MUMBO JUMBO spring 2008
Yes it’s me again, along with all the other folks in the world putting out their spring newsletters very close to the beginning of summer! Actually it is a very beautiful sunny spring day here in Williamsburg, Virginia, with not a cloud in the sky and stunning flowers blooming everywhere! After watching the JOHN ADAMS 7-part miniseries on HBO (three times) over the past few months, I figured it was time I stopped in Colonial Williamsburg, as I am playing close by in Richmond. I’m a bit of a history buff, and now I know why. Colonial Williamsburg is not much different from my part time neighborhood in New Castle, New Hampshire! That shouldn’t be surprising as more than a few of my neighbors’ homes were built in the late 1600’s and the town was founded in 1623, not to mention one of the first armed conflicts of the revolution took place 200 yards away at Fort William and Mary, actually preceding the battles at Concord and Lexington!
I have exited Key West for the time being, although I will be back for engagements at Margaritaville in June, and The Hog’s Breath in early July and again in early August. The rest of my time will be spent touring, writing new material and traveling the planet looking for new things to write about. I’m heading to Ireland and Scotland for a few weeks later this month but will be touring all over the eastern half of this country in July, August and October. July looks like mostly dates in the Northeast, August the mid-Atlantic and in October we hope to head out west across the top of the country through western New York, Ohio all the way to Madison, Wisconsin, and then down through the center of the country back to Key West for MEETING OF THE MINDS, the annual PARROTHEAD FEST!
If you would like to have my partner in crime “Country Dave “ Edmisten and me to your town, please drop TERRY LEDERER a note at LittleFlockDistr@aol.com to arrange a booking!
THANKS TO YOU, LUCKY ENOUGH REMAINS ONE OF TOP REQUESTED SONGS ON RADIO MARGARITAVILLE!
I don’t know who you are (well I know some of you!), but if you’ve requested any of my songs on Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 31 over the past few years, I’d like to buy you a beer. And you know what, next time I see you I will! I’m serious! I can’t tell you how much all this radio play has helped my career and sales over the past few months. We can’t stock the CDs fast enough and I’m gaining hundreds of new fans every month. It will be 20 years in November that I quit my job and moved to Key West to pursue music and songwriting full time and after thousands of gigs and hundreds of thousands of miles, it finally feels like I’m getting a bit of a following breeze, and it is all because of you and the great folks at RADIO MARGARITAVILLE. THANK YOU!
I also feel very fortunate that LUCKY ENOUGH has touched so many listeners. As you know, I write some pretty serious songs and I write some pretty lighthearted tunes, because that’s how life is, but as an artist it’s extremely gratifying to have your most appreciated song be one of your more serious works. Don’t worry, my latest tune is titled, IT’S HARD TO FIND A HOOKER ON VALENTINES DAY, so I won’t let it go to my head (a YouTube performance of this song can be viewed at http://youtube.com/watch?v=p9W_JCRx9dg
LITTLE FLOCK MUSIC CORPORATE RETREAT
In Key West? RIGHT!!!!
It’s true! We had our first Little Flock Music business conference, held in Key West for three days in April, and actually got a lot of things accomplished. Little Flock owner Peter Mayer, business guru Mike Davis, artist relations and distribution manager Terry Lederer and yours truly assembled on the smallest of islands for three days of grueling meetings, mind numbing power point presentations and corporate team building events such as the dreaded scavenger hunt! We went out for drinks at 10pm and waited to see if we could find each other at 4 in the morning! (No one won!)
Seriously, we did talk about a lot of things that should help in our marketing and distribution including RELEASING MANY OF OUR SONGS ON iTUNES IN THE VERY NEAR FUTURE! Watch our web site and MySpace pages for the details! We also hope to improve on our booking and promotion.
It wasn’t all work, as there was some fun and music to be had as Peter joined Dave and myself on The Hog’s Breath stage for a great impromptu jam session. After rehearsing Rosewood and Cedar behind the dumpster in the parking lot, Pete and I were able to pull off the old guitar duet that we only get to play once or twice a year these days. We played some of Pete’s tunes and some of mine and the crowd overflowed into the parking lot for a very special night of music. To my thinking there is nothing more fun – for the players and listeners- than a night like that. If you weren’t there I hope you catch the next one!
NEW SCOTT KIRBY CD for 2009!
BLOW ME DOWN to CAYO HUESO
Well this is one way I put pressure on myself to get things done! It’s kind of like inviting 50 people over for dinner when you haven’t cleaned the house in a month. PRESSURE is a great motivator. The good news is I have the title track finished, as well as a bunch of other half written tunes. My plan is to go into the studio next spring or summer and maybe have a release by Christmas. That’s the plan anyway!
Are you wondering where the title came from? Well my grandparents on my father’s side migrated to Massachusetts from a little fishing village on the east coast of Newfoundland called Blow Me Down (population about 50 with a couple dozen Kirby’s) when they were about 20. I went back to the old seaside outpost recently where only stone foundations remain and immediately understood where my love for the ocean and the coastal life came from (The photo on the back of the FOUR GOOD DOGS CD was taken very close to there, and yes that’s an iceberg!). The song is really a bit of the family history, from Ireland, to Newfoundland, down the east coast and finally to Cayo Hueso, the Spanish name for Key West. My father loved Key West, but one of my few regrets in life is that I did not get to go back to Newfoundland with him. We kept talking about it and talking about it, but all of a sudden it was too late. Unfortunately, so many of life’s trivial and insignificant things got in the way. A lesson hard learned I guess.
NEW MERCHANDISE FOR SUMMER!
The WALKING ON THIN ICE CD will be back in print very soon and a new NIGHT ON THE BEACH T-SHIRT should be ready for sale by July. We’ve had a ton of requests for the T-Shirt as everyone loves Kay Cushman’s painting on the cover depicting an amazing sunset from Louie’s Backyard. Kay has very kindly given me this wonderful painting and I may investigate getting prints made and making them available for sale. If you have any other ideas or requests for new things please write me at SKDEDW@aol.com.
ALL THE BEST TO ALL OF YOU!
Scott
DUPUYTREN’S DISEASE, I HAVE IT
Don’t worry (or celebrate!) I’m not dying just yet, and I’m not turning into a medical correspondent either. But because so many of you have asked me about my very obvious hand condition over the past three or four years, I thought I might take this opportunity to explain exactly what the disease is and the very successful alternative treatment I just received two weeks ago from Dr. David Kline at The Dupuytren’s Center near Boise, Idaho. Also, I hope that anyone who has the disease might read this and learn what alternatives are available, because many hand surgeons appear to be unaware. The surgeon I consulted knew nothing of it and said he couldn’t imagine how it could possibly be successful.
Without getting too technical, Dupuytren’s is a condition that begins to appear in middle age and gradually causes a thickening of tissue in your palms, which causes the little finger and the ring finger to curl in. If the disease progresses long enough it can eventually cause the fingers to totally close up and rest against the palm of your hand. Not a good thing for a guitar player!
My mother, who is a talented pianist, has the disease and I can vividly recall when it started to affect her ability to play or use a typewriter. I also remember the very painful and debilitating surgeries she went through in an attempt to regain normal use of her hands. However, she never did and suffered various levels of chronic pain and long, arduous rehabilitations.
