TODAY IS THE 89th BIRTHDAY – of Willie Nelson. February 17, 2020 Willie Nelson packed the new Key West Coffee Butler Amphitheater with 4000 loving fans. It was the largest crowd ever for a Key West concert. It was a privilege to hear this legendary performer live. The seven time Grammy award Winner has scored […]
Robin Kaplan – Making Miss Ellen proud Robin grew up in Woodridge, New York, a ‘huge music town’. It was small community upstate but still closely connected to all New York big bands and stars. She studied piano, guitar, flute and trombone in school, graduating from Fallsburg Central High School in 1972. Woodstock […]
EARTH DAY JAM Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson saw the ravages of the 1969 Santa Barbara, California oil spill, the Cuyahoga River caught on fire from pollutants in downtown Cleveland, and LA smog was so bad you couldn’t see the famous Hollywood sign some days, he initiated the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970, (52 […]
Luannen – I have a million business cards Luannen was born in Cuba in 1979. Her mother, Luisa Ajuria, worked for Radiocentro CMQ in Havana, as an audio operator running live audio programing. It was a huge ten story complex that included a 1600 seat auditorium for productions. She would bring Luannen to work with […]
John LaMere “Playing songs people forgot they remember” by Ralph De Palma John LaMere grew up in Glen Cove, a city on Long Island, just outside the Big Apple. His great-grandfather, Stanley Melinson, sang tenor on Broadway with Al Jolson in the 1920s. He has a 1927 recording of his grandfather. At age […]
Bill Blue & Caffeine Carl Wagoner – A sight and sound to behold by Ralph De Palma Bill Blue and “Caffeine” Carl Wagoner have been friends and playing music together for over three decades. It started at one of the first Hemingway Days Festivals in 1984 when high school student Carl Wagoner’s first band, Bad […]
Belle Jampol – Original music comes from the heart Belle Jampol was born in Key West to multi-talented musical parents, guitarist Mateo Jampol and singer/dancer/choreographer Penny Leto, so she was off to a great start. When asked how early she started learning music, Belle said it was before she was born. Her mom was one […]
Hiram Garzaro Understand the importance of live music By Ralph De Palma Born in Valencia, Venezuela, Hiram Garzaro had a hearing problem, at a very young age, that reduced his ability to hear by almost 80%. The condition was corrected by an operation when he was twelve. After waking up from the operation, Hiram could […]
Rick Fusco – You Don’t Choose Key West by Ralph De Palma Rick is from Wilmington, Delaware and comes from a large Italian family, full of musicians and vocalists. He is the sixth out of seven children. His grandfather, Antonio Fusco, came from Italy through Ellis Island. Rick remembers carrying an older brother’s ukulele around […]
Claire Finley: Key West Is A Big Music Sandbox By Ralph De Palma Originally from Devenport, Iowa started classical piano lessons at the age of four. A piano teacher, Barb Davis, lived across the street from her Grandmothers who agreed to give a test lesson to young Claire. Claire continued to study piano from Ms. […]
