CD Reviews: John Friday and Yankee Jack

John Friday, Coastal Cowboy

John Friday is a self–described "Tropical Balladeer and Displaced Pirate" who originally hails from Maryland. The singer/songwriter's eclectic background includes a stint as a crabber on the Chesapeake Bay, as well as assorted attempts at college, studying subjects from biology to business. After an injury ended his thirteen year Army career, Friday settled in the Naples area of Florida and started writing songs and performing in the local bars. In 2009, he released his first full length cd, "Coastal Dreamin'", which included the rollicking ditties “Ain’t Missing a Thing” and “Rita’s Going Wild”.

That’s the intro to an interview I did with John, aka “The Teddy Bear of Trop Rock”, a couple years back. Since then, I have had a number of chances to hear John play live – including a memorable House Concert in Atlanta where he played…and played…and played…for over four hours, mixing in his impressive collection of originals with some creative cover songs. That event, hosted by a group I co-founded called the Atlanta Trop Rock Alliance, was also the first place I heard some of the tunes that would wind up on his latest cd, “Coastal Cowboy” – also a collection of mostly originals with a couple of carefully chosen covers..

The cd kicks off with the rocking party starter, “Beachfront” where John describes a typical Parrot Head pot luck: “You bring the tequila, I’ll bring the salt and limes”.  The next track, “Home”, brims with optimism and positive vibes – over a shuffling guitar track and 60’s Soul organ fills. It’s hard to hold a frowny face when you have a church choir singing, “So happy” over and over! As someone who can’t wait to ditch the city life for a Salty Piece of Land, the whistful “Coastal Dreamin’”, track three on the cd, has become the soundtrack to my life – as well as a source of inspiration. Like the song says, “…these coastal dreams are all I need to get me through the day”.

Other stand out cuts include the title track, which jumbles together images of Cowboys and Sailboats (sort of a Trop Rock version of Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead Or Alive”) and “Kisses With My Coffee”, a sweet and sentimental love song with a super catchy chorus. Friday’s twisted sense of humor takes a front seat in the half kids’ ditty/half barroom sing along, “Nils The Rasta Viking”. “He took his shield and made a steel drum out of it…he’s Nils the Rasta Viking, drinking rum and aquavit”. I mentioned covers earlier – Michael Franti & Spearhead’s 2009 Summer hit, “Say Hey (I Love You)” gets the Teddy Bear treatment, and John pays tribute to one of his musical inspirations, Dan Fogelberg, with a beautiful ballad titled “When You’re Not Near Me”, a cut from Fogelberg’s 2003 cd, “Full Circle”.

http://johnfriday.com/index.html

Yankee Jack, Key West Conch-troversial

Sitting up close to hear Yankee Jack in a bar  is like being in the front row at a Gallagher show – eventually, you’re gonna get hit with something. Only, in Jack’s case, it’s not sledgehammered fruit – it’s humor, mostly of the “not politically correct” variety. Tourists, foreigners, gays, fat people, skinny people, women with large breasts – breasts in general. They all get lovingly attended to (or skewered) at a Yankee Jack show. Typical Jack Joke (paraphrased): “They’re outlawing mini skirts on Duval Street. The problem is the testicles hanging below the hemline”. Bad-dum-bum. If you’ve been to Key West, chances are you’ve heard Yankee Jack. He holds court most weekdays at the Bull and Whistle on Duval  and – given the open air layout of the first-floor Bull – the laughter and music is usually heard spilling out into the street.

