In KW musicians can be their true selves
Zack Lovering – “Here, musicians can be their true selves”
Zachary David Lovering was born and raised in Bainbridge, a small town in southwest Georgia. He sang in church choirs and musical plays in school. He studied the guitar for a few weeks but vocals were always his main interest. At age 19, he left Bainbridge for the metropolis of Atlanta to attend a sound engineering program at Sound Audio Engineering (SAE).
Zack graduated with a certificate in sound engineering and worked sound on movie sets for the next eight years but he was not satisfied with the big city life. He googled “best beaches” and saw a number of locations in Florida but was intrigued by the hit on tiny Islamorada in the Florida Keys. When he drove to the Keys, he bypassed Islamorada and landed in Big Pine. He got various jobs bartending at Boondocks, Kiki’s, and Geiger Key. In the summers, he would bartend at The Wellwood, a restaurant located in Historic Charlestown, Maryland. He bartended next to the stage and heard several of the solo performers doing their thing, always thinking that he could do that.
One of the solo artists, Samantha Cedar, was selling her compact Fender combo amplifier/PA with speakers. He bought the system for $300 and began practicing at home with an inexpensive acoustic guitar. He combined that with a single channel looper which he thought would help him not have to learn as much guitar music. He also acquired an inexpensive microphone. He googled “most popular songs requested” and began learning music to play on stage. After a few weeks of practicing, he asked the Wellwood manager if he could try Wednesday’s which was open with no music scheduled.
After getting over the initial stage fright, Zac performed his first gig with about two hours of music that he had learned. He repeated a few songs to get through the gig. He saw the surprise on some of the audience’s faces when they stopped doing whatever they were doing and listened to him sing. That was huge for Zach. He did about a dozen Wednesday nights for free. He told his friend Dan Tesch back at Geiger Key that he was performing on stage in Maryland. When he returned to work at Geiger Key, he found that the Open Mic Night performer had quit and Dan had already volunteered Zach to take over.
Zach was nervous taking over his first paying gig. The first few nights, it was a group of random locals or residents, of the connected RV Park, that would get on stage and perform with Zack. They included a harmonica player, one percussionist, and several vocalists. He got paid decently. It was much better than waiting tables and he got to drink beer during a three-hour set.
It helped knowing all the bartenders in the area. They would recommend him to the managers of the different music venues. When the Square Grouper hired him, he felt he was getting to be an accomplished entertainer. Zach’s guitar skills have gotten better – he’s no longer “four chords and the truth”. However, he still feels intimidated performing with other musicians. His main instrument is his voice and he has kept refining his live show. He is more selective with songs that he covers. Zach feels when he performs a song that really means something to him, the audience connects with that feeling.
Zack struggles accepting compliments but really appreciated the recognition as Best Solo Artist at last week’s Key West Music Awards. He is writing songs and is including some of his original songs at his gigs.
He has a fan base that enjoys his performances. One of his biggest fans is Brian Gjelsvik, his son’s godfather. They met when Zack was performing at the Green Room. Gjelsvik runs several golf tournaments as well as other events and invited him to perform at them. Mercedes Reger, Zack’s wife, is his biggest fan. In 2018, when Zack was playing at Kiki’s and at Sugarloaf, she would bring friends to hear him play. They now have a much deeper connection, obviously with their son, but Mercedes is still Zack’s biggest music fan.
Key West supports musicians amazingly – that’s why so many have made this home. Zach mentioned how Turner Harrison has been successful internationally but feels very comfortable performing at Willie T’s because that’s where he feels love on a daily basis. His best friend Nick Brownell moved to Key West from the dog-eat-dog world of Nashville for a similar reason. Key West is like the small Georgia town Zack grew up in, with a million visitors every year.
Most of our musicians did not come to Key West to become famous. For the most part, they have come to explore themselves and their music. Tourists can be seen moving from show to show every night, trying different artists and different music. Zack feels musicians can be their true selves, living in their own skins, in Key West.
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