Soul of Key West Volume I, Volume II, and Volume III

A Key West music trilogy. Collect them all.

The first book was originally going to be a typical coffee table photo book. I started interviewing some of the people that I wanted to present with a small caption under their photo. The interviews became stories. The stories became so compelling that the tenor of the book changed dramatically – for the better. These musicians all have great stories to tell. I currently write a weekly column (for 3.5 years) for the Key West Citizen about all these fantastic musicians. I’ve interviewed over 190 musicians and counting.

These are still photo books (pun intended) with an avg. of 200 photos per book. Many people are first attracted to the photos then get hooked on the stories of these great musicians.

During COVID one Key West music fan that couldn’t come to Key West for the Winter as usual and said “that having your books help me feel connected to Key West and really helped us get by.” That was a huge compliment.

Barry Cuda at BO’s Fishwagon

We released Coffee’s last album on his 90th birthday.

I had to leave a lot out of their stories out due to space requirements. Bill Blue told of the night Elvis first appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show. Larry Baeder tells the story of 100,000 people in a soccer stadium all singing along with “My Girl”. While Barry Cuda talks of his favorite gig at funky little BO’s Fish Wagon playing special tunes for his very special Bong Hits For Geezer Groupies audience.  Lifelong Key Wester friends Robert Albury, Paulie Walterson, and Cliff Sawyer, all talk of their love of music and one another. Melody Cooper whispered a secret to me during an interview “we will make music because we have to”. Clayton Lopez talks of almost kicking then famous Jimmy Buffet out of Ed Swift’s Music store. The magical entertainer Raven tells how the audience fills the void in her self esteem. The amazing Coffee Butler tells how his tiny music teacher “Miss Ellen” (Ellen Welters Sanchez) was a huge influence on his life. Michael McCloud refused to be covered in the first two books. One Friday afternoon “at church” at the Schooner Wharf Bar he tapped me on the shoulder while taking a break from performing and asked “When are you going to interview me?” I interviewed him that Monday for 2.5 hours and my ribs hurt from laughing so hard. He is presented in Volume III.

Lucy Buffett is a big fan of my photos.

I view the Key West music scene as a wonderful and complex tapestry. The photos without the stories would have been presenting only a small part of that.