‘Hunker Down’ with Bill Blue and Friends

July 3, 2014 by Candi Licence 2 Comments

Bill Blue, a great Blues singer, songwriter and guitarist, started his show talking about how he was working in Boston in the 70’s, looking for gigs and got hooked up with a band that was created to tour with an up-and-coming female vocalist ~ according to Bill, one day he was picking tomatoes and the next day touring with Bonnie Raitt and BB King! He played with many great Blues musicians and then came down to the Keys in 1982 to chill out from touring and spent the next 30 years writing and playing his exceptional music here.

For Saturday’s show, A Farewell to the Arms, he gathered some of his favorite musicians together to play with him to commemorate the closing performance at The Studios of Key West historic Armory location.

Rocking the hall - photo by Michael Ruetz — Rocking the hall – photo by Michael Ruetz

There were 6 great musicians in addition to Bill, plus three backup singers. The stage was overflowing and exploded with fabulous sound right from the first song. Bill is a great story teller and his introductions to each song were engaging and insightful. Some of the members of the band recently recorded a new album with Bill, others were Key West locals. They were totally in synch with each other and gave each other plenty of time for solos to show off their great talent and then blended back into a united sound that rocked the hall. The venue was small and we had perfect seats to see all the band interaction which gave the evening an intimate feeling. Bill and the band walked around freely during the break and it was easy to speak to them and thank them for the great music.

The Studios of Key West is an artist’s workspace with a small performance hall for concerts, lectures, plays and dance; galleries for exhibitions, a sculpture garden and, most importantly, artist in residence studios where 35 artists are sponsored throughout the year to practice their craft and create art.

One of Laura McAloon's wonderful metal sculptures — One of Laura McAloon’s wonderful metal sculptures

In addition to their personal work while in residence, they also may lead classes in their area of expertise. Things are relatively slow in the summer months, but there is a jam packed schedule throughout most of the year that is extensive in scope and breadth of subject matter (from funky and fun like Feathered Maskmaking in time for Fantasy Fest or Zombie Bike Decorating for the Annual Zombie Bike Ride – to the significant and serious like Pulitzer prize winner Ayad Akhtar’s lecture on the gap between East and West and the fevered logic of extremism or a Photography exhibit by Alexandra Dietz titled Changing Tides in Key West, a 5 month photographic tour of the island’s distinct subcultures and one-of-a-kind characters that inhabit this island – as well as more expected offerings in writing, painting, photography and unleashing creativity). I wanted to sign up for almost everything!

Bill's recently released album, Mojolation — Bill Blue recently released a new album, Mojolation

Bill’s new album released in October of 2013 is called Mojolation. Per the Classics du jour website, “Mojolation…is chock full of energy; raw, edgy guitars and funky horns power Bill’s unique blues growl. It’s music that’s at once fresh, yet captures the authentic spirit of old blues recordings. After thirty years as the elder statesman of music in Key West, Bill Blue crashes back into the international blues music scene with Mojolation, a record that is punchy, powerful, upbeat and exciting.” This perfectly captures the feeling of Saturday’s performance.

One of my favorite songs of the evening, Hunker Down, is about a hurricane that Bill and his family lived through. They stayed at their house thinking the hurricane would pass by far away and when they realized it was coming right at them it was too late to leave. Bill’s teenage daughter was especially upset by the howling wind and torrential rain so he decided they should write a song, right then and there, to keep their minds busy – Pretty Wild! (and a great song). I hope we get to see Bill again before we’re off to the Outer Banks in mid August.

For more info on Bill and to hear his music visit the Classics du jour website.

Local Color ~ Mr. James Chapman

July 1, 2014 by Candi Licence 2 Comments

Artwork along Mr. Chapman's fence — Wonderful artwork painted along Mr. Chapman’s fence

Walking down Petronia street, I saw a number of places I want to go to – Blue Heaven, La Creperie and Santiago’s Bodega, but Michael isn’t with me so I’m just window shopping and reading menu’s. These places are tucked away in the part of Key West called Bahama Village. This was once a primarily black neighborhood, and is named for its many original residents who were of Bahamian ancestry.

_MS41507 — The coconut man’s truck – Note the “We Love Chapman” painting on the door

Between Blue Heaven and Santiago’s Bodega there is a fascinating corner house with interesting artwork and all kinds of contraptions in the yard. A beat up old truck, colorfully painted and filled with coconuts is parked next to the side yard. I see an older, black gentleman in the yard and I ask him if I can speak with him. He invites me in and we start what turns out to be a half hour conversation.

I was originally interested because of the art and the “inventions” and I thought Michael might like to come back and photograph them but what really interested me was Mr. Chapman himself. He’s a Character with a capital “C”. He is seventy-five years old, was born in the house across the street, lived there until he was 3 and then moved into another house, next door to his current house. He is a philosopher and a tinkerer, has an amazing toolshed and a large number of “works in progress” scattered around.

