Tim Hollohan “I got lucky with a lot of stuff” Growing up in Columbia, South Carolina, Tim’s father played ten different instruments. He started Tim on the mandolin. Tim began playing gospel and bluegrass music at churches, county fairs and other events with his father and an uncle. He and his three younger siblings had […]
Walter Yarbrough “A much better person because of music” Walter Yarbrough is from Albany, New York. A younger brother received a guitar when he was six but quickly gave it up. Walter confiscated the guitar and never stopped playing. He bought a Beatles album and the sheet music to go with it. He soon heard […]
George Chapman ”making memories for people” George Chapman was raised in Lakewood, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. He played drums in the school band and, at age 11, started playing guitar. When he was 12 years old, George started playing drums in his guitar teacher’s wedding band but had to hitch a ride to gigs […]
Willie Nelson “Living in the Promised Land” On February 17, 2020, Willie Nelson packed the new Key West Coffee Butler Amphitheater with 4,000 loving fans. It was the largest crowd ever for a Key West concert. For good measure, he did it again in 2023. It was a privilege to hear this legendary performer live. […]
Ron Gregorcic – all over the map About 30 miles east of Cleveland, Ohio, in a small town called Chardon, young Ron Gregorcic was hanging with a sleepover buddy when they discovered Mötley Crüe (“Looks That Kill”) and were introduced to hard rock on the new Headbangers Ball on MTV at midnight. Until that night, […]
Memories of Margaritaville Everyone remembers that first Jimmy Buffett song. We all thought Jimmy would live forever. The music and those memories will live forever. Since 2012, I have interviewed over 155 musicians in Key West for my Soul of Key West books. I tried to present interesting facts and stories from all of them. […]
Wayne Sorbelli “A woken lion” Wayne Sorbelli grew up in an Italian family in Eastern Pennsylvania’s Poconos area. His father was a drummer in a Beatles tribute band. Early in life, Wayne was amazed people would gather and pay to listen to music and that being in a band could be a job. His grandmother […]
Changing of the Guard – a melting pot of talent During the early years of rock ‘n’ roll, music artists became overnight sensations and made money beyond their wildest dreams. Today, that doesn’t seem to be happen as often. Thankfully, one area of the music business that is alive and well is live music. Live […]
Midsummer Night’s Swing Over the years, the music industry has evolved from vinyl albums, cassette, 8-Track tapes, CDs, Music Channel Videos (MTV), streaming audio music, and now with advent of broadband internet, live video streaming performances. Music streaming websites are capturing more of the market. Music is posted, shared, and, sometimes, downloaded illegally. None of […]
Francois Gehin “… the bass makes me want to dance.” Francois Gehin is from Paris, France. A part of his family was originally from an area in the mountains of Eastern France. Many of them played music, including grandfathers, uncles, and children. Whenever Francois would visit he wanted to join in and play music. They […]