Key West Conch-troversial, Jack’s latest cd of original material, is a conglomeration of “straight” material with plenty of his over the top musical comedy. The opening track, a tribute to his adopted home town (originally from new England, Jack moved to Key West in 1989) “Cayo Hueso”, mixes the two. One minute he’s singing about sleeping on the beach under the stars, the next he’s admiring a woman with “a great caboose”. “Same Sex Sunday” is not about spending part of the weekend hanging out with your own gender, like the title might imply. Instead, it’s an ode to stuck in a rut marriages (“What we used to do like stars of porn is scheduled now for Sunday morn”). “Jesus Was a Democrat” will probably tweak those on the Right but, then again, Conservative has never been a word associated with Key West. “The Last Mudslide” is a musical shout out to Jack’s main employer that floats a familiar theme  – a Key West visitor that isn’t quite ready to head back home (“I’m strapped in a plane and I wish I were back – drinking Mudslides on the bar at the Bull”).

More of the larger than life Yankee Jack’s humor appears on “If It Flirts, Floats Or Flies, Rent It” (“A woman gives you nookie, but she might wind up to look like Snookie”) and the title track, another tribute to his adopted island home, “Very Conch-troversial” (“The Southernmost point is my new home, I come from a land they call bitch and moan, and half this island’s getting stoned”). But, just when you think you’ve got Jack figured out as a jokester and humorist, he slides comfortably into a soft piano ballad like “The Sea”, or a catchy Trop rock toast to a seaside town, like “Casco Bay”.  

For a taste of Jack’s live show, check out his cd, “The Best Of Yankee Jack Live in Key West”. Just don’t sit too close to the speakers.  http://yankeejack.com/

Meeting of the Minds: Like a Kid In A Candy Store

I mentioned in a previous post that I had promised to be diligent about blogging while here in Key West for the annual Parrot Head/Trop Rock convention called Meeting Of The Minds. The problem has been that blogging takes time. And, if you want to catch even half the artists performing on the island during the convention, while simultaneously trying to see some of the sights of Key West - like the sunset celebration on Mallory Square - maybe squeeze in a little shopping, time is in short supply....Oh, and there is that minor human requirement: food. Hear some music, tour the Hemingway House, grab a quick meal or two and next thing you know four or five days have flown by. Having been in Key West a number of times before, and as someone who can easily afford to skip a meal or two, our main focus this week was on the music. We tried to catch as much of it as we could, in as many places as we could. Here are some of the highlights:

Thursday.....


John Friday, Rum Barrel; Trop Rockers are a pretty magnanimous and supportive bunch and are usually happy to invite other performers up to do their own material. We saw it over and over again all week long. This late afternoon show on the upper deck of the Front Street bar was a revolving stage of songwriters and guitar pickers, hosted and otherwise held together by John Friday and enjoyed by a number of smiling Parrot Heads from around the country.

In between acts, I sampled a flight of top shelf Rums and, for my efforts, was awarded a "Baccalaureate of Cocktailology" from Boat Drink University.

Tropical Soul, Hog's Breath: An always entertaining band from central PA fronted by Dennis McCaughey, it also featured one of the ladies up for "Female Vocalist of the Year" at the Trop Rock Awards, Heather - whose last name I never caught. I actually didn't even get her first name right, either, because I called her "Sue" when I introduced myself after their set, thinking she was Dennis' wife, who had sent me a number of their songs for an internet radio show I'm working on. Heather was gracious, however, and - instead of correcting or reprimanding me, she handed me two of her own cd's. She is also incredibly talented, rocking a flawless version of Adele's "Rolling In The Deep".

Jimmy Parrish, Willie T's: It's always great to see Jimmy and this Jacksonville, FL based Ocean Waves Band. The house was packed, the band sounded great, much tequila was consumed - a typical Jimmy Parrish show.

Jim Morris and The Big Bamboo Band, Smokin' Tuna Saloon: This was our first chance to check out Scott Kirby's new place (see previous interview with Scott about the Tuna on this blog) and to hear Jim Morris do a full set with his band. I never heard why, but the show began with what surely must have been the longest sound check in history- "check one" became "check a hundred and one"- but, this was a party for Jim's fan club, so the place was full of folks I have a feeling would have sat through a hurricane to hear him play. And he didn't disappoint, despite the late start, runing through a long list of his original songs, plus some great covers, like Jerry Jeff Walker's "Navajo Rug".

