ANOTHER WAY OF WRITING A SONG

ANOTHER WAY OF WRITING A SONG



In the last blog I just posted, I talked about one way to write a song, being in the spirit right after the Key West Songwriters Festival concluded. I mentioned that was one way I write a song, however there were others. Regardless of where I'm coming from when writing a song, I will always have a pen and paper ready. As I play and lyrics come to mind, I'll flip the guitar over and write the line down that I come up with. I'll do that immediately. If not, I'll forget it. Likewise, if I'm out doing things and an idea comes to mind, be it a melody, lyric, or song idea, I'll note it in my phone as either a note, or a voice memo. If I don't, again, I'll forget it. A LOT of songwriters tell me they do the same.

 As I'm in the muse as far as writing goes and I'm on a roll, here's another way that I write a song.

Two songs here I'll extrapolate on, "Dildo Key" and "Island Blue".

In both of these cases, unlike the first songwriting post on "The Beach!!!!", which was based on spontaneity, these two songs were projects to be done before any music or lyrics were established.
In the case of "Dildo Key", what had happened was I was looking at a soundings chart of the upper Keys, which includes everything from Key Largo and Islemorada on the east, to the west coast of the tip of Florida. For those who don't know what a soundings chart is, it's basically a road map for boaters listing the depths of the water. It's also called a depth chart.



Well, while looking at the chart my eyes almost popped out! There was an island named "Dildo Key"! I rubbed my eyes to make sure there wasn't an error, however it remained the same!


This is not something that could be by-passed by a songwriter! How could you pass this up? No, here was a song that was being handed to me on a silver platter! In this case it was different than "The Beach!!!". As I said, "The Beach!!!!" was spontaneous. "Dildo Key" became a project in the making before any of it was ever looked at musically, or lyrically.

As I mentioned in my last blog, I write the music first. With that in mind, I needed a proper foundation to build on. For myself, it's like building a house. You don't start with the roof, or the first floor, you start with the foundation and build up from there. The way I look at it, the music is the most important part of the song. I've heard people who wrote the most prolific lyrics, but the music they applied to it, is a complete and utter sleeping pill, or mediocre. For others it works however, but not for me.

Therefore, I had the opportunity to set the stage for the song!
Now, with a name like "Dildo Key", it has to be something with a comic, fun feel. That goes without saying! I figured something along a barrel house blues could work. Me being me, the progression would have to have a traditional feel, yet be unique at the same time. As I mentioned earlier, it needed to also have a humorous twist! The end result is a progression that stands on it's own, related to virtually nothing else, yet at the same time, it sounds familiar.
What I came up with for the basic progression was:

E  C#7  F#7  B7    E C#7 F#7 B7   E  E7  A  A7     E  C#7  F#7 B7   and a turn around of E C#7 F#7 B7 E B7 E B7

That worked! It's it's own progression.

Now that that was established, I had a very original format to work lyrically within. this was exactly what my quest was. A solid, original foundation was ready to be built on. The lyrics would easily fit in this wheelhouse! Mind you, it doesn't happen all the time! This can bite you in the ass quite often, when you least expect it.

As an example of this, the title song of the album "Shanghai'd and Marooned in Key West - Things could be worse", never materialized. The song just never cut it for my standards. However that happens no matter how one writes.

With "Dildo Key", we were cooking with oil!



The lyrics were naturally peppered with suggestive innuendos, as one would expect from a song named after a island called Dildo Key. How could it not be? It likewise didn't hurt that the key next to Dildo Key is Johnson Key... seriously, how did this happen?   

Lyrically "Dildo Key" turned out to be one of my longer songs, with six verses. The first verse was designed to set the stage of a guy singing happily and just heading out fishing in the Florida Keys. The next verse, he gets there, all is quite normal until he arrives at the destinaltion, Dildo Key, which immediately after it is named comes the "horror chord" hit suddenly and abruptly. It's EC#FGC#E... OUCH!!!!

As I say, the rest of the song is peppered with inuendos designed to crack a smile and hopefully some laughter!

I wanted Barry Cuda to play piano on the track. 'Cuda has been a Key West icon for thirty years and while being a great cut up, he's seriously a blues authority. I sent him a demo of the song and a lyric/chord chart to learn. Like almost all of the guys who played on the album, he arrived and when it came to playing the song he suddenly stopped and said "Hey! What's going on here?". This is an issue I always ran into as my songs aren't your basic chord progressions. It can be a pain in the ass, as a writer. It's also expensive when musicians realize there's a lot more to the song than they assumed and they wind up learning it in the studio. On the entire album, only Richard Crooks went over every song and charted it as well, before arriving in the studio.

