The Soul of Key West
Key West Music Scene
Continuing a journey that started in 2011 at the Key West Musicians Festival. The next installment of "The Soul of Key West, Volume II" will try to further define the dynamic Key West music scene. The goal of Volume II was to help explain the Key West music phenomena, provide some scale and scope to the understanding. It contains interviews with 65 musicians over 160 photos of their performances. A survey of most of the 54 venues for live music indicates over 16,000 performances are scheduled annually with over 300 gigs a week in a compact city the size of a small mid-western village. Attendance at the 30th annual Key West Musician Festival reached 18,000 in 2015, the Keystock Music Festival has been drawing over 3,000 for the past three years. Key West is becoming a music destination for visitors from around the world. Visitors enjoy warm winter weather and the robust music scene. If Nashville is considered Music City then Key West is Music Island.
The Soul of Key West Vol. I & Vol. II are available in most gift shops, The Island Book Store, and online at:
https://soul-of-keywest.com/books/
Download a free 2021 Soul of Key West Calendar at: https://soul-of-keywest.com/free-stuff/
Don't miss the Key West Music Festival. Its an annual two day gathering of all of our Key West talent and music.
http://www.keywestmusiciansfestival.com/
When it comes to music we are truly blessed. There is so much variety and talent in Key West. Its not very difficult to enjoy an evening of great music any night of the week. Friday its Soundcheck at the Green Parrot. Barry Cuda and the "Bong Hits For Geezers" entertain at BO's Fish Wagon on Friday. There are Blues almost every night somewhere in Key West - Caffiene Carl and plays his smoking guitar at Virgilios and the Smoking Tuna, the King of Soul Robert Albury at the Sunset Pier Thursday through Sunday, and so on, and so on.
There are over 50 venues in Key West that offer live music. A cover charge is unheard of. For the price of a few cold drinks -- and a gratuity for the band of course - you can walk a few blocks of Duval Street and hear 4-5 great bands any night of the week.
I walked into the Green Parrot recently on a Sunday afternoon for their Jazz Jam. I knew all five musicians on stage and it occurred to me after a little math in my head that there was over 140 years of musical experience performing.
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