What If …. By Ralph De Palma A while back, former Key West pianist Dave Burns and I were discussing Key West legendary performer Coffee Butler. Both Dave and I lived in Miami during the 60s and 70s when Miami Beach would see major artists, like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Tony Bennett, Guy Lombardo, and […]
Gabriel Wright – Live on the Rock A native of Lima, Ohio, Gabriel Wright became interested in music at an early age. It seemed he was always studying or performing music. He especially loved the guitar. In 2004, Wright graduated from Berklee School of Music in Boston with a major in songwriting. After […]
Claire Caplan – You have to believe. Claire, an only child, was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. Her mother, Leslie Caplan, a professional singer and classically trained, performs with the St. Louis Symphony Chorus and has performed at Carnegie Hall several times. She always encouraged Claire to sing. She sang in a local […]
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. […]
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 […]
Jose Wejebe – full tilt boogie Jose Wejebe, born January 18th, 1959 in Cuba, immigrated with his family to Miami in 1961. He grew up loving the waters of Biscayne Bay, and learned to fish at a very young age. In the 60s and 70s, Miami was very difficult for the fast migration of 600,000 […]
Terry Cassidy – with a banjo on my knee Terry Cassidy, born and raised in the Cleveland area, comes from a family of musicians, learning the guitar very early and later, the banjo at age 17. His first gig was a duo with his Uncle Gordy – they “tickled the strings” together. In November 1979, […]
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 […]
Richmond, Virginia Remembers Bill Blue Ten days ago, I traveled to Richmond to attend the celebration of Bill Blue’s life. Bill left Richmond in 1982 and lived most of the rest of his life in Key West. He is a Key West legend that is revered by all. This trip to his hometown opened up […]
Green Parrot/NOLA connection – spread the gospel For years, John Vagnoni, managing partner of the Green Parrot, looked for bands traveling in this direction from all over the Southeast and would book touring bands to perform at the Green Parrot. Key West was always an easy sell. New Orleans (NOLA) musicians have always been a […]