'Cuda learned it very quickly however and did a superb job on the song as well! There are several people out there who tell me Dildo Key is my best work. I don't agree with them, however it is surely my most humorous! Tuba and all!!!

Dildo Key can be found on CD Baby, CD Universe and iTunes. Search "Key West Chris"
Here's the CDBaby link:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/keywestchris


ISLAND BLUE




Another song written with a subject in mind was "Island Blue". My friend Misty Loggins called me from Nashville to say she was coming down to play for a week at Smokin Tuna. I said "Hey! Why don't we cut a song while you're here?" she thought it was a great idea. It was after I hung up that I realized I didn't have a song for her and it was only two weeks before she would be here. Uh Oh!

I went a week walking into walls. Nothing worked. Then, I was on my satee one morning trying to come up with something and went from an E to a B7 and it rung! Suddenly I was off to the races! I came up with an original progression that would fit the Patsy Cline/Willy Nelson genre of Country. The progression and song is entirely different, but you could easily put it in the same category as "Crazy". The progression went:

E, E7, B7, C#m7, F#m7, B7, E E7 A A7 E C9 B9 E Bdim
For the bridge:
A Maj 7, E Maj 7, A Maj7, E Maj7, E7, A E Maj7, E7, F#m7, G#m7 C#m7 Cm7 Bm7, A Maj7, F#m7, B7, E, C9, B9, E, Bdim

So, here I ended up with a very original progression with a foundation that was as solid as a rock, which invited lyrics to build off of.

The story would be of a person who visits the tropics from afar and decides to move and stay.

When we cut the song Misty asked if we could move the song a half step up, to accommodate her voice. No problem! So when we recorded it, we did it in F and it's been that way ever since, be it if Misty, myself, or Dani were singing it.

Here's the song. It will be on my next album "Jump Into De Fi-Ya!", although it will not be this particular cut. The one we'll use is a different mix altogether and with Dani on background vocals.




                                                              ISLAND BLUE
I
ISLAND BLUE YOU’RE GONNA TAKE ME
BACK THROUGH THE WINDS OF TIME
OH ISLAND BLUE YOU’RE GONNA CHANGE THIS HEART OF MINE
II
WHEN I CAME TO THIS ISLAND
FOR SUNSHINE AND MARITIME AIR
OH ISLAND BLUE, YOUR SANDY BEACHES, SEEM SO UNFAIR
(Bridge)
WHEN I CAME TO YOU I HAD NO WORRIES IN THE WORLD
I WAS AS FREE AS A SEAGUL IN FLIGHT
I STAYED A FEW DAYS I COULD FEEL IT
BENEATH MY FEET MY WHOLE WORLD WAS CHANGING
AND I KNEW, DEEP DOWN INSIDE
THIS WAS MY LIFE
III
SO ISLAND BLUE, NO I’M NOT CRYING
NO MISURY, NO PAIN
OH ISLAND BLUE IT JUST ISN’T FAIR
TO FEEL THIS WAY
(Bridge)
WHEN I CAME TO YOU I HAD NO WORRIES IN THE WORLD
I WAS AS FREE AS A SEAGUL IN FLIGHT
I STAYED A FEW DAYS I COULD FEEL IT
BENEATH MY FEET MY WHOLE WORLD WAS CHANGING
AND I KNEW, DEEP DOWN INSIDE
THIS WAS MY LIFE

IV
SO I SAID GOOD BY TO MY CITY
AU REVOIR TO MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS
AND HELLO TO THE TROPICS, ISLAND BLUE
AND HELLO TO THE TROPICS, ISLAND BLUE
©2011 Christopher R. Rehm, BMI






While there is no right way or a wrong way to write a song, in both this blog and the last you'll have read that I always set the foundation first and foremost. This works well for me. Lennon/McCartney, Jagger/Richards, Garcia/Hunter, and Jobim/Moraes among others, use(d) this method as well.








All the Best From Key West!

Thank you for reading my Blog!!!!

2013 Key West Songwriter's Festival

2013 Key West Songwriter’s Festival

Key West Songwriter’s Festival interview by Gary Ek with Misty Loggins and Key West Chris

The Key West Songwriter’s Festival went just incredible, as always! What a marvelous event and what great talent to be enjoyed. To sum it up there were thirty venues hosting one hundred and fifty songwriters. I recall several years ago I was attending an event at Blue Heaven and there was a young woman who was playing a piano. I was in the standing area and a woman next to me says to the woman next to her “Oh look! She’s playing a Taylor Swift song!” to which I gave her a nudge and said with a wink “Actually, Taylor Swift is playing her song. That woman on stage is the one who wrote the song.” That’s pretty much what the songwriter’s festival is all about. Last year I recall hearing the writer of the song John Waite made popular, “I Ain’t Missing You At All”, then later one of the writers of the song Jimmy Buffett and Martina McBride made famous, “Trip Around The Sun”.