Interesting side lights included two girls in the front row who were either auditioning for - or had just been fired from their job as - background singers. They had carefully choreographed, synchronized dance moves to EVERY SONG Morris did. There was also a visit from the Beer Fairy. Not making that last one up.

Jimmy & The Parrots, Schooner Wharf: Our last stop of the night, this one was memorable for being the biggest and most entertaining train wreck we saw all week. I had heard soem great things about Jimmy and his band and was anxious to see them rock the Wharf's outdoor stage. By the time we got there, however, the band had obviously consumed much of the bar's supply of adult beverages because it had deteriorated into a drunken mess, with people climbing on and off the stage, songs started but not finished, and songs started that shouldn't have been in the first place. The band was having a blast, though, and so were their friends up front, so chalk it up to the late hour...and blame it on the Rum. Jimmy and The Parrots more than made up for it a few nights later, opening for the Coral Reefer band at the Casa Marina Beach party.

Trop Rockin: Steven Youngblood gets Trop Rock on the air in PCB, John Friday escapes, Homemade Wine wins awards, & Robert Daniels sells some cereal.

Late 2009/early 2010 was a tumultuous time for Panama City, Florida singer/songwriter Steven Youngblood.  “Born with one foot in the water”, as he says in the title track to his “Guitars & Fishing Poles” cd, Youngblood was raised around sail boats and fishing. He picked up his first guitar at the age of eight and never looked back.  With the sand and sea of his coastal home as a back drop and musical inspiration from the likes of Jimmy Buffett and Eric Stone, Steven eventually found himself writing about subjects that were naturally near and dear to his heart - from laid back tracks like “Island Time” and “Cross On The Reef” to more upbeat tunes like “Picture Perfect Sunset” and the tongue-in-cheek “Hope My Ship Comes In”, all found on his debut disc. As he was wrapping up and getting ready to release that album in late 2009, doctors discovered a problem that would require some surgery. "I thought my voice was just getting kind of raspy from all the bar gigs I was playing." he says, "Turned out I had a lump in my throat that was pushing on my vocal cords!" The hospital stay took him off the road and it was several months before he could perform a full show again. At almost the same time, Youngblood, a radio engineer by trade, approached a floundering local AM station about the idea of putting Trop Rock on the air there. The owner agreed and Trop Rock 1290 was born (http://www.troprock1290.com/troprock%20home.html). Jimmy Buffett is a staple of the station, but most of the playlist is made up of Independent Trop Rock artists from across the country, mixed in with a variety of Island music and even North Carolina Shag tunes. The perfect accompaniment to a day at the Panama City Beaches. He continues to add new songs to the station all the time and plans to have an FM signal this Summer.  On the recording front, Steven has a new single he's working on called "Tan Lines", written by his good friend, Charlie Black, a Nashville songwriter with dozens of Number Ones to his credit. He hopes to follow that with another full cd some time next year. In the meanwhile, you can catch Steven (often with his wife Sandra on Steel Drums) playing watering holes all along the Redneck Riviera, from Joey's Oyster Bar, and Margaritaville in PCB to Fuddpuckers in Destin.  He's also a regular fixture at events for both the Panama City and Emerald City Parrot Head Clubs. www.stevenyoungblood.com or more info and upcoming dates (artists can also submit songs for Trop Rock 1290 there)

