Meeting of the Minds 2014

         Every year on the first week of November, thousands of Parrot Heads and Trop Rock music fans "flock" to Key West, Florida for the annual Jimmy Buffett fan club convention called "Meeting Of The Minds". Four (or five, or six, or more - depending on your stamina) days of sun and fun in the bars and watering holes around Key West. Like many of our friends, Georgia and I like to take the long way down - flying in to Ft. Lauderdale, renting a car and driving down US 1 until we get to the end of the road. Along the way, we all have our favorite stops for fish sandwiches, conch fritters, and a variety of frozen drinks and cold beer. Here is a random picture diary of this year's trip. If you were there, we hope you reminisce along with us. if you weren't - or have never been - maybe this will coerce you into planning a trip in 2015...

 Alabama Jacks, Key Largo

 BO's Fish Wagon, Key West

 John Frinzi, Smokin' Tuna Saloon, Key West

 Sunset at Ft. Zachary Taylor State Park, Key West

 Geiger Key Marina, Key West

 Sunset in Key Largo

 Ft. Zachary Taylor, Key West

 Gilbert's Resort, Key Largo

 Jim Morris at Hog's Breath Saloon street party, Key West

 Kelly McGuire and Mark Mulligan, Key West Lighthouse

 Duval Street, Key West

 Lor-e-lei, Islamorada

 Looe Key Tiki Bar, Ramrod Key

 Peter Mayer and Coral Reefers, Casa Marina, Key West

 Rob Mehl, Hog's Breath, Key West

 Rum Runners, Islamorada

 Schooner Wharf, Key West

 Sunset in Key Largo

Sunset, Mallory Square, Key West

Meeting Of The Minds: Sunday, November 6th - The Last Waltz

We had originally planned to fly back to Atlanta on Sunday, but were told by several MOTM veterans that we should stay to catch Sunny Jim's songwriters showcase at Blue Heaven. So, we made some last minute adjustments - which included having to move hotels - and stayed another day. And we were very glad we did. Getting reports that Blue Heaven was packed to the gills for brunch, we decided to wait a few hours before going and, instead, headed to the Smokin' Tuna Saloon, Scott Kirby's new place just off Duval (you can read more about it in my earlier interview with Scott here on BB&B). The place was also pretty packed but we ran into our new friends, Jimbo, Tracy, and Brett again, who were getting ready to leave and offered us their table, where we sat and watched Howard Livingston and, then, John Frinzi with special guest, Doyle Grisham.

The Tuna is one of our new favorite places in Key West, with plenty of room, a cozy feeling despite being largely outdoors, and good food - the Smokin' Tuna Dip and peel & eat  local shrimp were especially tasty. One funny note: After turning down my first couple of beer requests, saying they were out of stock, the bartender shrugged and by apologized, saying "This is our first Parrot Head convention. We just weren't ready!"

We hated having to give up our much coveted table, but we wanted to catch at least some of the acts at Sunny Jim's showcase, so we closed out and walked up Whitehead Street. By the time we got there, the brunch crowd had subsided and, although there was still a good sized audience enjoying the music, there were plenty of places from which to watch the show.

If you've never been to Blue Heaven it's REALLY an outdoor venue. Unlike Smokin' Tuna, where there are at least some covered areas where you can go when the weather doesn't cooperate, there is no such shelter at Blue Heaven. Luckily, it was a beautiful Fall afternoon so being outdoors was exactly where we wanted to be. especially given the caliber of entertainment. Another interesting feature of Blue Heaven is that the "stage" is about ten feet up in the air, surrounding an old water tower. So, to see the performers, you have to look up. The advantage is that, unless you were to maybe get behind a group of NBA centers, you never have to worry about people blocking your view.

We caught Tall Paul, Latitude, Rob Mehl and several others before heading back to the Smokin' Tuna to see Kelly McGuire and Scott Kirby. On the way, we stopped by the Green Parrot, where the Sauce Boss was rocking the house while mixing up a pot of Gumbo.

Back at the Tuna, we found the place to be even busier than before. Apparently, even though the convention was officially over, lots of folks had the same idea we did and had decided to stay another day. Georgia eagle-eyed a group with young children sitting at the very same table we left a couple hours earlier ("They can't stay long, they have kids") and this time we were able to repay the favor by inviting Brett and his buddies from the Ft. Meyers area PHC to come sit with us.

Kelly and Scott are two of my favorite Trop Rock artists, and the chance to seem them play together was a real treat. They were joined by Mike Aiken and the three took turns performing their own songs. And that was just the "appetizer" for the main event, Scott Kirby and guitarist Dave Edmisten (along with a fiddle player whose name I didn't catch). Together, they ran through some of Kirby's catalog, including one of my favorite all time Trop Rock songs, "Lucky Enough". The line "I'll raise my glass, you can kiss my old ass...I'll die with my feet in the sand" will probably wind up on alot of Parrot Head tombstones.