As a local, I always chip in and give a hand where I can. In the last few years I’ve marched around town distributing the posters for Dani Strampello Holliday, who works with local organizer Charlie Bauer. This year I was delivering a poster to a scooter store a couple of days before the event and there is Mark Mason of BMI, the main Nashville based host/sponsor of the event, renting a scooter. Like we always say here “It’s a small town!”

About a week or so before the event, Jeff Allen interviewed me on Beachfront Radio out in Oxnard California. I was thrilled to learn that that show I was part of, had the highest ratings ever! What a great way to get things rolling in high gear! Thanks Jeff and Carol!

The event always kicks off out on Sunset Pier, at the very base of Duval, and like always it was very crowded. Naturally I met some old friends there in from Nashville. My dear friend and for a second year in a row, my songwriting fest stage partner, Misty Loggins, was there talking to some of her friends. Naturally as an element of surprise I just went up and stood shoulder to shoulder to her as she was engrossed in conversation. After about fifteen seconds, curiosity got the better of her and she casually turned to see who this rude individual was standing so close to her.  Her eyes bugged out and we threw our arms around each other laughing. It’s always great to see good friends whom time has put a physical distance between, but the bond of friendship remains strong and unscathed.

(Misty and I just after we bumped into each other on Sunset Pier)

I also bumped into Chuck Cannon there. I actually only met Chuck there last year for the first time. Chuck’s been writing massive hit songs for something like twenty something years. He’s also played in every Key West Songwriter’s Festival since day one.

Another fun thing is running into people whom you’ve met in years past. This was the case bumping into photographer Pamela Burkard and her daughter Jenna, who was traveling with her mom for the event, all the way in from San Diego! On a few occasions I bumped into Jenna during the festival and it was just so wonderful to see someone so enamored with the event and all of the performers! That makes it all worthwhile.

Local photographer Nick Doll was seen all over the festival, having been contracted by BMI, the host from Nashville, to be the official photographer for the event! I met Nick when he was a bartender at The Porch. Nick always impressed me back then as he seriously studied beer and could talk quite knowledgeably with anyone on the subject. He’s been self-employed now as a photographer himself for well over a year and the fact that BMI contracted him, speaks volumes! Congrats Nick!!!! 

https://www.facebook.com/nickdollphotography

The event moves from the Sunset Pier to the Pier House across the street. The Pier House just sold about a week after the event, so it will be interesting to see what becomes of it next year.

I also ran into my friend Kent McCoy, music appreciator extraordinaire! Kent is a retired police officer from Pennsylvania and always has a permanent great attitude, and a sincere enthusiastic smile whenever he arrives in town!

Christine Wartenby was also in from New Jersey. Christine is in several times  a year. She’s real Key West visitor, not a tourist.  Somehow I don't seem to have a picture with Christine :-( 

In addition to all of the scheduled performances, there were events held at non-official venues as well. I stopped by The Cork and Stogie, a non-event venue just a block and a half from where I live. Wow! Three guys playing there who were simply outstanding! The Cork seriously doesn’t have the room to hold an official event, however the intimate setting on their front porch was excellent for that “Up close and personal” touch. Craft Beers, superb wine, accompanied the fantastic music and made such a great atmosphere for the afternoon.

Local songwriter Rusty Lemmon and I were two local songwriters in the event this year, so I felt it my duty to show support and make sure I made it to his gig at Conch Republic Seafood. I was a bit late getting there though as Captain Tony’s needed to see me about playing there on Saturday. I caught Rusty’s set and he did the town of Key West proud! Way to go Rusty!

Jeff Harris was the other local in the event, however I completely missed his performance. :-(

My event was at Southernmost on the Beach, at the other end of Duval, a few doors east down South St. As I mentioned earlier, Misty Loggins and I shared the stage and thanks to Ms. Dani Strampello Holliday, local organizer and fantabulouse individual, we found we were on the only timeslot that ran from noon to 1 on Saturday in the entire event!!! Holy Molley!

Again, meeting new people, I met Alan Mayer out of Nashville, whom I had been friends with for several years on Facebook. Alan is a photographer and it’s always fun hanging out with folks you know through social media. Alan prides himself as to never wearing a tie, which puts him in very good standing in my book! (He does wear a bow tie on his FB page, but that was only because he wore it in a play he was in!)

