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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Alex Okinczyc “Island Alex” Alex Okinczyc grew up in Detroit, MI and, of course, was influenced by the Motown sound but at a young age, a friend turned him onto jazz … and he was hooked. In particular, he loved jazz horns like Lee Morgan and Freddie Hubbard. Oddly enough, while growing up near the […]
Ben Harrison – tells a good story Ben Harrison started taking music lessons at 14 years old from Chester Rupe who is now in the Texas Music Hall of Fame, in Corpus Christie, Texas. He wanted to be the new Elvis from the get go. Ben has a 1957 Gibson acoustic guitar, bought new, all […]
A Music Masterpiece family The Key West Lopez family have musical roots that trace back four generations and even further to their Bahamian music roots. Clayton Lopez is older brother to Calvin, and sister Wilhelmina (“Mina”), all gifted vocalists. Another brother Carlton is deceased. Clayton seemed to always have some kind of stringed instrument […]
