Bluegrass Fun
Richie Hennesy pickin his banjo
A product of Central Massachusetts, Richie Hennessy says music was just part of his life. Both his parents were musicians. His father Richard played in several groups and his mother Margaret played in local orchestras. Richie was in the 4th grade when he studied his first musical instrument which was the cello.
In high school, he focused on the guitar, performing with friends, in garage bands, and punk rock groups. Initially, he was afraid of making music a career because he thought it would “suck the fun out of it”.
Billy Ruegar, Jimmy Starshine, Martin Sedlak, Richie Hennesy – the Howdy Bout That Band
He graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amhurst in 2014 with a degree in Natural Resource Management. Richie taught himself banjo between his Junior and Senior years. He had a girlfriend that wanted to be a performer and influenced him to start performing as well. Ritchie had a friend, Mitch Bordage, who had started playing mandolin, they got together with a fiddle player and formed a bluegrass band called Mamma’s Marmalade. He enjoyed bluegrass and had fun touring with the band. Bluegrass musician John Hartford was an inspiration. Richie toured with the band for over five years
In 2019, Ritchie quit the bluegrass group and was considering quitting music all together but that summer, he was recruited by Bella’s Bartok, a rock band. They toured the Midwest and South, going as far as New Orleans. They also had a three-week tour in Germany and the Netherlands.
Later, he bought a 28-foot sailboat, had a mooring in Provincetown, off Cape Cod and was considering becoming a charter boat captain. His friend Will Harrington also had a sailboat and taught Ritchie to sail. Between 2017-2019, during the winter months, Harrington sailed to Key West and played an acoustic piano on Mallory Square.
In 2020, Richie began living on his sailboat and after the COVID shutdown, he to sailed to Key West, arriving in December. He traveled between Key West and Cape Cod until the summer 2024 staying in Key West. He had been moving around a lot since graduating and says “it’s nice to stay in one place for a while”.
One of Richie’s first Key West music associates was Sam Carlson. They met at Andy’s Cabana’s open mic night. Later Richie played bass, filling in on a number of gigs. General Horseplay had an open mic night as well, that helped him meet others. As he began to make friends in Key West, the music opportunities would continue. He says he never lived anywhere that was so easy to find work as a musician.
The Howdy Bout That Band at the Wisteria Island stage.
He played a gig at the Hemingway Social Club with violinist Martin Sedlak. Martin loved bluegrass music and suggested they start an all bluegrass band called Howdy ‘Bout That. He found Jimmy Starshine and Billy Ruegger. They took time to rehearse and started having great fun with the music. They have adapted some Bob Dylan and even Beatles tunes to a bluegrass rhythm. Martin got their first gig scheduled at the Green Parrot. Richie jokingly said, “Leave it to a musician from the Czech Republic to start a bluegrass band in Key West”. The group is very tight, and have become good friends.
The most fun he has had in Key West is near his anchorage at Wisteria Island. A friend, that he had met at Andy’s, sponsored a gig for the Howdy ‘Bout That group on Wisteria Island. They performed on the privately built stage on this uninhabited, and very uninhibited, location. The stage offers a very cool sunset view filtered by the trees. These are almost all “locals only” events that just pop up sporadically and the word spreads quickly. Richie has played with several other groups on Wisteria Island – it’s just a good vibe.
Richie has been writing poetry lately and plans to start writing some original music soon. Musically, he has wondered “How would we (musicians) all be and what would we all have to say (with our music) if we didn’t have to worry about filling up the venue and the tip jar”. He remembers playing in a pizza shop in North Hampton, Mass that required all music played must be original music – in a pizza shop surprisingly. Blue Heaven seems to promote original music and very creative performances upstairs in the Bordello. Richie hopes Key West continues to foster and promote cool original music.
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