Obviously, I inherited the disease from her. Thanks Mom! Just kidding, I also inherited my modest musical talent from her, so you have to take the good with the bad! (I’m also wondering why I didn’t inherit any of her good looks, as she was a stunning model in her younger days!)
I started to notice a change in my right hand about eight years ago (which is not crucial as I mostly rely on my first, middle finger and thumb to pick the strings). However, a couple of years later the little and ring finger on my left hand (which is crucial) began to curl. About five years ago I was unable to play some chord formations and the last three years the disease began to seriously restrict my playing. During the past six months there have been days where I could barely form even the most basic chords, and playing had become very much a struggle. I had completely stopped playing at home. I knew that without some surgical procedure my playing days were down to four or five months at best.
The full surgery had really stopped being an option for me for two reasons: First my mother’s horrible experiences and a Mayo clinic report I read on Dupuytren’s that described the surgery as “OFTEN WORSE THAN THE DISEASE ITSELF.” Although the disease was seriously affecting my ability to play guitar, it wasn’t painful and didn’t stop me from doing other things I loved to do, such as play tennis and ride my bicycle.
However, about a year ago, my sister Jill, who lives in Boise, Idaho, sent me an article from her local newspaper about Dr. David Kline and his Dupuytren’s Center in nearby Ontario, Oregon. From this article, I learned that Dr. Kline played guitar and had the disease himself, and was apparently also aware that the surgery was not a great option. Just so you know, the surgery involves removing part of your palm, requires substantial skin grafting, and has a recovery time of three to four months, with all kinds of possible unpleasant side effects such as infection, nerve damage etc. In his research, he had learned that an alternative procedure had been developed in France 30 years ago called Needle Apunevrotomy, (NA) and was commonly performed there with fantastic results! In 2002 he went to Paris and Dr. Lariboisiere performed the procedure in a matter of minutes under local anesthesia and within a day or two his hands were nearly normal. Years of discomfort were reversed in a matter of minutes. He felt he had to bring this wonderful procedure to patients in this country and trained in France, learning to perform NA himself!
After reading this article I began to do my own research, and learned that only a handful of doctors perform this procedure in the United States, and none in the northeast or even New York! I consulted a prestigious hand surgeon in New Hampshire and discussed this new procedure with him, even showing him information I had downloaded from the internet (every doctor’s nightmare, I’m sure!). He told me he had never heard of NA and that it would never work. “ I NEEDED SURGERY, AND SOON!!”
Of course, being God’s own procrastinator, I continued to try to play the best I could. Shaking hands had become downright embarrassing with my hideous claw of a right hand and about two months ago I got up one morning, picked up a guitar and horror rushed over me. I couldn’t even play a C or G chord properly! I had long abandoned playing some of my favorite James Taylor tunes but now faced the reality of not being able to play at all, so the next day I called Dr. Kline’s office and made arrangements to go out to Boise the second week of January, as I had no gigs after that until the first of February.
I flew into Boise on January 10th at 1PM. Jill picked me up and drove me directly to Dr. Kline’s office. Dr. Kline and his staff were unbelievably friendly and he spent a lot of time talking about the disease and his experiences. We also talked about music a bit and discovered we both owned Lowden guitars, a great omen! One hour later, after a Novocain shot in my left hand and some poking with a needle and some tugging (I didn’t really look!) I looked at my hand and was astonished to see my fingers nearly normal and straight when earlier my little and ring finger were bent about 90 degrees. In other words, if I extended my arm out straight, with my palm parallel to and facing the floor, those two fingers were so bent they pointed straight to the ground! My index finger was also bent about 30 degrees.
My sister was completely blown away, as she had seen how bad my hands were and had watched our mother suffer for decades. I left Dr. Kline’s office with an ice pack on my hand and a HUGE smile on my face and looked forward to returning the following day to have my right hand done.
The next morning my hand wasn’t even sore enough to require taking aspirin. It was a little black and blue (as Dr. Kline said it would be) and a little touchy where a small part of my skin had split, as my skin was not used to being stretched out straight. We went back to the office, had the right hand done in about 45 minutes and headed back to Boise for a celebratory dinner! The very next day, Saturday, I flew back to New Hampshire, and on Sunday morning couldn’t stop myself from gingerly picking up a guitar. To my amazement, I easily played things I hadn’t played in five years. Since then I have been playing guitar three to seven hours a day with newfound enthusiasm. For me, this has been nothing short of a miracle.
I guess the lesson to be learned here is that if you develop a medical problem, check out all the options. Obviously in this case, the French have one up on us! Not to mention their trains, communications, wine, food…I could go on and on, but don’t want any angry mail from you French haters!!!
All I have to say is VIVA LA FRANCE and VIVA DR. Kline!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And to my buddy JL, YOU CAN STOP CALLING ME “THE CLAW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Till we meet again!
Scott
I hope you are all well and coping with the holidays! I'm here in Key West for a few weeks where Dave Edmisten and I are playing a number of shows at The Hogs Breath Saloon and Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville Cafe. In fact, we're playing 21 shows in 26 nights including Christmas night and New Years Eve. I hope Santa brings me a strong voice because I'll sure need it with this month's schedule. As soon as we finish this run we saddle up to head to the midwest for a show in Madison, Wisconsin on January 4th and Minneapolis on January 5th. (Do I even have a coat or socks here?) Hopefully we won't run into any kind of blizzard!
2007 has been a productive and interesting year and I want to once again thank all of you who have purchased copies of A NIGHT ON THE BEACH and my other CDs. I'm in the process of writing some new tunes and hope to make several available for sale on I tunes in the new year. I also have a lot of shows scheduled here in Key West through the first six months of the year and plan to do some extensive touring throughout the country as well. I also plan to try to write a monthly newsletter, and come out with some new merchandise. Many of you have asked about a NIGHT ON THE BEACH T-shirt which we hope to offer in the spring.
As I travel and meet many of you from around the country, I'm often asked about the inspiration for many of my songs. It may appear obvious for some songs, but less so for others. I thought I would tackle that topic in my monthly newsletter in 2008. If any of you have songs in particular you might be interested in, please shoot me an e mail and I'll try to get to them all. Songwriting is a great source of joy for me and I hope I can explain where some of these stories and tunes come from without boring you to death!
Songwriting is a very mysterious activity. I can't tell you how many times I have thought about a song for months, or even years, to have the words suddenly pour out of my head onto the paper, almost as if the words are contained in the ink as it flows out of the pen. Most songwriters often experience a similar phenomenon. The words suddenly lie on the paper and you wonder where the heck they came from. Then of course there are the songs which are a terrible struggle. Unfinished verses lingering in your notebook for weeks on end and hours of lying in bed staring at the ceiling, waiting for pieces of the puzzle to fall from the sky. I carried one song around with me for two years before Bobby Donaldson and I finally finished it in a friend's living room in Madison, Wisconsin.