Our gig went fantastic! We had beautiful weather, a great setting, and happy people. My friends from Southernmost Coconut Castaways, Marc and Tammy Hollander, were kind enough to handle the merchandise table for all of the performers at the event that day as well. It was reassuring having friends so close by. Plus, the crew over at Southernmost on the Beach were superb, a credit to manager Boomer, the hotel manager there.

Naturally Misty and I did the song that I wrote for her specifically, which has enjoyed bucket loads of radio airtime from Hawaii, across the Pacific to California, across the Continental United States, hopping the Atlantic Ocean to Great Britain and the European Continent, “Island Blue”.

As I mentioned, we played for an hour. It’s a great setting and people have been telling me since last year when Misty and I played together “You tow have a great show! You really complement each other very well!” I’m still hearing that same comment here a couple of weeks after this year’s event. We do have an on stage chemistry and I took advantage of it at the end this brand new song of mine, “Sea Plane” ! HA HA HA!

Misty had a good laugh on that one… you’re safe until I get my pilot’s license Misty!

Here’s Misty doing the Title song to her CD “Talk Country To ‘Em”

I constantly get messages from friends around the world daily. These folks are coming to Key West to visit asking where I’m playing. I think it would be great if we could parlay that into playing here at Southernmost on the Beach, where the videos and pictures they see in this blog. They just hired a guy from Islamorada to play there, who had his first gig there this week, so who knows?

The Key West Songwriter’s Festival is a BMI event. In years past ASCAP had a minor presence there with an event every midnight at The Bottle Cap called “The Midnight Hang”. What it used to amount o was an open mic for participants of the Festival. Unfortunately, the ASCAP people pretty much avoided putting any of the Key West writers up (Hello! I’m one of them! ), which in my view is a bit rude to the host city, however in the grand scheme of things, everyone loved that event in years past. This year the event was dropped and a lot of the performers were very disappointed about it. I think I’ll talk to local organizers Charlie and Danielle to see if they might be interested in doing something like the old event of years gone by, next year. I’d be happy to organize it, if he’s interested!

On Sunday there’s the unofficial event at The Mango Tree Inn on the corner of Flemming and Simonton, for their pool party. I was told last year “You HAVE to go!!”, so this year I went. Like the event at The Cork and Stogie, this is not an official event. There were all sorts of great songwriters there and it certainly was a fun event! When I arrived, local drag artist Gina Maserati was playing songs poolside with Ray West. Inside they had an open mic of sorts, however it was a lot like the ASCAP event of years past in that they shied away from any local artists. While Gina and Ray had played poolside, in the main living room was where this took place. Very intimate with an up close and personal feel to it. For some reason the sound system they were using sounded like it was a left over from Cab Calloway's era. It sounded like a shoe box. The intimacy of the room overrode it however. I had spoken to the music organizer about playing, but after four hours I left without being called. I will most likely will stop by next year; however it will just be a long pit stop most likely.

On the Trop Rock front in the Festival there were a few of us in the event. Margaritaville is a natural for Trop Rock artists and for this year they had John Frinzi and Aaron Scherz. I met John Frinzi briefly on the Monday before the festival. I was doing my poster delivery thing and suddenly there was my pal Will Parker having a beer. Well, what better an excuse at the end of the day than to share a beer with Will? Turned out he was doing the sound there and in came John. Great meeting him! Dani Hoy was also in town playing one of the unofficial events at Pearls. I also bumped into Jimmy Parrish at Misty's other gig with Brent Burns on the South Beach. I'm not sure if Jimmy was playing anywhere, or just checking out the festival? Nice to meet him though! Loved Brent Burns set with Misty! Brent Burns. Now there's a guy who has things going on! Last year he missed the festival because a horse of his won one of the supporting races at the Kentucky Derby! This year, only a day or two after he did his set with Misty, he posted a picture of himself with friends sitting at a cafe, in old Paris.... Paris, France that is. Brent Burns is my new idol!



Misty Loggins, myself, Dani Hoy and Brent Burns after Misty and Brent's set. Photo: Kent McCoy

The official event ends on Sunday night, however my friends Thom Shepherd and Coley McCabe were playing a few doors down the street from where I live on Monday at Lighthouse Court. I helped out with donating a sound system that they could use and they were kind enough to allow me to play a set during their break. That’s an honor indeed! Coley had worked in Nashville for major publishing house Big Red Tractor. Additionally, Thom has had five #1 hits by various artists. His latest one was “Redneck Yacht Club”. What a privilege to play with these guys!!! And what a way to close out the 2013 Key West Songwriter’s Festival! Thank you Coley and Thom!!!!!



