No Direction Home: The Queen of Oklahoma

February 4, 2019

Carter Sampson

The Queen of Oklahoma

How cool is it to be known as the Queen of an entire state? I only need ask our friend, the talented musician Carter Sampson who was in town along with a plethora of her friends and fellow singer songwriters from the state of Oklahoma for the second annual Mile 0 Festival held this past week here in Key West. The idea of hosting a music festival in January in Key West seems like a no-brainer now, but organizers were not only the first to consider it, they also were able to pull it off with what appeared from the outside with relative ease.

The doomed Fyre Festival in the Bahamas, this was not. Every detail seemed to be planned and organized and executed with precision and with the help of a ton of volunteers, sponsors, vendors and the Key West business community, Mile 0 was a total success. They even managed to negotiate last minute cancelations by a couple of bands and responded like champs to make sure everyone who was here had an amazing time.

Zac Copeland

Jason Scott

That included all the bands and musicians, the attendees and all those involved on just about every level. I sure hope that it was a success on their end and that will continue to return year after year with this fantastic musical event. We also hope that they continue to invite the many amazing Oklahoma singers and songwriters who play out at various venues as well as on the main stage.

Erik

Spending time with our friends Carter, Erik Oftedahl and Jason Scott and being around their friends, the fellow musicians and fans who traveled from their Oklahoma home, makes one really appreciate the tight knit and friendly music scene that must be there. Everyone is so damn nice, and talented and fun and just so happy to be in Key West rather than Oklahoma City or Tulsa in early February.

One of the cooler gigs that our friends played was what was dubbed a “Pirate Cruise” on the Fury Catamaran during the course of an afternoon. I am not sure how “Piratey” it was, but it was pretty awesome, being blessed with beautiful weather, calm seas, food and drinks flowing in addition to some truly incredible music. Playing on a boat under sail was a first for each of these usually land-locked musicians, but they each handled it with a professionalism and aplomb that made it seem to the lucky passengers like they had been doing this regularly.

Erik, Carter, Zac and Jason

Zac

Perhaps the highlight of the trip was when Erik was in the middle of playing a song about protecting the seas, a small group of dolphins emerged just behind him off the bow of the vessel. It was only a brief moment as they surfaced a few times before disappearing under the boat, but it was quite magical and almost had the normally unflappable Erik stopping to burst into tears. Pretty incredible stuff.

After the sail, during a break in the afternoon, we all headed over to Ft. Zachary Taylor state park beach to just hang out and enjoy the beach and beautiful weather. When we arrived and had to find their musician friends, it wasn’t hard as only musicians might be found wearing all black to the beach. It was a great and enjoyable way for them to enjoy a break from the seemingly constant events that were happening as part of the festival. Between playing themselves and going out to see their friends play, they keep a pretty full schedule.

Carter and Erik

Jason

In the midst of the festival weekend, Kathy and I had other friends visiting as well and we found time to hang out with them as well. Our friends Dan and Deanna are former Key West residents who have lived in Annapolis for the past decade or so and they were in town for a quick vacation with two of their three kids. We spent a wonderful evening enjoying drinks and dinner with them and our friend Andy at the Southernmost Beach Club.

Andy