A full day of music, wrapping up a long but thoroughly enjoyable convention, but it wasn't over yet. The last hurrah was the "No Plane On Sunday" party featuring Jim Morris & The Big Bamboo Band at Schooner Wharf. Morris had the crowd singing along to every song, mixing his own originals with rowdy covers, like Jerry Jeff Walker's "Up Against The Wall You Redneck Mothers". Wiped out but grinning ear to ear, we called it a night - and a week. On the way back to our hotel, Georgia turned to me and said, "As soon as we get home, we're registering for next year."

Meeting Of The Minds: Saturday

Saturday, November 5th - Normally, Green World Gallery on Duval Street - owned by trop rock fan "Koz" Koslowski and his wife, Pam Campbell - sells locally produced art. During Meeting of the Minds, it also became a live music venue, hosting a number of trop rockers. We started the day by stopping in to say hi to Loren Davidson - and staying to hear the always entertaining Bob Karwin.

The next stop was one of my personal favorites of the whole week... We'd been wanting to make it by the Lighthouse Court to catch Kelly McGuire's songwriters' showcase since we arrived on island, but this was our first chance to actually get there. Next year it will be one of our first stops. Cozy surroundings and some of the top names in Trop Rock (on this afternoon Jack Mosely, Mark Mulligan, Hugo Duarte, and Mike Aiken joined Kelly) and an audience that was there to LISTEN, something we didn't find at every venue. Case in point: When Kelly performed "Daddies And Daughters" from his latest cd, King Of The Island, it was hard to find a dry eye in the place. Before leaving, I stopped to chat with an old friend, local trop rocker "Key West" Chris Rehm, who was hanging out waiting his turn to get up and perform.

With the sun scheduled to set in just a few minutes, we jumped on our bikes and pedaled quickly down to Mallory Square for one of our favorite Key West traditions, the Sunset Celebration. Watching that big yellow ball drop into the water, signalling the end of another day, never gets old.

Sun down, we headed back across the island to the Casa Marina beach side stage for the scheduled Coral Reefer Band show, arriving just in time to catch the tail end of a high energy set from Jimmy & The Parrots. The place was packed, thanks partly to rumors floating around that Jimmy might show up and play with the CRB (the original plan, apparently, had been for this to be JB's "surprise" visit, but it got changed at the last minute to Friday on Duval). On their own, the Coral Reefers put on a great show, taking turns performing material from all of their solo efforts; Club Trini, Peter, Nadirah, Mac, etc. The only disappointment was that Doyle Grisham wasn't given a chance to showcase anything from one of his albums...

Show over, on a normal Saturday night it might be time to call it a day and grab some much needed sleep. But, this was Meeting Of The Minds and there was still music to be heard. So, we cruised back to Old Town and headed to Schooner Wharf for the last of Homemade Wine's set. They had the place rocking with some Southern Rock covers. Not very "Trop" but the crowd didn't seem to care. Auxiliary entertainment was provided by the bar backs/security, who were having some fun tossing out a few unruly patrons. Having spent a few years owning and running bars, I was able to share some "been there-done that" stories with them.

I mentioned this in an earlier blog post, but there are two things you grab when you can at MOTM - sleep and food. Having run around catching one act after another most of the day, we found ourselves sitting at Schooner Wharf hungry at 1am. Thank fully, Malcolm - one of the bar backs we had been talking to - told us about an Irish bar called Finnegan's Wake that was close by and served late. We got there just in time to catch last call from the kitchen and took Malcolm up on his suggestion of the "killer" bacon wrapped Meat Loaf. Served with mashed potatoes, it was the perfect comfort food after a day spent pedaling around the island.

Kelly McGuire: on House Concerts, Trop Rock, and Fishing for Songs.

In an earlier blog I offered up the ABC's of "House Concerts" - a popular way for artists to connect with their audience in an informal and intimate setting. One of the most avid supporters of House Concerts is singer/songwriter Kelly McGuire.

Although Kelly is widely known as a Texas troubadour, his story actually begins in Missouri. A self described "shy and inhibited" guy, he grew up with a guitar playing dad who taught him his first chords. Kelly also played accordion and clarinet as a kid, but his first real taste of the spotlight came in the early 70's, when he sang The Drifters' "This Magic Moment" in the cafeteria his junior year of High School, surprising classmates who didn't know he could sing. A leading role in the Senior Spring musical (as King Arthur in Camelot), then a stint in a friend's band followed until, finally, Kelly landed a gig that would last almost fifteen years - playing solo for a pizza chain called Shot Gun Sam's, with locations in Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. It was during one of those five night a week performances that Kelly decided to make the Lone Star state his home, moving to Dallas in 1979.

