that would not work. I’m an artist who is involved in virtually everything that’s done. I’m playing a guitar, collecting musicians to play, suggesting to maybe a keyboard player what sound I’m looking for. When the engineer is doing the mix I may say, “Let’s bring the rhythm guitar up in this two-bar segment”. A lot of this is actually wearing the producer hat. Point being, I’m a very hands on artist with what I want. Working with Dan was always a pleasure! He always came up with great ideas on everything and as I say, losing him is heartbreaking.

Having said that, Key West has a world class producer who moved here a few years ago from London, England, Ian Shaw. Ian’s been in the recording business for over thirty years and has many laurels and awards to his credit in the United Kingdom. He still bounces back and forth between London and Key West on various projects. We had lunch at Frenchie’s Café a week ago and agreed to record a couple of songs I’ve written, “Yippie Cayo Hueso” and “Tote The Load”.  Something new and exciting!

Ian Shaw

Of course I have a bunch of other songs that need to be recorded, however my budget at the moment restricts me to doing these two songs to start with, then when there’s more funds accumulated, we can add more.

It goes without saying, if a good minded, philanthropic soul would be interested in helping the project out, we’re interested! Thanks in advance!!!!

HEY! LOOK BELOW!!!

 Thanks for reading the blog!  All The Best From Key West!

My book “Bar Stories” is available through Amazon! At this moment it has 12 five star ratings! Only $3.99!!!!

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




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Thank you everyone!!