Ronnie Lovely
Ronnie Carruthers – aka Ronnie Lovely
Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Ronnie Carruthers had six brothers. He studied musical theater and costume and set design at the Memphis College of Art graduating in 1990. He studied painting while in school and continues to produce and show his artwork. He first started singing professionally with a group called Rhythm Base II in London, England in the early 1990s.
Ronnie moved to the northwest coast, living in Washington state for several years. He sang with a group called Bordertown, working in a club called Numbers in Vancouver, Washington. It was a very cold damp climate and Ronnie needed a change.
In 1992, Ronnie moved to Key West during “a kind of a working vacation”. He loved the music scene and the theater options. He worked all over town starting at the Copa, then La Te Da and others, including the Crystal Room, Bourbon Street Pub, Diva’s. The live music scene has changed quite a bit. A trend toward solo performers has become dominant.
Ronnie performed a solo at the Copa for Aids Help and it was the first time he got to perform his show in Key West. The Copa was located were the current Wyland Gallery is today. It was a large theater that held some great performances until a fire consumed it.
In 1993, Ronnie helped produce the show “The Mission for Perfection” at the Tennessee Williams Theatre. He also produced The Flamingo Follies at Club Chameleon (now Key West Theater) that had great costumes, lighting, and very funny dialogue.
One of his most successful gigs was performing in a trio called Threesome along with Tasha and Tiger that was very successful for more than a decade. While together, they had a prolific song list with each performing their individual specialties. Tasha performed a lot of standards with some disco mixed in, while Tiger was really good at Soul standards, and Ronnie combined the classic jazz and R&B standards. 
They performed at La Te Da, Chicago’s, and other dinner venues. The Threesome was also booked for performances in Las Vegas at the Fred Astaire Ballroom in the Bellagio and later in London and a private party in Italy.
Tasha’s young children River and Tiger grew up and both became very good performers, and everyone in the trio seemed to just move on. The Threesome never returned and sadly did not have any recorded music. Ronnie has since worked on some recordings but has not released any music. He’s currently performing several solo shows at La Te Da as well as a duo with Greg James.
According to Ronnie jazz seems to be making a comeback in the Key West music scene and Ronnie is enjoying performing jazz with Skipper Kripitz and Larry Smith. He is hoping to participate with Skipper at the Gardens Hotel during the season and continue with the Monday Jazz Jams with Larry Smith at the William Weech American Legion Post 168 / Key West Cultural Center when they return in November. He has begun working with young students and is encouraged by their interest in older jazz standards.
Ronnie currently displays his art at The Gallery on Green. He is also currently working on a play about a tourist in Key West during the week of Fantasy Fest, titled “Post Cards From Key West”. It’s a comedy mixed with 70s music and fun.
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