People also often ask me which comes first, the music or the words. The truth is it depends on the song, and these are all things I will write about in the coming months. I'm going to start with LUCKY ENOUGH on January 1 and we'll see you then! Have the happiest of holidays!! I've got to get on my bicycle and head to the Afterdeck Bar for happy hour.
Scott
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| Scott always wears a tie when checking out new guitars! |
MUMBO JUMBO!
August 27, 2007
Well, it’s another edition of Mumbo Jumbo, which has now morphed into my monthly musings about scraping along the road and life and laughs in the music business! (How could anyone take this too seriously!?) As I write this, I’m in Washington, DC, preparing to limp through the last two gigs of this 3 ½ week tour. If you’ve seen the schedule Dave and I have been keeping, you can see we’ve been a little on the busy side, and put more than a few miles on the van and ourselves! But, life is good and I sincerely want to thank every one of you who have come to our shows and to those who have purchased the new CD. I have to honestly say, that out of the five CDs I’ve released, I’m the most pleased with this one. Maybe it's because we had so much damn fun recording it! I hope you like it, and keep requesting those songs on Radio Margaritaville!
I’m also really pleased with the way the cover came out. One of my very close friends, Kay Cushman, did the painting, and there’s an interesting story behind it. I’ve known Kay and her husband Ray for nearly 35 years and we’ve shared millions of laughs, thousands of drinks and dozens of vacations. A lot of photographs were taken of me the night of the show, but not exactly being Brad Pitt, I’ve always leaned towards using art on CD covers. Close friends Jo Stephens painted the Thin Ice cover and Tom Norby, Grand Bar Schemes, and both pieces are proudly displayed in my house! (In a fit of frugality, I drew the 4 Good Dogs cover with a sharpie) Anyway, about a month after we recorded the show, Kay e-mailed a photograph of this extraordinary painting. I didn’t even know Kay was an artist! Apparently Kay had painted a bit in college and since retiring had decided to take an art class and this was her first piece! On top of that, the painting was done from a photograph taken from the Afterdeck Bar (My Cathedral) in Key West, right next to the beach where my concert was recorded. What are the chances of that happening!
As you can see, the painting is simply amazing. I don’t profess to be an art expert, but I’ve spent my share of time recently in Paris staring at the impressionistic masterpieces and was simply blown away when I saw this on my computer screen. I knew within a nano-second that I would ask Kay to use it as my cover, and she kindly gave her permission. In fact, people like it so much that we will be producing A Night On The Beach T-shirts and hats in the very near future. Who knows, we might even convince Kay to have some prints made!
There are also two great photographs on the CD taken by good friends of mine. Claudia Hould, one of the original “wicked sisters” came all the way from LA to be at the concert in Key West and took the shot of me on stage, which is on the back of the CD cover and featured on my new promo poster. Tamara LaTorre took the very cool shot of the schooner at sunset on her most recent trip to Key West. Tamara is a talented freelance photographer who also designed and maintains my My Space page. Thanks girls!!!!
Well, September will be a quiet month for me, musically speaking. It is my favorite month of the year in New England and I plan to completely enjoy it this year. I plan on spending a lot of time on the water, maybe even help my friend Bruce McKenna sail his boat south, hopefully stopping on Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket or Block Island. It doesn’t get any better than that! I also plan to get up to Maine for a few days, maybe visiting my Key West friends who summer in Boothbay Harbor, and hell, I have one of best damn views on the planet out my living room window in New Castle, New Hampshire, overlooking Kittery, Maine. THANK YOU BROOK, THANK YOU BROOK!!! Lucky enough, I guess!
In my spare time, I will be working on putting together a TV series including all the major presidential candidates, but that’s another story…
October will take Dave and I on a short tour starting in New Hampshire, then heading out to western New York and then down through the middle of the country, all the way to Key West for the annual Parrothead festival. We’re booking dates now and should have them up on the web site and My Space page in the next two weeks, so stay tuned!!
I’m really looking forward to September and feel some good times and good stories coming on, maybe even a new song or two! Hell, I should put some damn pressure on myself and just publicly commit to finishing “It’s Hard to Find a Hooker on Valentines Day” by Columbus Day weekend!! See you soon and stay tuned for the next Mumbo Jumbo!
"...we agreed to abandon ship and hook up with Scott. We did so on the deck of a Kennebunkport watering hole called "The Wharf," and we did so over adult beverages and in the intervening six days, the CD has not been out of earshot."
Read the full article at UnionLeader.com
Little Flock Music proudly announces the release of A NIGHT ON THE BEACH, Scott Kirby’s first live CD, featuring three new original songs: I Tried, Northern Town, and A Night On The Beach.
A NIGHT ON THE BEACH was recorded live in a single performance on the beach at the Casa Marina resort, on Key West, FL, before a crowd of about a thousand festive folks in town for the annual Parrot Heads in Paradise bash.
As some of you may know, most live CDs are recorded over the course of five or six performances and then the best tracks are edited together into what sounds like a single, seamless performance. Attempting a one shot deal like this was a high wire act from the get-go. I told all my friends in the band to just go for it. First and foremost, I wanted to put on a great show and didn’t want them to play safe just because the “record” button was on. This world-class group of musicians put on a phenomenal performance, the recording turned out great, and we now have the CD to take us back to A NIGHT ON THE BEACH!… Scott Kirby
Joining Scott on this project are David Edmisten, Peter Mayer, Gabriel Donohue, Emily Leader, Matt Thompson, Andy Thompson and R. Scott Bryan.
A NIGHT ON THE BEACH, as well as all Scott Kirby titles and merchandise, may be ordered at the Little Flock Music online store, by visiting www.LittleFlockMusic.com, or by calling toll free: 877-LIT-FLOK (548-3565). CDs are $15.00, plus shipping and handling.
MUMBO JUMBO! spring/summer 2007
Ok, so I missed the winter issue of Mumbo Jumbo, my periodical newsletter. You know how it goes; you get busy, life flies by and the next thing you know it’s spring and almost summer!
Last time I wrote I had recently returned from a great trip to France and Switzerland. Well, here I sit, months later, on a 767 getting ready to take off and fly back to Boston after a whirlwind weekend in Paris. I’ve always been extremely conscious of how precious our days are on the planet, and as I turned another year older this weekend, I decided to catch some of the French Open and Jimmy Buffett's show at a little old jazz club in Paris. I have six uninterrupted hours of peace and quiet ahead of me, and even though we got back to the hotel 6 AM this morning (thank god my wife will never read this!), I’m committed to get a first draft of Mumbo Jumbo written by the time the wheels hit the ground in Beantown. No need to go into the gory details; let’s just say I’m hoping jet lag will be counteracted by just plain lack of sleep. Does that make any sense? I think not.
It was such a great weekend, and hearing Jimmy and the guys play “A Woman Gone Crazy on Caroline Street.” in an old Paris club was simply surreal. I’ve seen a few women go crazy on Caroline Street over the years and hearing the song and seeing some familiar faces in the bar really made me realize what a small world it is becoming. Brook, my friend and partner in travel and crime, and I had made a similar weekend trip to Munich just before Christmas, which was equally stunning. One small regret in my life is that I haven’t done as much traveling abroad as I could have, so it seems like I’m trying to make up for lost time.
