Seth Kessel Born in Manhattan and raised in Brooklyn, Seth Kessel wasn’t interested in music or a musical career until age 16, when he was invited to a private drum lesson by Steven Wolf who was touring with Annie Lennox. It was a surprising life changing experience that started an obsession with drums and music. […]
What If …. By Ralph De Palma A while back, former Key West pianist Dave Burns and I were discussing Key West legendary performer Coffee Butler. Both Dave and I lived in Miami during the 60s and 70s when Miami Beach would see major artists, like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Tony Bennett, Guy Lombardo, and […]
Gabriel Wright – Live on the Rock A native of Lima, Ohio, Gabriel Wright became interested in music at an early age. It seemed he was always studying or performing music. He especially loved the guitar. In 2004, Wright graduated from Berklee School of Music in Boston with a major in songwriting. After […]
Claire Caplan – You have to believe. Claire, an only child, was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. Her mother, Leslie Caplan, a professional singer and classically trained, performs with the St. Louis Symphony Chorus and has performed at Carnegie Hall several times. She always encouraged Claire to sing. She sang in a local […]
Recollections of Jimmy Buffett Since 2012, I have interviewed over 140 musicians in Key West for my Soul of Key West books. I tried to present interesting facts and stories from all of them. Most of the interesting stories are from older Key West musicians and their early recollections and experiences with Jimmy Buffett – […]
Alexander Michael – and his gypsy jazz Alexander Michael hails from North Minneapolis. His father, Greg, played guitar and started teaching Alexander music at eight years old, around camp fires and in the kitchen. When Alexander was 20, he took a month long, 200 miles, confidence building sojourn along the Lake Superior Trail alone. He […]
Ben Harrison – tells a good story Ben Harrison started taking music lessons at 14 years old from Chester Rupe who is now in the Texas Music Hall of Fame, in Corpus Christie, Texas. He wanted to be the new Elvis from the get go. Ben has a 1957 Gibson acoustic guitar, bought new, all […]
Jose Wejebe – full tilt boogie Jose Wejebe, born January 18th, 1959 in Cuba, immigrated with his family to Miami in 1961. He grew up loving the waters of Biscayne Bay, and learned to fish at a very young age. In the 60s and 70s, Miami was very difficult for the fast migration of 600,000 […]
Terry Cassidy – with a banjo on my knee Terry Cassidy, born and raised in the Cleveland area, comes from a family of musicians, learning the guitar very early and later, the banjo at age 17. His first gig was a duo with his Uncle Gordy – they “tickled the strings” together. In November 1979, […]
A Music Masterpiece family The Key West Lopez family have musical roots that trace back four generations and even further to their Bahamian music roots. Clayton Lopez is older brother to Calvin, and sister Wilhelmina (“Mina”), all gifted vocalists. Another brother Carlton is deceased. Clayton seemed to always have some kind of stringed instrument […]
