More Songwriters

May 8, 2008

Nadene & Robert Earl

More Songwriters

Kathy & Alissa Moreno

Dillon Dixon

The Songwriters festival is so massive; it could not be covered in a single blog entry. In fact, it is such a wonderful event, that no blog could possibly do it justice. You really need to experience it to have a full appreciation. And experience it we did, after rushing home from seeing Bruce ( if you call getting jammed in 2 hours of traffic on the 18 mile stretch rushing), we were right back at it Saturday afternoon.

John Oates

We caught shows at the Tropic Cinema and at Blue Heaven before hitting the road, catching such writers as Melissa Pierce, Dillon Dixon, John Scott Sherrill, Wendell Mobley, Courtney Dashe, Robert Earl Keen, Chuck Cannon, Kylie Sackley , Dave Berg, Lee Brice & Jen Schott. It’s tough to pick favorites but Chris Tompkins performing the Grammy winning hit song he wrote for Carrie Underwood, “Before He Cheats” was great fun.

Robert Earl

Courtney Dashe

Once back in town, we went over to the Casa Marina beach stage where we saw the likes of Scotty Emerick, John Oates, Kelly Archer, Ross Copperman, Sam & Annie Tate, John Scott Sherrill & Steve Bogard before heading down to the main stage at the Hog’s Breath to see the headlining show with Robert Earl Keen & the Jeffrey Steele Band. As if that wasn’t enough, we also hit the late night (midnight to 4 AM) show at the Bottlecap.

Dennis & Alli

It is amazing to hear songs you hear every day on the radio performed by the people who wrote them, it’s even better to hear the stories about how the writers come up with them. It’s also great to see performances by people who are obviously having a great time themselves. For the writers, the festival is a wonderful working vacation and it gives them a chance to mingle, meet and collaborate with other writers in the beautiful setting that is Key West. It’s no accident that many Country songs of late have a tropical flavor to them, as the Key West attitude meshes nicely with Country music.

Blue Heaven



The festival wrapped up on Sunday officially, though there were a few post fest gigs. We volunteered at the final show at the Sunset deck at the Westin which featured D. Vincent Williams, Chas Sandford, Alissa Moreno and Chuck Cannon. It was a beautiful evening and a perfect sunset to enjoy the final show.
The festival performances are so relaxed and the writers themselves are as nice and thankful of the fans that come out to see them that it makes for an almost perfect mix.

D. Vincent Wiliams, Chas Sandford & Alissa Moreno

Bruce Springsteen & The Key West Songwriters' Festival

May 8, 2008

Bruce Springsteen & the E-Street Band



Key West Songwriters' Festival

Kathy, Nadene & Trevor

The 13th annual Hog’s Breath Key West Songwriters Festival, one of our most favorite Key West events was held this past weekend and Kathy & I took in as many of the myriad of shows as we could, with a brief interruption to head up to Ft. Lauderdale to see Bruce Springsteen.



The festival is organized by our good friend Nadene and this year it featured 128 Songwriters who performed 40 shows at 25 venues ranging from tiny intimate bars, to the main stage in the parking lot of the Hog’s Breath to sailing aboard the Catamaran Fury.

The Pier House stage

As always, Kathy & I tried to catch as many shows as possible, starting with the kick-off party featuring James Slater atop the LaConcha Hotel then on to the beach at the Pier House and later at the Conch Farm, and that was just the first night.
Most of the writers are from Nashville and many of the familiar hits we heard during the week were recorded by Country Music superstars. Somehow, hearing them performed acoustically as they were written and with the back story included makes you realize just how great many of these songs. I certainly prefer them stripped down without all the layers of production that you hear in the radio versions.

Robert Earl Keen Jr.

Casa Marina

The performers this year were top notch, highlighted by the inclusion of Texas legend Robert Earl Keen Jr., but also including the likes of former Mavericks frontman Raul Malo, John Oates half of the uber-successful Hall & Oates, Jeffrey Steele, Scotty Emerick and dozens of others.

Robert Earl, Kylie Sackley & Kim Richey

Scotty Emerick

In the middle of the festival, we had to drive to Lauderdale for the night to see the rescheduled Bruce Springsteen concert. The show had to be rescheduled due to the passing of E-Street band member Danny Federici. It was an inspired performance, after a beautiful video tribute to Danny, Bruce and the band launched into “The Promised Land” and didn’t let up for three hours. It was an incredible show with a great set list and the band in top form. The man truly is amazing and the last 5 songs or so, which included, “Thunder Road”, “Born to Run”, “Rosalita”, and “10th Avenue Freeze-out” were as good a stretch of a live show as I can recall seeing.

Bruce


Key West Songwriters' Festival

Conch Republic Bed Races

May 1, 2008

Lazy Dogs



Conch Republic Bed Races

Shanna Key

Living in Key West for 17 years, you might think that between Kathy & me we would have seen most everything. It’s pretty close to true, but every now and again, we take a look at an event or activity which has somehow eluded us. The Conch Republic Bed Races is one of those events. We’ve done most of the assorted other Conch Republic Independence celebration events, including the Sea Battle, the Parade and Conch Cruiser car show, but this year was our first experiences with the bed races.





We headed downtown early to take a look around the street fair and have lunch at the Lazy Gecko. Thankfully the Gecko was convenient to the parade, because the food and (especially) the service were so horrific that it deserves mention. I try not to post negative things about places we go, especially popular local establishments, but we had a truly horrible experience at the Lazy Gecko that it deserves special mention. I could almost expect the food to be not so great, but the surly bartender that served us was rude and that’s when we could actually get her attention. We won’t be returning.





Thankfully, the bed races more than made up for the poor lunch experience. We walked down to the pits at the Hogs Breath and took a look at all the competitors, including many of our friends such as the Shanna Key & Lazy Dog entries, before finding a spot among the huge crowd lining Duval Street to watch the races.
I have no idea who won, nor do I much care. It was a spectacle of the kind you can only find in Key West with drag queens, pirates, tattoo covered contestants and scantily clad women all pushing homemade beds at breakneck speeds to the cheers of the assembled throngs. The summer-like heat was the only negative, but we managed to find a shady spot and enjoy the day.

Team Lazy Dogs








Conch Republic