Coley and Thom

On a final note: The last two years I've had the real honor of sharing the stage with Misty Loggins. Over the years I've known her, Misty has become not just a fellow songwriter/musician, but also a dear friend and through that I've come to see that she's a very, very unique and beautiful human being. Misty has a wonderful ability which seeks out the very best in people she comes in contact with, then she focuses on that good point. As humans we tend to like people who bring the best points out in ourselves, because everyone is in their best element when they know they are appreciated. Misty does this with everyone she comes in contact with. She's a very special woman. I' already looking forward to seeing her next year at the Festival! 

In closing, it was such a great honor to be one of only three Key West songwriters in the 2013 Key West Songwriter’s Festival. I am so gratefully  humbled.

Special thanks to:

George McClure: McClure and Trowbridge Publishing Nashville inc.

Charlie Bauer: Key West organizer of the festival and owner of Smokin’ Tuna Saloon

Dani Strempello Holliday: Key West organizer with Smokin Tuna Saloon

Mark Mason: Organizer with BMI, Nashville

For music downloads please check my website : http://keywestchris.com/
(This site also carries unreleased studio material as well as demos.)

I'm also found on iTunes, CD Baby, Rhapsidy, and CD Universe, Search “Key West Chris”

Thanks everyone!!!

 "Key West Chris" Rehm

KEY WEST SONGWRITER'S FESTIVAL 2012

Key West Songwriter's Festival 2012




What can one say about the Key West Songwriter’s Festival? Well, for starters it’s by far, the largest musical event held in Key West. Additionally, unlike other musical events, in addition to 130+ songwriters in attendance, there are also the top executives in the recording industry in from Nashville. Basically what happens is the recording industry moves to Key West for six days, or so to have fun and let their hair down. The festival is a joint production between Charlie Bauer, who started the festival 17 years ago and BMI Nashville. BMI, Charlie’s establishment Smokin’ Tuna, and Better Angels music publishing are the main sponsors of the event, which is held in about thirty different locations around the Island. The island was packed as well for the festival! Word on the street was that if you could actually find a room, they were running $400 a night and air fare from Nashville to Key West was $900 for a walk on.

One of the fun things for everyone here during the Songwriter’s Fest is the realization that so many songs we hear are not written by those who make the songs famous, but rather by songwriters whom many of us may have never heard of. Forgive the pun, but the un-sung heroes of music today. Here in Key West we always hear great musicians playing what’s known as “Covers”; Songs made famous by other artists. It’s a two way street, as no matter how good a musician or a band are, without good songs to work with, they’ll never have a foundation to work off of. Often I’ll hear a song myself that I always assumed was written by the artist who made it famous. This year I heard the song “I Ain’t Missin’ You At All”, of course made famous by John Waits. This year I learned he didn’t write it, but rather a guy in a cowboy hat playing at The Bottle Cap did. Regretfully, I missed his name. Likewise the beautiful song done by Jimmy Buffett and Martina McBride “Trip Around The Sun”. I always thought it was a Buffett song. Stupid me, huh? Then, there I was at a completely and utterly packed Smokin’ Tuna when Al Anderson started playing it. He co-wrote it with Steve Bruton and Sharon Vaughan. When I heard it, I had to hop up from my table and tunnel my way to the stage armed with my iPhone video rolling!



For me, this was my second year as a performer. Special thanks and tons of gratitude to BMI, Charlie, Dani Holiday, and McClure and Trowbridge Publishing Nashville for getting me involved in this fantastic event. Dani Holiday is the point woman for the festival here in Key West. Everything seems to go through Dani and she’s one very, very busy woman! She always kept a smile however, which in turn keeps everyone else smiling as well! As with last year, I was one of her poster deliverers. It’s a fun task and as I’m local with some time to burn, I’m always happy to contribute.

This year my gig was at the Best Western Key Ambassador, which is over by the airport. I was teamed up with my pal, Misty Loggins, whom I recorded Island Blue with earlier this year. Additionally, my old buddy Bobby D, who played a lot of the lead guitar on my CD “Shanghai’d and Marooned in Key West (things could be worse)” had just moved back into town the day before and was kind enough to video both Misty and my performances. Our gig went great, as well. We were poolside. What a great setting! Misty kicked ass on her songs too! What a performer and a great honor to share the stage with! She was just flat out fantastic! We also did the first solo acoustic version of Island Blue that we’ve ever done. With the song getting airplay from California all across the country… and across the Atlantic in Europe as well, wild horses couldn’t drag us from the stage to keep us from doing that one! The last time we were together doing it was when she recorded her vocals back five months ago at Danny Simpson’s Private Ear Studios. We never got to rehearse it, but Misty being the pro that she is, aced it!