I’ve been out straight the past few months with the “real job,” performing, and trying to get the new CD finished and out in time for the August tour. A NIGHT ON THE BEACH will be released on August 1 and I will be on tour with guitarist David Edmisten for much of the month of August. (SEE TOUR DATES)
I want to talk about the CD a bit, mostly because I’m so happy with it. I think the band knocked it out of the park that night and I will be forever indebted to them. It was probably the best performance of my career and we were lucky enough to record it!!! And thanks to the sheer wizardry of producer and engineer Dan Simpson, I have a CD that evokes the emotion, frivolity and spontaneity inspired by playing under a full moon on the beach, with a quality of sound nearing that of a studio album.
A NIGHT ON THE BEACH was recorded live in a single performance on the beach at the Casa Marina resort on Key West, before a crowd of about a thousand festive folks in town for the annual Parrotheads in Paradise bash.
As some of you may know, most live CDs are recorded over the course of five or six performances and then the best tracks are edited together into what sounds like a single, seamless performance. Attempting a one shot deal like this was a high wire act from the get-go, but at the least I thought I might get a handful of useable tracks for a future CD. I told all my friends in the band to just go for it, as I had very low expectations of getting an entire CD out of it. First and foremost I wanted to put on a great show and didn’t want them to play safe just because the “record” button was on.
I mostly perform these days accompanied by an amazing guitarist and vocalist named David Edmisten. Occasionally we’re joined by Emily Leader on fiddle or Jeffrey Shenandoah on percussion, but much less often by a full band. Although Matt and Andy Thompson of the MASSACOUSTICS and I have jammed on many occasions, they had only joined me on bass and drums on a couple of prior gigs. If you happened to be in Key West that week early last November, you might recall the driving rain and howling wind that battered the island for several days. As a result, Matt and Andy couldn’t fly into Key West in time to make a rehearsal the night before the concert Consequently, they had to learn two brand new songs in sound check a couple of hours before the show, and proceeded to lay down a rhythm track so solid it still boggles my mind. Add that to the fact that this was literally the first time these seven musicians had ever stood on the same stage together and you’ll understand why I feel so lucky!!
If you’ve seen the Thompson brothers play before, you know Matt plays bass guitar, drums and sings at the same time; something I’ve never seen any other human being do. His brother also has a great voice and is an amazing lead guitar player, however in this instance, he kindly agreed to play bass as Dave and Peter Mayer would be playing guitar. Bass players are often under appreciated by people because they don’t generally project the flash of an acrobatic drummer or hot lead guitar player. However, musicians know and love a great bass player because he or she is the one player who must absolutely know every single chord change, plus play in perfect time with the drummer. Improvisation is not an option! One bad clam by the bass player can produce the fiercest of glares by band mates and frowns of bewilderment by the audience.
Had the Thompsons played such a strong rhythm track after playing the songs a few times; I wouldn’t have been the least bit surprised. The fact they pulled this off with no rehearsal is extraordinary.
Gabriel Donohue and I met one balmy night in 1986 while he was playing on the pier at the Ocean Key House in Key West. I recall seeing this tall Irishmen and being immediately stunned by his virtuosity on both the acoustic guitar and the piano. On top of that, he had an amazing voice and a repertoire that spanned from traditional Celtic, to rock to jazz to Broadway and back!
In those days I was very busy working for a leader in the state legislature and producing political ads for TV and radio, and didn’t even own a guitar. I don’t think I had owned one for six or seven years, but under the influence of some rum I’m sure I thought it was a great idea to play Steamroller Blues on Gabriel’s guitar while he played the piano. I look back on that moment and realize I must have been inspired by his amazing talent-- and possibly the amazing woman he was attracting—and upon returning to New Hampshire immediately went out and purchased a new mahogany Guild acoustic guitar.
Gabriel and I struck up a fast friendship, as he was also very politically astute, and I continued to visit Key West and also occasionally drove down to Cape May, New Jersey, on summer weekends to watch him play at a place on the beach called Carneys. I was working on putting a solo act together and he would kindly invite me up to join him for a few Jimmy Buffett or James Taylor tunes. Singing had never come naturally to me and in those days it was a momentous struggle. In fact, I played bass in a group called the Overdew Band years earlier and they would only let me sing one song: “Steamroller Blues”! A couple of years of vocal lessons have helped a little, but at this point, I generally just try to stay in my comfort zone and express my songs the best I can with the voice given me.
Gabriel ended up giving me an old sound system and I borrowed some money and bought a really good set of speakers and set up the PA in my apartment on South Street in Concord, New Hampshire. I lived upstairs over a wonderful old woman named Edna, who was fortunately a little on the deaf side. In fact, one night I had a party where so many people were dancing that the hardwood floor and walls were flexing like the place was breathing! I was terrified of what Edna thought down below, but the next day I ran into her and she was just as sweet as ever and said, “Scott, I haven’t seen you in a few days, I though you might be out of town!” From that point on, I knew a little music wouldn’t bother her.
I was tiring a bit of the political scene, in my early thirties and single, and moved my bed into the kitchen (a room I didn’t use much) so I get make the large bedroom into a small after hours club, complete with 5 tables (with red and white checkered clothes) a bar and hideous tacky memorabilia I had collected from the Keys! When the local watering holes closed at 1 O’clock in the morning, I would drag my friends over for drinks and an occasional impromptu performance. By then I was rum courageous enough to play and they were drunk enough to listen. One night someone had the bright idea to push one of my wobbly card tables up against the big bay windows to create a make shift stage. One of my friends still remembers being terrified that the table would collapse and I would topple backwards through the windows to the street two stories below!
Over the course of the next year or two, after endless practicing in my bedroom, I finally got the courage to play my first paying solo gig as a guitarist/singer. I had a friend in Newport, Rhode Island, that introduced me to a bar owner in the brickyard mall area there (The name escapes me, but I recall it was a western name, The Wagonwheel maybe?). So with the gear Gabriel gave me, and his inspiration, I played my first paying gig. So whatever meager accomplishments I made as a singer/songwriter- not to mention the pain, frustration and humiliation- I have Gabriel to thank!
He’s gone on to play around the world in dozens of ensembles and toured for five years with the legendary Chieftains and emerged as a talented record producer and engineer. He played flawless piano, organ and mandolin on my CD and was an experienced voice of calm at the otherwise chaotic sound check-rehearsal. If you’re lucky, you might catch him in Key West, at Finnegan’s Wake or at any other number of places on the east coast.
I have watched “Country Dave” Edmisten play a variety of different music at The Hogs Breath in Key West for years. His stunning high clear voice and lightning fast flatpicking on the acoustic guitar always caught my eyes and ears. A couple of years ago, a great guitarist named Chris Clifton, Dave and I had the opportunity to jam for a few nights at the Hog. Dave knew I did a lot of solo and duo work and approached me about playing together. He was very humble about his guitar playing but told me he was a good listener and could really add a lot to my songs by singing all the harmony parts; no small feat, considering the volume of lyrics to memorize in 50 or so songs. I knew he had a great voice and a dead-on ear for harmony, but was unsure if his incredible flatpicking would translate to the electric guitar and my style of folk rock, or beach folk, or whatever it is I play. However, the first time we played “Little Blue Boat,” I knew he was very gifted and incredibly versatile, and from that first gig, his playing has just been getting better and better. His harmonies are glorious and we always have fun playing together. It just doesn’t get any better than that!
