Mile 0 Festival 2020

February 3, 2020

Carter

Reverend and Breezy 

Caitlin Butts and Courtney Patton

Mile 0 Festival 2020

This year marks the third year that the annual celebration of Red Dirt/ Americana music known as the Mile 0 Festival has graced our island community. We have attended every year, usually as guests of our friends who are here playing the event, but this year we decided to go all in with our support of the awesome festival and purchase VIP Gold passes for the entire week of concerts and events and not rely on being perpetual roadies/ concert crashers that we have been the past couple of years.

Kerry 

Red Dirt Rangers

Jason Isbell

Mile 0 Fest featured 87 artists playing 16 different stages for a total of 147 separate shows over the 4 1/2 days, which up from the 115 performances held in 2019. Some things were slightly different from previous years, including the big shows on the amphitheater stage starting an hour later to not compete with the club shows during the day, while more full band shows happened before and after the big amphitheater sets. Some highlights of the schedule included:



Kathy and Trevor



• Duval Street Kickoff Party: Once again the event kicked off with a big block party on the infamous Duval street in Key West that was free to the public, and featured Charley Crockett, The Steel Woods, and Shinyribs all performing.



Bri Bagwell





• 25 Year of Pearl Snaps: A Tribute to Jason Boland: Not only did Jason Boland and the Stragglers appear on the Amphitheater stage during Mile 0 Fest once again, he was paid tribute to on Friday, January 31st at the Key West Theater.: Jamie Lin Wilson, Courtney Patton, Kaitlin Butts, and others will take fans back to the biggest country hits by women during this era in country music that is currently enjoying a resurgence in interest.

Kyle

Wade Bowen








 
Elizabeth Cook’s Outlaw Pool Party: In 2020, Mile 0 Fest and the Outlaw Country Cruise intersected on Key West. Outlaw Cruise participants were offered the opportunity to pay for an upgrade which allowed them to attend Mile 0 Fest events when they were in dock on Thursday, January 30th. There was also a pool party hosted by Elizabeth Cook for attendees of both events, where Mike and the Moonpies and Bri Bagwell performed

Carter

Red Dirt Rangers





Personally there were a ton of really special moments and performances. Beginning with the chance to see our friend Carter Sampson play at the beachside stage at the Southernmost Beach Café. She had also played a very late-night show that in spite of our desire to stay up and see, Kathy and I had to opt out of, we still were working our regular schedules throughout the festival so we could not stay out all hours.







Carter

Fortunately Carter played an afternoon set along with the Red Dirt Rangers and William Clark Green that we were able to attend which was awesome. It was especially nice to be joined in watching them by my dear friend Kerry who is visiting for the festival from Colorado and my friends Breezy and Reverend (Of Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band) who spend a month here in Key West every winter taking a break from their almost constant touring schedule. Rev is also recovering from a broken thumb which he broke last month while playing on a cruise ship as part of Delbert McClinton’s music cruise.



Rene and Shelli



The other wonderful, amazing set that we saw was at the Key West Theater. Young 17 year old Ken Pomeroy played the big stage and was terrific. We have been fans and friends of hers since we first saw her at the first Mile 0 fest and she continues to amaze and mature in her singing and songwriting. She really owned the large stage at the KW Theater and I am so glad to get to see her.



Ken Pomeroy







We had not planned to stay and watch the next set at the Theater, a musical tribute to the late Kylie Rae Harris who died tragically last year in a car accident. She had been a regular at Mile 0 Fest and many of her friends wanted to gather and play a special show featuring her songs and music. We had initially planned to head off to see another friend playing, but since it was raining, we opted to stay and watch the tribute. Easily the best decision we made all week and it was the best, most poignant and powerful, sad and celebratory show we saw all week. Organized by singer/songwriters Walt and Tina Wilkins the show featured performances by Bri Bagwell,Courtney Patton, Jamie Lin Wilson, Jason Eady, Kaitlin Butts and Wade Bowen.  It was incredible, moving and wonderful and I am so, so glad we were able to see it.

Tina and Walt Wilkins







Jamie Lin Wilson