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 […]
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. […]
Ron Gregorcic – all over the map About 30 miles east of Cleveland, Ohio, in a small town called Chardon, young Ron Gregorcic was hanging with a sleepover buddy when they discovered Mötley Crüe (“Looks That Kill”) and were introduced to hard rock on the new Headbangers Ball on MTV at midnight. Until that night, […]
Memories of Margaritaville Everyone remembers that first Jimmy Buffett song. We all thought Jimmy would live forever. The music and those memories will live forever. Since 2012, I have interviewed over 155 musicians in Key West for my Soul of Key West books. I tried to present interesting facts and stories from all of them. […]
Wayne Sorbelli “A woken lion” Wayne Sorbelli grew up in an Italian family in Eastern Pennsylvania’s Poconos area. His father was a drummer in a Beatles tribute band. Early in life, Wayne was amazed people would gather and pay to listen to music and that being in a band could be a job. His grandmother […]
Changing of the Guard – a melting pot of talent During the early years of rock ‘n’ roll, music artists became overnight sensations and made money beyond their wildest dreams. Today, that doesn’t seem to be happen as often. Thankfully, one area of the music business that is alive and well is live music. Live […]