Many times in the month preceding the show, Dave would make comments indicating he was not thrilled about the upcoming recording. Many musicians are not wild about it and I’m one of them. It’s amazing how one can play or sing a part dozens of times live, but after the record button is pushed, everything changes. I’m sure players who are constantly recording get used to it, but to many of us it’s intimidating and in some ways stifling. Dave was agonizing so much about the recording that I actually had a meeting with the rest of the band to discuss lying to Dave just before the show that the recorder had broken and we wouldn’t be taping anything after all. However, that had its own pitfalls,so we abandoned the thought.
Well, Dave played his ass off! I don’t what potion of herbs, supplements, beer and tequila he leaned on, but he was as cool as a cucumber and tore off some rip snorting solos…and had fun doing it!
Emily Randle, or should I say Emily Leader (happily married now!) and I met a number of years ago while she was on tour with Peter Mayer. An amazingly versatile and talented violinist, Emily is equally comfortable reading complex classical charts as she is improvising on a jazz piece or digging into some rock and roll. We hit it off immediately as we both have a dominant zany side! You may know that Emily is a Staff Sergeant in the United States Army where she plays in several configurations for the Army band. Unfortunately, she can’t join me as much as much as we would like because of her busy schedule, but I was so happy she made it to Key West. She literally flew in during our sound check. We had someone pick her up at the airport and wisk her directly to the stage. She also had never heard a couple of the new tunes before, yet played wonderfully, not only on her solos, but in her accompaniment under other player’s solos. Brilliant!
Pete Mayer and I met back in 1989, when he and brother Jim and Roger Guth first started working with Jimmy Buffett. I immediately recognized these guys as very serious musicians. Over the years we have played countless shows together, traveled around the country in old vans and had the special opportunity to write together, and had more laughs than any human beings deserve. One of my goals down the road is to write a comedic book about the humorous side of the music business, not from the view from a palatial tour bus or private jet, but from the window of a rusty van or oil leaking RV with a stinky bathroom. I already have a title and the hilarious things that have happened to Pete and I over the years could easily fill three or four chapters.
I wouldn’t want to do a live CD without Pete’s involvement and fortunately on this evening he and his band followed me, and he was gracious enough to lend some of his energy and immense talent to my show. “Last Flying Boat” - a song we wrote together to pitch to Jimmy- wouldn’t be right without Pete’s soaring vocal harmonies. On top of that, the guitar solo he pulled off is simply amazing. The great thing about recording live is that a musician literally feeds off the positive energy from an audience, and is often inspired to play at a level - technically and creatively- that they might never achieve in a sterile environment like the recording studio.
Pete is also an amazing songwriter, and if you don’t have any of CDs, you are doing yourself a great disservice. Thanks Pete!
Another great thing about sharing the stage with Pete’s band is that Scott Bryan was also available to play a little percussion on my set. You may know him as the guy who plays percussion, piano, organ and guitar with Pete. In fact, Scott plays just about every instrument under the sun, is a great singer/songwriter with his own CDs, and also a talented recording engineer and producer. He also played for a number of years in Sheryl Crow’s band and I can’t thank him enough for jumping on the stage for the last couple of songs of the night!
So… Look for the new CD, A NIGHT ON THE BEACH on AUGUST 1, listen to Sirius Radio Margaritaville and try to catch us at one of the upcoming shows!!
SUMMER TOUR – click on “GIGS” for all the up-to-date information on venues, locations and ticket information! A few more performances are in the works, so check back often!
"Scott Kirby's songs have graced Radio Margaritaville since we began in 1999. He is a favorite of our listeners, always near the top of the list of our most-requested artists. Recent material like 'Lucky Enough' and '4 Good Dogs' show that Scott just keeps getting better. And he remains one of the most sought-after performers at the various shows and gatherings of Parrotheads that our listeners attend so enthusiastically."
Steve Huntington, Program Director, Sirius Radio Margaritaville
MUMBO JUMBO fall 2006 Edition 1
SIX STRING MUSIC: A Visit to The Big Easy
French Wine
MOTM and a live recording
Radio Margaritaville
Key West Magazine
Hello to everyone out there in cyberspace! Thanks for checking in on my site! Terry Lederer, my manager and the brain and pain (her pain!) behind Little Flock Records, has been urging me to do an online newsletter for some time. Nothing too formal mind you. Just a few words every few months to let you know what I’ve been up to.
I said, “Terry, come on…. who would really give a shit what I’m up to?” She said, “You’d be surprised, in the depths of winter or deep despair, it might be heartening for someone to know you’re face down in a vineyard in Napa, drunk and aground off the coast of France, or in jail somewhere doing research for your next CD!” “OK, maybe you’re right,” I said, “but I’m not going to take this too seriously!” Thus the birth of MUMBO JUMBO, my new quarterly newsletter.
While researching a name for these mutterings, I ran across MUMBO JUMBO in my thesaurus. Related words were hocus pocus, gibberish, and nonsense! PERFECT, I screamed a loud while uncorking a bottle of cheap champagne. If that’s not the ideal name for this thing, I don’t what is! And, I came up with it in less than five minutes! Luck is a beautiful thing and MUMBO JUMBO IT IS!
SOME SIX STRING MUSIC IN NEW ORLEANS!
One of my summer highlights was getting back to New Orleans to play at The Six String Songwriters Invitational, held at The Margaritaville Cafe in the French Quarter. OK, I have to admit, I wasn’t that excited to leave the balmy days and cool nights of the tantalizingly short New Hampshire summer, to tackle the summer heat and humidity of New Orleans. On top of that, some of my friends seemed surprised I would even consider going to a place they viewed as storm-ravaged, chemically contaminated and downright dangerous! However, I‘m here to tell you I had a wonderful time, and you should consider a visit to this great old town as soon as you get the chance. No time is better than now.
I performed there in the summer of 2005, and remember doing an interview on Radio Margaritaville, along with singer/songwriter James White, joking about hurricanes of all things! Jesus, I won’t do that again. Katrina hit the following week. I felt so bad that Peter Mayer and I donated all of our profits from a concert last October in Manchester, NH. But alas, I wasn’t able to break the spell of my stupidity-- the voodoo was too strong! Five days later, a hurricane bowled over my home port of Key West, flooding half of the town including a little cottage I own. What have I learned???? Don’t joke about hurricanes!!!!
It was great getting back to The Big Easy, but heartbreaking all the same. Kind of like visiting an old friend you know has been through hard times and don’t know quite what to expect.
Landing at the airport, I immediately got a feeling in my gut that things were still not normal. The terminal was eerily quiet and relaxed, not the bustling sea of humanity one is accustomed to battling at most big city airports. The corridors were shiny and clean and adorned with welcoming signs and I immediately got the feeling New Orleans was glad to have visitors once again, and ready to fight its way back with a heavy dose of hospitality.
