Melvin Newton, aka Toko Irie and his music family In the Spring of 1970 Melvin Newton was born on a small island near Grenada named Carriacou in the beautiful Eastern Caribbean. Life could be difficult in this beautiful paradise and you were often forced to improvise. They would sometimes make their own musical instruments. Most […]
Sandra Lee – no language barrier here Sandra Lee Resch (aka Sandra Lee) is originally from Germany, by way of Switzerland. She began playing music early in school, joined the choir and loved vocals. Her mother played guitar and sang along with Sandra and her two sisters while they were growing up. Sandra’s vocal teachers […]
Jillian Todd – pure serendipity Jillian Todd was born in 1999 near Potsdam, New York, in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains, close to the Canadian border. At age 6, she began taking piano lessons from a really cool hippie lady who lived across the street. Her father, Ben, played guitar in an 80’s rock/country […]
Dave Bootle “Sing, Dance, Laugh” David Wayne Bootle, the youngest of four brothers, was born just outside of Toronto in Orangeville, Ontario in 1962. His parents were from England and immigrated to Canada. His father worked at McDonald Douglas Aircraft and was a solo pianist who played in small venues. Bootle started playing drums in […]
Shrimpboat Sound Studio “A Key West treasure” At the end of a tour in Hawaii, Jimmy Buffett announced he was planning to open a club in Key West. In 1986, Buffett brought John Lynch (JL) Jamison his favorite “roadie” to Key West to help open Margaritaville. He stayed at Buffett’s house. Buffett showed Jamison […]
Jesse Wagner – He and the Happy Dog band just stopped leaving Jesse Wagner was born and raised in Montgomery County which is located between Allentown and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He considers himself part of the “Philly Mafia” of the Key West music scene along with Gary Hempsey, Ross Brown, and several others. Around 1985, Jesse’s […]
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. […]