Of all the cool things in his yard, the best is a tricycle that is all tricked out with lights, music and Key West memorabilia. Michael and I had seen a man riding a trike up and then back down Duval street a few nights earlier when we were eating dinner. As he went by the first time – lights flashing and music blaring – I said to Michael, Do you think he’s selling something? When he came back, I thought no, he’s doing this for fun and to spread joy. I was thrilled to see the trike and he confirmed that yes, that was him and he does rides it for fun and joy – every night, weather permitting, as soon as it starts to get dark. It looks very different in the daylight, when the lights are off, but is none the less fascinating to pour over. We’ll catch him riding some night and take a photo.

Mr. Chaoman standing in front of a huge mural of all the key people in Bahama Village painted by Rcik Worth — Mr. Chapman standing next to a painting of himself – part of a huge mural of all the key people in Bahama Village painted by local artist, Rick Worth

Mr. Chapman has seen a tremendous evolution of history in this area during his lifetime. From what He told me, originally blacks were not allowed to live in Key West and when they were finally permitted to, they were confined to the “back” of Key West in the area that became Bahama Village. Mr. Chapman went to all black schools, has lived through segregation, and is now seeing the “gentrification” of this area due to its proximity to Whitehead and Duval Streets. This is forcing the original tenants out of the area due to rising prices. Historically, no white people ever crossed into Bahama Village except one, Ernest Hemingway. He became friends with many of the residents and his death was felt deeply by many residents. By 2008, the area was only 50% black and I understand the percentage of blacks has continued to decline as more businesses snap up prime locations and more affluent people buy up the houses.

I brought Michael back a few days later to meet Mr. Chapman and to take pictures. He wasn’t as talkative on our second visit but was still just as friendly. We’ll definitely go back another time and give him prints of Michael’s photos. As we were walking down Chapman Lane to our car, we had a neat surprise. A young woman wanted to pet Mick and as I looked closely at her, I thought I recognized her. I looked at the other people she was with and realized that she and another women were the key belly dancers from A Mid Summer Night’s Dream. Of course they remembered Michael as one of the photographers and we had a great conversation and met even more good people. Michael is going to photograph one of their Belly Dancing classes and may be able to set up a couple of artist shoots for July. Stay tuned for posts about the photo shoots.

A Mid Summer’s Night Dream & Spectacle ~ Summer Solstice

June 25, 2014 by Candi Licence 1 Comment

The Key West Botanical Garden grounds were transformed into a fairyland for the summer solstice on June 21st, and artists from all over Key West converged to celebrate and entertain. The event felt magical from the moment I walked in. Many people, contributors and guests, were dressed up in fantasy costumes, with painted faces and fabulous headgear.

The Mid Summer Queen ~ she made her beautiful outfit

This is the 8th year this event has been held and people knew there was a contest for “best dressed” and really got into the spirit of the night. There was a face painting and headdress booth right inside the door so I got my face painted and a flower headdress with beautiful ribbons hanging down so I’d fit in with the scene. As always in Key West, dogs were welcomed and some also came in costume. One thing I thought was particularly cool was there were a number of dogs available for adoption that were being walked through the event with coats saying adopt me. I thought this was a great way for people to see animals who needed a home and hopefully a few went home with new families to love them.

Dancing in the moonlight ... — Dancing in the moonlight …

There were three major venues set up throughout the park. One venue had great musicians playing. There were more than 20 groups or individuals that played and sang non stop from 5 until 11 PM. It was great to stroll into the area, listen to a few songs, move on and then come back and hear a totally different sound. Many of the early groups were off to play in downtown Key West later in the evening and I got a good overview of the wonderful local music that is available here.

The second venue was an outdoor stage area where there were hula hoop demonstrations, belly dancing (both a performance and participatory dancing), Salsa dancing, poetry reading, sword dancing and an amazing fire eating demonstration. All this was backed by a fantastic video show once it was dark which added to the fun and mystery of the dancers as the colors flowed across their bodies and their shadows danced behind them.

The last major venue was a small theatre area where snippets of Shakespeare were performed, individuals played music, more poetry was read and a youth dance troupe performed. Interspersed between these venues were food trucks, fortune telling, sculptures, a dream board where you could write your dream in chalk, and a fantastic mural being created.

A young girl adding her magic to the giant mural

Michael showed up early to take ‘behind the scenes’ pictures of the set up and then photographed both the performers and the guests all night long. The fact that so many guests were dressed up, in addition to the artists who were performing, gave the evening a fun, fantastical feeling everywhere you went. See all Michael’s personal favorite pictures from the night. (look for the slide show button on the top right to have them open and scroll.) There were so many outstanding people and activities and I’ve only shown a fraction here. It’s especially fun going to an event Where Michael is the photographer because he gets to meet and know the event people and as a result we get an insider’s view of what is happening, meet new people we wouldn’t ordinarily get to know and often find out interesting things or other events that are happening in the area.

the face painting was a huge hit and very well done by local artists

All the artists including the face painters were donating their talents to benefit the Botanical Gardens. The gardens are not supported by Key West or the state for funding so they look to admissions, sponsors, donations and events to support the facility.