In addition, I got to meet not one, but two Facebook friends Flip Flop and also, Kent McCoy! What fun and we also hung out here and there throughout the festival at additional events. My buddy Key Largo Joe also made it after automobile trouble on the way down the Keys Thanks Joe!!!


It being just the nature of the beast, there are so many events going on simultaneously, it’s just impossible to see them all. Two performers that I caught for the first time that left a big impression on me were Chuck Cannon and Lauren Lucas. This was Chuck’s seventeenth appearance, so he’s been in every event since the beginning as this was the seventeenth annual event. Chuck’s an amazing guitarist who plays in a very bazar tuning all of the time. At the same time, he’s also a marvelous wordsmith. It was a treat to meet and also hear him. As a matter of fact, he and Misty wrote a song and played it together on her set! Great stuff indeed!



I bumped into Lauren Lucas’ set at Island Dogs by chance and was very impressed. Great chord changes, not typical and wonderful lyrics to go along with them. It was a great surprise! Regretfully I didn’t get to meet her. I was at an outside table, so there was a bit of crowd noise and the camera was a good deal shaky, however her audio cuts through quite well.




Since Charlie Bauer started Smokin’ Tuna back last summer, it only made sense that Smokin’ Tuna was the central location for everything. It’s a great music venue as well. Local songwriter, by way of Texas, by way of Nashville, Clint Bullard had what had to be the best audience reaction of the entire festival. Everyone in the crowd was singing along with the choruses/bridges in all of his songs! I didn’t see this with any other performers on this magnitude. It was truly awe inspiring! Clint did a great set as well and having such fantastic support left me in amazement of both his great performance as well as his fans enthusiasm for him. It made me feel good all over!




Also at Smokin’ Tuna were sets from the writers at Better Angels. What a marvelous group of writers they are as well! In one forty five minute set, I heard three #1 hits. Amazing really! The head of Better Angels, Rob sat in on the Cajon on all of his players sets. I had a couple of nice short conversations with him both this year and last. What a positive guy! We’re all grateful for his support of the event!




I already can’t wait for next year’s Songwriter’s Fest! The Key West Songwriter’s Fest is a celebration of writers. No, you won’t hear any covers… but you may just know a lot of the songs you hear, done by the artists who are the ones who actually wrote them. (Additionally, I can promise you that you’ll hear a boatload of just incredible songs that you never heard before as well!) Without them, the artists who made them famous, or cover them in bars as solo, or as bands, would never have had them to play to begin with. This isn’t a matter of what came first, the chicken or the egg. The song is always born first. Everything else comes after that, the arrangements, the production, the musicianship, the performances, the recordings, everything. The song always comes first in music. The song is the nucleus of music.

A GREAT HONOR, A GREAT CONCERT, AND A GREAT BIER!!!

Sailing by Key West Chris Rehm

^Listen to "Sailing" while you read the blog!^
Also for CD or download see the website for links! http://keywestchris.com/

A GREAT HONOR, A GREAT CONCERT, AND A GREAT BIER
One of the great traditions of Key West is having the United States Navy here based here. On March 5th, 1822, Lt. Commander Matthew C. Perry sailed to Key West aboard the Navy schooner Shark, planted a U.S. Flag and claimed the Keys and The United States ( years prior to that, the Spanish considered Key West itself, to be “Northern Havana”). Then on April 1st 1823, Commodore David Porter established the U.S. Navy in Key West in order to eradicate piracy, which was running rampant in the area. The United States Navy has been here ever since. In more recent history, Key West was a very active submarine base, in addition to having the Key West Naval Air Station, which is active to this day out on Boca Chica Key, a few Keys up from Key West. The submarine base fell to the wayside with the coming of the nuclear submarine. The new nuclear subs dwarfed the WWII diesel subs and were too large to fit inside the Truman Waterfront. The Navy has given the inner dock and property of the Truman Waterfront to the city of Key West, although they may take it back at any time, if they deem it necessary. The outer pier, named the “ Mole Pier”, remains the property of the U.S. Navy. We often get U.S. Navy ships in for leave, for a few days, as well as NATO ships, from Great Britain, Canada, and Holland also on leave, in the last few years.
In all of the nearly two hundred years of U.S. Naval presence in Key West, the one thing we’ve never had was a U.S. Naval Ship being commissioned here. We do have a nuclear submarine named the USS Key West, which operates somewhere beneath the vast Pacific and carries a crew of 127 Sailors and 16 officers. No question about it, a great honor for the city and one which the town is very proud.
On October 1st of this year, something changed however. The USS Spruance, a 509ft, 9200 ton, $1B destroyer with a crew of over 280, was commissioned here in Key West. She arrived in Key West a week prior and I was fortunate enough to be able to take a tour of the ship. Unfortunately, but understandably, photographs were not permitted inside the ship. I did get several from the outside however. The tour was just fantastic. My Guide was one of the officers of the ship, whose rank and last name, I sadly missed. First name was Rafael and I’m going out on a limb here, but I’m guessing he was an American of Philippine decent. He mentioned on the tour that his father was also a career U.S. Naval officer.
The tour was outstanding on every level. The first thing I noticed was how polite the entire crew was. I’ve seen this before as well, on visits to the Boca Chica Naval facility. From these visits I’ve deducted that the word “Sarcasm” is strictly a civilian usage. And while I myself get somewhat sarcastic from time to time, it was really a breath of fresh air, almost like stepping into a foregone time where values were on a higher level in many areas, than they are today. The ship left Key West sometime on either Sunday or Monday. I went down to see it late Monday night and she was gone. She will be based in San Diego and I wish her, her officers and crew, the very best.
Come to think of it, with Key West being the southernmost point of the United States, I can’t help but think that having a couple of U.S. Navy ships based here, could only make sense.