John Friday is a self–described "Tropical Balladeer and Displaced Pirate" who originally hails from Maryland.  The singer/songwriter's eclectic background includes a stint as a crabber on the Chesapeake Bay, as well as assorted attempts at college, studying subjects from biology to business.  After an injury ended his thirteen year Army career, Friday settled in the Naples area of Florida and started writing songs and performing in the local bars.  In 2009, he released his first full length cd, "Coastal Dreamin'", which included the rollicking ditties “Ain’t Missing a Thing” and “Rita’s Going Wild”, as well as a cover of the Little Feat classic, “Willin’”… "The last two to three years have been kind of a blur", says Friday - referring to all the increased activity in his busy schedule. In 2010, he was part of the talent line up for the "Puerto Los Somewhere" cruise to Cozumel - one of the first of what is now a plethora of Trop Rock cruises, and played a number of Parrot Head friendly festivals - including the Six String Music Songwriters Invitational in New Orleans (http://sixstringmusicnola.com/) and the patriotic Red, White & Tunes Festival in Southwest Florida (http://redwhiteandtunes.com/). He also made a trip to Hawaii to play for the Pau Hana Parrot Head Club and finished fourth (out of over 400) in the Landshark Lager Battle of the Bands in Nashville. Friday finished the year by releasing another full length cd, "Tropicalized".  In addition to the title track, which can be heard on Trop Rock music outlets like BeachFront Radio, the disc includes "Tennessee Whiskey/Jamaican Rum", co-written by well known Parrot Head songwriter, William Melton . He plans to expand his activities even further in 2011 with more House Concerts and festival gigs, both solo and with his band The Caribbean Connection. Asked where he thinks Trop Rock is going, John says "I want to honor the roots, which is Jimmy Buffett, but there's also more to it", adding, "I write about escapism - whether it's about escaping the snow or a bad relationship". He'll be heading up to New Jersey for the third annual Spring Fling (http://www.springphling.com/) in May, with stops along the way - including a House Concert for the Atlanta Trop Rock Alliance. http://www.johnfriday.com/

Formed around brothers Tod and Ryan Sheley, Homemade Wine began booking gigs as an acoustic act around their hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee, back in 2008.  Older brother and percussionist Tod has a serious Trop Rock pedigree, as a founding member of  St. Somewhere (www.myspace.com/stsforever), as well as having played with well known Tennessee Trop Rock acts Tall Paul (http://www.tallpaul.com/) and Jake & The Half Conched Band (http://www.lifeonthegulf.com/ ).  Three years later, they are an award winning band with six members, a cd, and a touring van they spend ALOT of time in. "It's been a blast! We just got back from 27 days on the road", said the younger Sheley sibling at the time of this writing. "Mostly around North Florida and the Georgia/SC coast. We played for about 12,000 people at the Taste of Charleston and headlined St. Patty's in Savannah. But we also did some great gigs in places like Greensboro NC and Columbia, SC." The cd in question is "Music For A Salty Soul", which came out in the Summer of 2010 and includes some songs that had been floating around the Trop Rock universe in demo form (including my Ipod) for some time - the catchy country/caribbean "Take Me Down To The Tropics", New Orleans flavored "Sweet Adele", and the melancholy "Seeking Harbor". The cd also included "Her Kiss", the Number One Trop Rock Song of 2010 on BeachFront Radio's Top 40 (the cd also won "Album of the Year", Ryan won "Best New Male Trocker", and the group took home "Top New Trop Rock Band"). After a stop at the New Jersey Spring Phling the end of this month, Homemade Wine will head to Washington, DC to begin recording their second cd, which they hope to have finished by the end of Summer "I want to be done and home in time for football season!" says Sheley. http://www.homemadewinemusic.com/

Last but not least, what do commercial jingles, TV voiceovers, and Trop Rock have in common? Robert Daniels! Daniels is a professional songwriter (member of the Nashville Songwriters Association), and voice-over talent who splits his time between New York City and the sleepy southern coastal town of Murrells Inlet, SC.  When he’s not pimping breakfast cereal or taking you to the next commercial break, he and his acoustic guitar can be found performing Country, Blues, and Rock covers in cafes and nightclubs around the Big Apple. Two of his original compositions, "You Don't Have To Be In Mexico" and "Gotta Love a Girl Like That", have received airplay on numerous Trop Rock radio stations.   www.myspace.com/robertdanielsmusic