While playing in Houston- this time at a rib place named Tony Roma's - Kelly drove drove through the Clear Lake Area on the Coast, known as the "Yachting Capitol of Texas". As Kelly puts it, "I drove back to Dallas, packed my bags and moved!" Already an avid sailor, he bought a live-aboard boat, landed a job as a yacht broker and sailing instructor, and moved there full time. Eventually, the grind of playing other peoples' songs 4-5 nights a week started to weight on Kelly and, in the early 90's, he put down his guitar for a year. He only decided to pick it back up after deciding he was going to write his own material - the first of which became the songs on his debut cd, Redfish Island, in 2000. Club Blonde followed in 2002, then - what many consider his signature cd, Boat In Belize (which won the Texas Music Award's Album of the Year), six years later. This year, McGuire released his fifth cd (a live album came out in 2009), King of The Island. Along the way, Kelly also spent time as a jingle writer, and has won numerous other awards, including "Indie Entertainer of the Year" from the Country Music Association of Texas.

After almost 30 years of playing - over 20 of those in bars and nightclubs - McGuire and his band now spend about half of their time playing corporate events and private parties and the rest perfoming at House Concerts around the country. I had a chance to speak to Kelly just before he travelled to Atlanta, Georgia for his first House Concert there.


Let's talk about House Concerts first, Kelly. You do alot of them. What is it you like so much about them?

"Corporate events are great - and we're happy to do them. They want cover songs, but they pay us well to do that. Bars were a great learning experience for me, and I made my living there for a LONG time. But, they're also meant for cover songs and often you're basically background noise. They're not set up, for the most part, to be a great listening environment. Once you start writing and performing your own material, you want people to hear your songs, your lyrics, and a House Concert is the best place for that. They are meant to be a place where people can come listen to an artist perform their songs, and tell you about the stories that went in to writing them. I did my first one - In Key West during Meeting of the Minds - back in 2002. I didn't even know they existed! Right now I probably do about 30 of them a year, all over the country - sometimes just me, sometimes with my band - and sometimes with other artists, guys like Mark Mulligan and Gary Seiler. "


The term 'House Concert' can be a misnomer, because they're not all held in someone's house. Tell em about some of the more interesting "House Concerts" you've played.

"Oh yeah, a House Concert can be held just about anywhere, as long as the environment is right. The biggest was one we did for about three years in Arizona. It was outside of a barn - up on a trailer that would be decorated with hay bales and things. There would be 150 people there, sitting on blankets and chairs. It was great. Another one, in San Diego, had 100 people. But, it's not about the numbers. Most House Concerts are between 30-60 people. And I enjoy that as much as playing for 3000, maybe even more. Because those 30-60 people are there to LISTEN to my songs."


What can people expect to hear from you at a House Concert?

"It really depends on the place. Each House Concert is unique and different. You can come see me at five different places and you'll never see the same show twice. I don't have a set list - haven't in fifteen years. And I keep adding new material, so there are always new songs to play. I can remember when I didn't have thirty minutes of original songs to play, let alone two hours! Plus, the audiences at each one are different, what we TALK about is different. Usually, I tell folks about the stories behind the songs. But, at a recent one, the audience wanted to talk about the music business. So, we did.   "


How do you feel about the term "Trop Rock"?

Well, I appreciate it because it's describes that particular niche - right away you know what you're talking about. There are going to be songs about boats and beaches, and I do alot of that material. It's where I started, writing about what I knew living on the water. But, I write songs about alot of subjects. Some of my songs are country, some more folk, reggae, rock. My main influence, like so many people like me, was Jimmy Buffett, no doubt. But, also the songwriters and groups I was listening to in the 70's - the Eagles, Jim Croce, James Taylor. Lots of people. I look at it like this: we are the legacy of Jimmy Buffett. To most of us, he was (is) a huge hero. You can only write so many songs about tiki bars and getting drunk, though, so you have to expand out. . 'Boat in Belize' was thematic. I had more songs for that album but they didn't fit with the material. So, I saved them for the new album, which has a variety of stuff on it and, so far, people seem to really like. I consider myself a songwriter who does some Trop Rock."


I don't want to go into the stories behind your songs - although there are alot of great ones I'd personally like to know about (like "Great Bicycle Disaster"). I'll leave those stories for people to hear when they attend a House Concert with you. But, I do want to ask about your songwriting process.

"It's kinda like fishing. You throw your line out and nothing happens, sometimes for a long time. Then, one day, you throw your line out and WHAM! That was the day for that song. One of my newest songs, "Woman Behind The Wheel", I had the title and the idea for seven years. One day, I was going through my notes and it just happened. When they're ready to be written, they come out. Like fishing, you have to be patient."

www.redfishisland.com

www.kellymcguire.net

email :  Kelly@redfishisland.com

For Booking: 281-332-8595

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