Now on to the music front! The week prior to the USS Spruance’s commission, there was the Key West Musician’s Festival held at the Smokin Tuna. This was a benefit for Sister Seasons, a philanthropic group here in Key West, who assist artist who become ill. I was happy to donate a fist full of CDs to the cause, plus play a set. I’m not sure how many performers there were, but all were required to be Key West residents. Performances by such artists as Chief Billy, Cory Haydon, Bill Blue, Erickson Holt, Liz O’Connor, George Victory, Paul Cotton, Laura Wood, to name a few! Plus lots of superb people sitting in with many of the above, such as Marty Stonely, Deb Hudson, Chris Cook, Joel Nelson, Mick Kilgos, Kenny Fradley, Bubba Lownotes.
What an event! And hats off to the organizers Steve Mellette and Ken & Laura Floyd, A.K.A. Singing Iguana Productions, who did such a great job putting everything together for the event and Charlie Bauer, of Smokin’ Tuna for being a great host for the event.





Collage photos by Steve Mellette, Gary Ek, Chris Rehm, and who knows? Maybe someone else!

BEER OF THE BLOG
This week’s beer is more than appropriate, Spaten Octoberfest Bier from Munich! Beer in German is spelled Bier, but pronounced the same as in English.The beer is labeled “Ur Marzen”. It’s supposed to have the umlaut over the a, but I don’t know how to do that and it’s 1:24 am as I write this, so just make pretend it’s there please. Marzen means that it is brewed in the month of March. In the old days, it was stored over the summer months in caves in the Bavarian Alps and brought out in the last two weeks of September, to celebrate the coming October harvest. It was originally celebrated for the King of Bavaria, but the Bavarians had such a good time with that, that they found the harvest a great excuse to do the fest every year after that. Spaten Brau was also the original beer brewed for the occasion, so on the label you’ll note it says “Ur Marzen”, which translates to “The Original March Style” beer, which is also known as Oktoberfest Beer. Naturally, it will be found at the Oktoberfest in Munich, along with beer from several other incredible beers from Munich, such as Lowenbrau, Augustiner Brau, Thomas Brau, and Pauliner, all of which are brewed in Munich, Bavaria. Other breweries throughout the Bavarian state of Germany, of which there are well over one thousand, brew the most marvelous varieties of Oktoberfest found on earth. Becks, as nice as it may be, also brews an Oktoberfest, but like breweries on this side of the pond, it can’t hold a candle to its Bavarian cousins down south. If you have an opportunity to get a Bavarian Oktoberfest, do yourself the favor! If there are more than one variety, but them as well and have a taste comparison! You’ll be amazed at how different they are from one another, yet likewise astonished at the superb quality you’ll find in all of them. There’s no substitute for the very best there is to be found.
Prost!!!

(P.S. I'll be at the Cork and Stogie Friday, October 7th, from 6 - 9!
Be sure and stop by!)

The Porch & Beer, Smokin Tuna & Music

My Little Island Town by Key West Chris Rehm

^ Click to hear "My Little Island Town" while you read the Blog!^

A very interesting thing started in Key West just over a year ago. The Porch opened on the corner of Caroline St. and Duval, across Caroline from The Bull, in the gorgeous Porter Mansion. One of the owners and publican is Chris Shultz, well known co-author of the bible for anyone even contemplating of moving to Key West, “Quit Your Job And Move To Key West”. The Porch is much more along the lines of a pub, than a bar, per say, but call it what you will. It’s warm and homey,only has one TV (thank God!) and resides within its stately surroundings inside the Porter Mansion. The Porter Mansion dates back to 1838, according to Dave, who was sitting next to me and lives upstairs, so he should know. And yes, you can take your libation out to the large veranda that is in front of the estate and have a seat and enjoy it in classic fashion.