The gardens are representative of local Florida, Cuban and Caribbean plants and so it’s not as “showy” as a garden planted with the goal of looking vibrant at all times. It does provide an essential stopping place for migratory birds and butterflies and educates the public about native plants. Over 200 bird species and 37 butterfly species have been sighted. The Botanical Garden has a series of self guided tours including the “old garden” with a number of endangered species, a butterfly garden, a tropical hardwood hammock, pond and lake tour and a Cuban palm tour. If you are coming to Key West or want to know more about the Tropical Rainforest and Botanical Garden visit their website or send for their terrific garden guide.

This was truly a magical night and if you are in Key West or close by for the next summer solstice definitely stop by for a night to remember.

Savory or Sweet? ~ Key Plaza Creperie

June 19, 2014 by Candi Licence Leave a Comment

John, the owner, with his chef extraordinaire — John, the owner with his chef extrordinaire

Michael’s phone screen cracked so we were off to AT&T to request a replacement phone. Fortunately, we had insurance on his phone so it was a fairly straight forward process to get a replacement. While Michael was finalizing the transaction, I started wandering down the strip mall and stumbled across the Key Plaza Creperie. The smells emanating from this restaurant were wonderful ~ a sweet vanilla scent of classic crepes. I was enrolled!

savory crepe — This is a savory buckwheat breakfast crepe

We stopped in for lunch and had a delightful meal. The menu is fairly extensive. They make Galettes (savoury buckwheat crepes) with all kinds of yummy fillings as well as sweet crepes that are essentially fruity, sweet dessert crepes and very decadent sounding. In addition to crepes, they also sell wraps, Panini’s and salads. Everything that came out of the kitchen looked wonderful.

Michael and I have very fond memories of eating buckwheat crepes with our friend Cathy. Her mom made delicious buckwheat crepes with a fabulous liver pate filling. (And I don’t even like liver!). We both decided we had to try the Galettes. Michael had an “Alaskan” which had smoked salmon, Brie & chives and I had a goat cheese, spinach, tomato and mushroom crepe. They were completely delicious and we decided we needed to visit again to try the sweet crepes.

This morning, we visited again and Michael had the Tropical crepe – a sweet crepe filled with pineapple, raisins and coconut. I planned on getting their customer favorite sweet crepe the “Dulce De Leche” which has a coconut and banana filling. And if that isn’t decadent enough, you can also add a scoop of vanilla gelato. However, it was too early for all that sugar and I opted for another buckwheat crepe with eggs, Swiss cheese and sausage. Once again the crepes were good but I preferred my cheese and veggie crepe from the other day. I still need to go back and have the Dulce De Leche crepe when my sweet tooth is ready to be satisfied. YUM!

Key Plaza Creperie

“A Great Place …. if You Can Find It” ~ Hogfish Bar and Grill

June 19, 2014 by Candi Licence Leave a Comment

Pure old style Key West laid back, funky and GREAT

“A great place … if you can find it” The tagline says it all. This local’s favorite seafood “shack” is tucked away in a small, safe harbor, way off the tourist path, but definitely worth finding. Truly, there are four road signs within the last quarter mile to keep you on track and convincing you that you are on the right road and there really is a restaurant at the end of the journey.

We stumbled onto the location midafternoon when we were looking for a fresh fish store that had closed down. I jumped out to ask them about the fish store and they told me it had moved to a new location.

I liked the looks of the restaurant – a large, open air eatery, filled with funk and not pretentious. Someone had told us we definitely needed to eat there and seeing the restaurant confirmed that we definitely would be back for lunch or dinner.

Hogfish has a great menu. There were a number of items I would like to try but what immediately caught my eye was the fresh, local, pink key west ‘peel and eat’ shrimp cooked Maryland style (with Old Bay seasoning). YUM! Excellent, sweet and tender morsels. We ordered a half pound as an appetizer but you could easily just eat shrimp all night and be very happy. I had the Hogfish with blackened Scallops dinner and Michael had the Hogfish special which was stuffed with crab meat. The Hogfish was good but I thought it could have had better, more pronounced spices. The blackened Scallops were unbelievably good. This is the third time we’ve had Hogfish so I think I’m done for a bit since I can always count on Michael making his fabulous recipe at home.

WP_20140618_19_29_57_Pro__highres — A glimpse of some the great art and the boat dock, right outside the door

The atmosphere was fun. Lots of good energy, fun art and memorabilia, families with kids, dogs, chickens and a cat roaming the perimeter – Key West is really all inclusive. Everybody was having a good time. Food comes quickly from the kitchen. The next time I’d stagger the appetizer and dinner orders to have a little more relax time. The restaurant is right at the end of a working waterfront and, next time, I’d like to take a stroll down and check out the boats.

Other interesting sounding food included a Lobster BLT, Baha style tacos, Bahamian Conch Chowder and Lobster Pot Pie. These were the unusual items, there were a lot more regular favorites that also looked wonderful. We never even got to the dessert menu. Or to the large Bar area which also looked interesting.

We drove back watching a great sunset unfold. The sky was luminescent both in the west AND the east; it was kind of wild. If I hadn’t known which way was west, it would have been hard to tell which direction the sun was setting. I’ve never seen that before.

If you want to get your tropical fever running check out the Hogfish Bar and Grill website for fun pictures and an outstanding menu.