After grabbing my guitar from the baggage carousel, I stepped outside into the bright light and that unmistakable gulf coast humidity. There wasn’t an overabundance of passengers around and plenty of cabs, so I immediately jumped into the backseat of an air conditioned, late model, four door sedan, driven by an easy going bear of a guy about 65 years old, named Andrew. He asked where I lived and I told him I spent some time in New England and some in Key West. Of course from there the talk immediately turned to hurricanes.
He was a native of New Orleans and I could tell he’d been through a dismal year. He’d lost his home, and business was so slow that some days during the week he barely had any fares at all, and flights into the airport were still way down from pre-Katrina days. He was, however, very excited about the newly renovated Superdome and the return of the Saints! Maybe the only thing he was excited about. I got the feeling he wasn’t exactly holding his breath waiting for the federal government, or any other government, to ride to the rescue!
While traveling the 20 minutes or so from the airport to the French Quarter, I didn’t notice the type of devastation I had viewed on the nightly news over the past year, but recognized we weren’t adjacent to the ninth ward or other storm ravaged areas. And as we wheeled into the Quarter on a bright Thursday afternoon, I was actually struck to see how neat and tidy the streets and sidewalks looked. I guess a big bath from Mother Nature, and a year with virtually no tourists, will add a little shine to the face of a legendary old party town! Of course I was aware that this old section of New Orleans had escaped the worst of the flooding and not suffered much serious damage.
Andrew dropped me off at an intersection next to the Margaritaville Café. I unloaded my gear, wished he and his Saints good luck, and stood there for a moment in the sweltering August sun, looking back and forth, feeling pleased to be there, but slightly uneasy. The Quarter looked really good, but something was very very strange. After a moment or two, I realized what it was. No people. There were no people. As far as I could see, in all four directions, there was no one walking the streets. Granted, it was the heat of the afternoon on a summer weekday, but still it seemed odd. Finally, I noticed one person duck out of a doorway and walk slowly off in the other direction, disappearing through the shimmering blur of heat arising off the distant sidewalk.
Later in the afternoon, a smattering of folks started to appear on the streets, lazily strolling from one shop or bar to the next. As I did the same, I became aware of just how friendly the shopkeepers and bartenders were, and how happy they seemed to have survived such a horrible disaster. But there was something else I noticed as I carried on casual conversations with many of them. As they looked you in the eye, I could feel they were sincerely appreciative you took a chance on New Orleans. Regardless of all the negative media, you gambled your precious time on their struggling town, and I sensed they appreciated it. It was then and there I felt really happy to be back in New Orleans and knew it would be a great weekend.
The humidity dropped off to a comfortable level on Friday, the temperature cooled a bit and the breeze filled in making for a delightful summer day. A steady but measured stream of visitors started to filter in, breathing a little more life into town as the day went on. I walked all around the French Quarter and up and down the riverfront during the day, brushed up on some local history, and even finished a song one morning in my room at the old Provincial Hotel. I ate some of the best food in the world, met up with some old friends and enjoyed some fine tequila with them late into the evening, on a balcony overlooking Bourbon St. Basking in the sweet midnight air, my feet propped up on an iron rail, gazing out at the architecture so uniquely New Orleans, I was a very happy man.
And oh, I almost forgot, I got to play some music with a whole bunch of great songwriters from around the country! Keith Sykes, an old acquaintance and phenomenal writer and performer stole the show. You may know Keith as the writer of some of Jimmy Buffett’s classics such as Volcano and The Coast of Marseille, but he’s written all kinds of wonderful tunes for all kinds of artists and a great performer and recording artist in his own right!
I don’t get to see Keith often; however, we have been in trouble a couple of times in Key West in the past. Let’s see, there was the first time we met. I was scheduled to pick him up at The Key West Airport at 1pm for the KW Songwriters Festival. After doing so, we proceeded directly to Pepe’s Café for cocktails. We tried to leave about 3pm, but when we walked out on Caroline Street, we noticed my old Dodge van had a big lime green card on the windshield and a Denver Boot on the left front wheel! Damn! Those friggin parking tickets! And that’s where the trouble began.
ANYWAY, IT’S A GREAT TIME TO VISIT NEW ORLEANS!!!! The town isn’t crowded with thousands of drunken conventioneers, the flights and hotels are reasonable, the food is hot and the drinks are cold and you’ll be doing a great service to your fellow man, while having the time of your life. Now what beats that?!?!
A LONG WAY TO GO FOR GREAT FRENCH WINE!
Ok, I’ll admit it, there is absolutely nothing worse than hearing a long torturous soliloquy about someone’s travels, unless of course you write like Paul Theroux, the great travel author! But seeing I was missing in action for most of the month of September, I thought I would at least briefly explain where I was, because I’m sure you’ll eventually hear about it in a song anyway. My wife and I were invited to spend some time with our good friends, Marty and Denise White, aboard the classis yacht BOLERO, a gorgeous 73ft Sparkman and Stevens sailing yacht. This boat was built in 1949 and is so famous in sailing circles that a coffee table book has just published about her. Marty and Denise, professional captains, were on a break in the south of France for a few weeks, so we decided to take them up on their offer and see a bit of Europe at the same time. I have traveled to England, Ireland, Belgium and Holland, but that has been the extent of my European travels.
My flight into Paris came direct from Boston and my wife, Michelle, was coming from Key West, so I landed several hours ahead of her, at 7:30 in the morning Paris time. My flight was less than five hours and 45 minutes. I read some, slept some, had a little food and before I knew it, we were landing at Charles de Gaulle Airport. I blew through customs in a matter of minutes and quickly found myself in the back of a cab headed to the Hotel Molliere, in the heart of Paris, about two blocks from the Louvre. My immediate thought while soaking up the amazing sights of Paris was, “How is it possible it took me 52 years to do this?!”
I don’t speak much French, but had relearned some very basic phrases and of course had heard “the French don’t like Americans” thing from everyone in the weeks prior to my departure. I can honestly say that with the exception of one hotel clerk in the French Alps, the language barrier was never more than anything but a minor inconvenience, and throughout our 16 days there, we never had one single unpleasant encounter with anyone. Granted, I did scale down my loud, laughing fool act a notch, after reading in a book that if the French see someone like me walking down the street, they fear a deranged escapee may be on the loose! I learned to speak in French “Hello, I’m sorry I don’t speak French, do you speak English?” That, and “thank you” served me very well.
We spent seven days in Paris, six on the Riviera, two in the Provence Region and five days in Switzerland, which was also amazing. We also traveled to Normandy for a day, which was unforgettable. If you run into me in a bar some night, remind me to tell you about walking on Omaha Beach with Gerry, a D-Day veteran from Ft. Lauderdale we just happened to run into getting off the train. If I could describe that experience on paper, I’d really be a writer! It’s better told over a glass of wine and something I’ll never forget.
One quick story and I’ll move on! About 10 o’clock at night on a cool evening, we meandered into a small café about a block from our hotel. 12 hours of soaking up Paris and we were ready for a bite to eat and a couple glasses of wine. This particular café was very small, seating 30 or 40 people. When we walked in we were seated in the corner next to a black upright piano, the kind you might see in an old saloon out west. Next to it was a big old stand up bass, leaning in a kind of careless way that told me the musician playing it was not far away and wouldn’t be gone too long. We ordered some red wine and within 10 minutes a couple of Frenchman in their 40’s got up from a table and walked over to our corner.