What The Porch is, to be more specific, is an establishment that focuses mainly on, what we call today, Craft Beer. They also have a splendid wine selection that lines the entire wall of their adjacent sitting room. The really curious thing is that they always have a very knowledgeable clientele on hand. Many are locals and many more are visitors to Key West, from all over the globe, who didn’t just stumble across The Porch by accident. These people heard about it and searched it out. Personally, I find this remarkable for such a quaint little place, that only opened in July, 2010! They usually have roughly a dozen or so, craft brews on draft. How many they have in bottles, I’m not even going to guess, suffice to say it’s extraordinary. There is a chalkboard behind the bar that is jam packed with beers on hand, both from the U.S. and around the world. Bear in mind, this is Key West. We’re on the outer fringes. We’re talking the end of the line. It’s one hundred and six miles to get back to the mainland and almost one hundred and thirty to get to civilization, in the form of Florida City’s Last Chance Saloon.

Getting all of this rare beer here must have involved a lot of time and effort in logistics, which can’t be overlooked as well. Hats off to Mr. Shultz, his partners, and the distributors. The staff is exceptional as well. Very knowledgeable and well educated on the products they handle. Equally as important, it’s a fun crew setting a great atmosphere in a great place.

Here is the fascinating thing that seems to be somewhat of a byproduct of The Porch’s success. First off, the owners of The Porch have started looking into the Waterfront Market, with the intention of turning the Wyland painted building into a brew pub. Naturally, there are a lot of hurdles to clear, however it’s progressing as expected. Next, there is Krawl Off Duval, which opened a little over month ago. This is on Southard St., just a few doors east off Duval, as the name implies. Like The Porch, Krawl Off Duval focuses on craft beer. As I understand it, they are hoping to have a large selection of draft beers in the near future.

Also in the works are two more brew pubs, one on North Roosevelt and another on Eaton St. I don’t think these are too far off either. The town’s main home brewer, Jim Brady also mentioned on a KONKAM radio interview that he’s purchasing some beer equipment over on the west coast of Florida. There’s also talk of yet another craft beer establishment opening somewhere around the 600 block off Duval.

It should also be stated that Kelly’s Caribbean Restaurant has been brewing their own beer at their restaurant for at least a dozen years. Frankly however, they’ve always focused on their establishment as a restaurant, more so than a brew pub. Their beer was lacking, in my opinion, however they now have a new brewer there, so I’ll have to stop by again.

In the past, of course Key West had the Key West Brewery, which produced the famous Key West Sunset Ale and the beautiful Sunset Wheat. The brewing company closed its doors years ago, however the Melbourne Brewing Company continues brewing their beers about 330 miles north of Key West. There also used to be a brew pub on the two hundred block of Duval. However that ceased being a brew pub at least ten years ago.
However, the bottom line here is that Key West, like a wild fire, is very rapidly becoming a high quality brew town and unquestionably, The Porch has spearheaded this movement. Hats off to them!

On the musical front, Smokin Tuna is hoppin’! The bar opened a couple of months ago in the former El Alamo location, run and co-owned by former Hogsbreath manager Charlie Bauer. Charlie was there for nearly twenty years and the Hogsbreath has the most live music in town, running from noon until two am seven days a week. Rome wasn’t built in a day, but Smokin Tuna is stretching its legs bit by bit. They’ve had a good assortment of quality music acts there thus far, in the pm hours. I was fortunate enough to be invited up to play at Gary Hempsey’s birthday celebration to do a fun version of the Neville Brother’s tune “Yellow Moon”. Thank you Gary!

My friend and a major musical supporter in town, Steve Mellette, also invited me to play there on Saturday, September 24th, for the Key West Musician’s Festival. A fabulous assortment of players will be there including Bill Blue, Chris Cook, Chief Billy, Cory Hayden, Ericson Holt, George Victory, Kenny Fradley, plus a bunch more including the fabulous Deb Hudson and Joel Nelson, who both were kind enough to share their incredible talents on my new CD “Shanghai’d and Marooned in Key West (things could be worse)”. Many thanks to the Smokin Tuna and Charlie Bauer for hosting and Singing Iguana Productions for putting it together! 20% of the proceeds also go to the Sister Season Fund. Smokin Tuna is directly up the street across from Irish Keven's, at 4 Charles St. Saturday, September 24th Noon to Six PM.