Local restauranteur Richard Hatch was born in Miami and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina. He played both violin and standup bass in grade school through high school. He loved music but said he was not a gifted musician and his violin teacher was just plain mean. He attended University of North Carolina and studied political […]
Soul of Key West Volume 1, second edition Now Available An updated version of the original Soul of Key West, Volume I, first released in 2013, has arrived and currently shipping. This was the first book ever written about our amazing Key West music scene. The Soul of Key West is a 104 page anthology […]
A Mid Summer Night Swing – every Wednesday in August New music is often based on older styles. One such era that is being revived by many of the younger generation is Swing. New variations of old style Swing Jazz is gaining popularity. Swing music and dancing took the country by storm. It’s proving […]
John Bartus …playing music is not a bad life When John Bartus was young, his family moved to Florida. His father worked for NASA as a launch team leader on the Saturn Rocket program. John enjoyed growing up with the Gemini and Apollo space programs. The family moved to South Carolina as the Apollo program […]
Bo Fodor “Plan your work and work your plan” Bo Fodor says he’s another Army brat musician who moved a lot with his family, which consisted of two brothers and a sister. In 1974, at the age of 14, he started playing guitar in Minneapolis – Saint Paul, Minnesota. He graduated from Park High School […]
Martin Sedlak “…heard the violin from the first moment he was born” In 1987, Martin Sedlak was born in Benesov, Czechoslovakia, (now Czech Republic), a small town about 25 miles south of Prague. He has two sisters and is the middle child. He remembers vividly the sound of his grandfather, Antonin Sedlak, playing the violin […]
Nick Brownell was born in Kansas but raised in Sandusky, Ohio. He always loved to sing and had teachers that encouraged him. He has five brothers. When Nick was sixteen, a younger brother got a guitar. They learned to play together. Barry Ross, who was a little older, took Nick to house parties, and […]
Terry Wetmore “…There is something special inside the people you meet in Key West.” Terry Wetmore was born in Schenectady, New York. When he was growing up, the local school district emphasized the arts instead of sports. The school would win state awards for vocals, wind ensembles, and string ensembles. As part of his free […]
Gospel Brunch “Come Sunday” Most agree that gospel music is the roots of blues and jazz. Key West’s Bahama Village has deep gospel roots. In fact, historically Bahama Village is the center of Keys music in general. The music of Bahama Village revolved around gospel, blues, and jazz. There is a venerable mural, […]
Mike Emerson – if you throw a rock in Key West you’ll probably hit a guitar player Mike Emerson was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. He began playing guitar, which his brother Glenn bought him, at age 12. He attended high school in Northern Kentucky and would perform with bands in local country bars […]