One sat at the piano and the other stretched his arms around the big bass. They started with a couple of Chuck Berry tunes and immediately could tell we were into the music. Musicians have a way of sensing who in a crowd is enjoying them and then feeding into that positive energy. In a small club like this the positive vibe you get from one or two couples is all you need to keep you going. However, on this night, everyone in the small café was enjoying really themselves. A lovely young black woman with long dark hair got up to sing with the duo on the third song, belting out a jazz standard. She sat down after enthusiastic applause and they continued playing a mix of blues, R& B and rock and roll. They could see us singing along, knew we were Americans, and nodded and smiled at us after each tune, acknowledging our applause. Then an extraordinary thing happened.
A young black gentleman, extremely athletic looking, handsome and dapper in a white suit and tie with a shiny silver vest, approached the informal stage and leaned down to talk to the piano player. I assumed he was discussing what number he might sing. After a few moments, they nodded and smiled at each other as if they were enjoying a private joke. The pianist spoke a few words to the bass player and off they went into a kind of bouncy ragtime number. Just as I was expecting the man to sing, he began swinging his arms and tap dancing on the tile floor with such a combination of energy and finesse that I almost fell out of my chair. Now, I don’t claim to be a connoisseur of dance, but I can tell the real deal when I see it! This was amazing!! I’m talking Gene Kelley amazing!! The crowd went absolutely wild as the guy danced through three numbers. I have to admit I have never seen a tap dancer perform in person, never mind from 10 feet away, and it was unbelievable to the point of bringing tears of joy to my eyes! I had this feeling I had just witnessed one of those incredible spontaneous events you’ll never see again, here on my second night in Paris, in a little café on a narrow side street a stones throw from our hotel.
After the third number of acrobatic dancing, the man smiled, cocked his head and took a bow as the crowd stood screaming and clapping. The band took a break, as I knew there would be no way to follow a burst of magic like that! The bass player leaned his old bass into the corner and immediately came over to speak with us. His English was quite good and I invited him to join us for a drink. I assumed he knew the dancer and that perhaps this had happened before. No, he explained, they had never seen the guy. They understood he was dancing in a show somewhere in Paris and had just happened to stop in with his girlfriend for a drink. Wow, how lucky we were to be sitting there.
I explained to my new friend that I played guitar and wrote songs and we had a great discussion about all kinds of music and it once again reminded me of what an amazing influence American music has had on much of the world. Aside from playing in this duo, the bassist told me he also played in a Texas swing band! I said you mean stuff like Asleep At The Wheel? He replied in his French accent, “well yees, but of course they borrowed much of their style from Bob Weels.” Unbelievable, I thought! He probably knows more about American music than I do!
Just then, the fabulous dancer approached our table to say good night to the French bassist. Michelle and I complimented him and immediately noticed he spoke perfect English. It turns out he was from New York and was indeed working in Paris and that he had also danced in the legendary Riverdance show! I mentioned I knew Eilleen Ivers, the phenomenal fiddle played from that production and of course he knew her as well. We laughed about what a small and wonderful world it was and we said goodnight and he walked out into the cool Paris evening.
PARROTHEADS IN PARADISE AND A LIVE RECORDING.
One thing about being planted smack dab in the middle of autumn, in New Hampshire, is you can still taste the delights of summer, while feeling that icy breath from old man winter beginning to blow down your neck. In other words, it won’t be long before many of us will be freezing our asses off! The late Hunter S. Thompson, a favorite of mine wrote “The autumn months are never a calm time in America. Back to Work, Back to Football Practice, etc… Autumn is a very traditional period, a period of strong Rituals and the celebrating of strange annual holidays like Halloween and Satanism and the fateful Harvest Moon, which can have ominous implications for some people.”
Which brings me to the PARROTHEADS IN PARADISE festival! An annual fall celebration that typically draws thousands of tropically attired Jimmy Buffett devotees to Key West for a week of partying, partying and partying. And did I mention partying? The good news is it gives us “other songwriters” a great opportunity to perform for thousands of enthusiastic fans and raises tens of thousands of dollars for charity.
This has become a ritual for me over the years, and 2006 is no different. I’ll once again be playing a bunch of shows at The Hogs Breath with guitarist Dave Edmisten and will be performing twice on the beach at the Casa Marina Hotel. The big Thursday evening show that I have shared over the years with Peter Mayer, has been moved to Friday night, to make room for the Jerry Jeff Walker and Keith Sykes show, which I’m very much looking forward to seeing.
I’ve been toying with the idea of recording a live CD for the past year or so, and over breakfast at Pepe’s Café one morning, J.L. Jamison gave me the idea of recording the show on the big stage at the Case Marina. After all, what could be a better vibe than recording on the beach in Key West with a great band in front of a couple thousand of hyper-relaxed Parrotheads!
SO, the stage is set—or will be on November 3—and the recording button will be on and we’ll see what happens! Trying to record just one show for a CD is a bit of a high wire act (most live CDs are compiled from multiple performances) but we’re going to give it a go. I’ll be surrounded on stage by a great group of friends, so even if don’t get a perfect CD out of it, I guarantee we’ll have a blast and put on a great show.
Dave Edmisten, an awesome musician and singer who has been performing with me over the past year, and my old friend, Peter Mayer, will be playing guitar and singing backing vocals. The fabulous Emily Randle (or I should say Leader now, SHE’S MARRIED, DAMN IT) will be on loan from the United States Army Band for the weekend, on fiddle, and my close friend Gabriel Donohue will be joining us on piano, organ and mandolin. Gabriel, an amazing multitalented musician, singer, writer and producer, also played guitar for five years with the legendary Chieftains. I met him in Key West 20 years ago one night, when he was playing a gig on the pier at The Ocean Key House. I had not owned a guitar for years and he gave me the impetus to start playing gain. I don’t believe I would be performing and writing music if I had not met Gabriel.
Last but not least, Matt and Andy Thompson, of THOMPSON BROTHERS and MASSACOUSTICS fame will be playing drums and bass guitar. Andy, an incredible guitar player who played many of the tracks on my most recent CD, has graciously stepped in to play bass, and along with brother Matt on drums, are an awesome rhythm section. They’ve just been signed toWarner Brothers, are extraordinarily talented, and I can’t thank them enough for coming down from Nashville to help me out!
They know the pay is small, but the laughs will be huge and the stories monumental. After all, the legendary wicked sisters haven’t been together in Key West for years, and there aren’t enough emergency workers in the whole state of Florida to clean up after this potential disaster!! Happy Halloween my little pumpkins!!
RADIO MARGARITAVILLE AND KEY WEST MAGAZINE
Just a couple of other notes and I’ll put this inaugural edition of Mumbo Jumbo to bed. Thanks to many of you, I’m getting tons of airplay on Radio Margaritaville on Sirius Satellite Radio. If you’ve been requesting my songs, my heartfelt thanks and keep up the good work! A special thanks to Steve Huntington and everyone at the station for their support!
And those of you in Key West over the winter, keep your eye out for Key West Magazine. I will be doing an interview with them next week about songwriting and expect the story to come out in one of the next few issues!! More Mumbo Jumbo but in a glossy full color magazine!
Until we meet again my friends!
Scott
Scott Kirby and Peter Mayer's Hurricane Relief Concert is publicized in the September 12, 2005 edition of The Union Leader, at the conclusion of John Clayton's column.
The "Margaritaville in Manchester" event will be held at the Palace Theatre on September 23, at 8:00 pm. Proceeds will benefit the American Red Cross and the New Orleans Musicians' Hurricane Relief Fund, so those who make music in America's most musical of cities can begin to put their lives together again.
The article may be read in its entirety at: http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showa.html?article=60303
Peter Mayer and Scott Kirby are pleased to announce that all profits from ticket sales of their September 23 concert, at The Palace Theatre, Manchester, NH, will be donated to Hurricane Relief. Please help us spread the word! Click on "gigs" for details and ticket information.
Scott Kirby's music is now on Vacation 97!
There are three cuts currently in rotation:
"If Once You've Slept On An Island"
"Heart Of A Beach Town"
"Grand Bar Schemes"
-Enjoy!
Scott's music is now being presented to a potential audience of
MILLIONS, in all places nationally and around the world.
1) Sirius, with 1.3 million subscribers (Lower 48, coming soon Canada)
2) DISH TV music channels with 6 million subscribers (Alaska & Hawaii included)
3) www.sirius.com 3 day free test drive (worldwide...we DO get comments from Sweden, etc!)and to all subscribers, streaming is unlimited.
CONGRATULATIONS, SCOTT!!!!
"We Don’t Have No Bars On Our Windows...
We Don’t Have No Windows On our Bars..."
Scott Kirby has been the lyrical biographer of the times in Key West since 1988
Key West, Florida has always been enough to write about. It made for a good inspirational foundation for the likes of Ernest Hemingway and Truman Capote. Tom Corcoran has found no better setting for his mystery novels. It certainly provided many lyrical backdrops for the Jimmy Buffetts, and the Jerry Jeff Walkers.
Much has changed in the old Conch Republic over the years, but much has stayed the same. The place is still full of character and characters. It’s a place where the haves and the have-nots find common ground, and it is often difficult to distinguish between them.
On most of Duval Street, open-fronted establishments opt for ceiling fans in lieu of air-conditioning, the setting sun is regarded as a sacred time for celebration, and chickens walk around like they own the place.
The legacy of writers and musicians is still very much in evidence. It seems there’s a guitar player in every bar, and if you meander into the right one, you just might find Scott Kirby.
Scott Kirby is a human microcosm of the little island at the southernmost tip of America where he now makes his home. Entertainer and patron, laid back humorist, sailor and singer, he’s another well-traveled fixture of the American tropics.
We caught up with Scott at the Pier House last November. It was a breezy Florida night with soft waves lapping the sandy beach in front of the stage. Not a bad place to hear some music.
The great thing about experiencing a songwriter live is that you sometimes get some insight into their inspirations. I remember that night at the Pier House. Scott was talking about "Lucky Man", a song that starts out: "I’m not on the airwaves....I’m right here by the blue waves...and only that crazy heron knows my songs...". In the midst of his explanation as to the song’s origin, he pointed to a float bobbing about thirty yards from shore and said "there was a heron right out there on that float." As if on cue, a white heron had just landed there, and with a wry smile Kirby continued with "and there he is now".
I don’t know how much it costs to keep waterfowl on retainer, but it really did seem that Mr. Kirby was in command of the mood, if not the elements.
He wound into songs from his three previous albums and added a few new ones like "Four Good Dogs", relating the sentiment that that’s really all you can expect out of life.
He also spun a few old Jimmy Buffett tunes to the delight of an audience that was heavily weighted with parrot heads. And in the true spirit of parrot head madness, I recall Scott telling everyone that he would be home the following day if anyone wanted to stop by for a beer. He then proceeded to give out his home address.
I looked around at the beer soaked tropical shirt clad crowd, and I hoped Mr. Kirby knew what he was doing. I’d hoped he had as good a relationship with his wife as he seems to have with that heron.
On stage with guitar in hand, there is no question that Scott Kirby knows what he’s doing. Relating stories of old friends, sailing trips, home maintenance frustrations and a few "Grand Bar Schemes", Scott portrays life in the Keys in a sometimes poignant, sometimes humorous manner.
"The Sweet Flowers of Cuba" is a perfect example of the former. They are poetic lyrics that challenge your imagination. "When the wind is right you can smell them all the way down to Mexico...." - or in this case, the outdoor bar at the Pier House. "This Old House" is a prime example of Kirby’s humorous side. The song bemoans the life of a first time homeowner that had no idea what he was getting into -"Bob Villa if I see ya down at Sears I’ll kick your ass...".
Scott Kirby is originally from New Hampshire where he worked as a political consultant, and played in clubs on the weekends. In 1988, he made his way to the Florida Keys where his music has developed over the years into the storytelling, laid back style he refers to as "beach folk". A finger style guitarist, Kirby occasionally adds the harmonica, and has been known to collaborate with guitarist friends like Peter Mayer and Bobby Donaldson (among others), whenever their paths cross.
In his travels, Scott Kirby has shared the stage with such notables as Carol King, Livingston Taylor and Tommy Makem. He’s performed with the Peter Mayer Group and Club Trini at "Islandfests".
Kirby’s rigorous 200-plus show performing schedule per year, takes him just about everywhere, but at home he can be found routinely at the Hog's Breath Saloon, Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Cafe or the Pier House.
Fortunately, Scott has made several appearances in Western New York in recent years, but it was quite an experience to catch him in his natural habitat. Seeing him perform where the songs were born out of characters and sailing, guitars and tequila made it special.
So the land that has long been known for pirates and smugglers, treasure hunters and sailors can rest assured that it’s rich legacy of great writing and storytelling is in good hands - I think the work of Scott Kirby is reaching a little farther than that crazy heron.
"I’m living in a free range institution...It’s a three-ring circus of twelve step programs to choose from....It’s an open-air asylum at it’s best...The Doctor says to get a little sun and rest...Baby check yourself right into Key West" – Free Range Institution (Grand Bar Schemes).
Dave Fultz, Buffalo, NY
Scott Kirby was recently featured in an article in the New Hampshire newspaper The Union Leader. The article talks about Scott's recent move back to New Hampshire but keeping his Key West-style performances.
Little Flock artist Peter Mayer is also quoted in the article, talking about Scott: "He's got this great life-energy about him. He's got this great sense of humor that not only keeps me laughing, but he keeps me honest."
You can read the full article at The Union Leader Online. (mini-registration required)
Hot of the presses, the Scott Kirby 4 Good Dogs merchandise is now available. Choose from a tee shirt, sweat shirt or baseball cap, all emblazoned with the 4 Good Dogs album artwork. Look sharp and help spread the word about Scott. Visit the Little Flock Music Store to get your gear.