MUMBO JUMBO | May 2010
SPRING IN THE KEYS!!
April and May are my two favorite months in the Florida Keys. The blustery north winds and 60’s and 70’s of winter quietly give way to balmy southeast breezes and a steady temperature of 80 to 83 degrees. It’s a special transitional time of year before the heat of summer sets in, and a season when the locals start to spend serious time out on our magical waters! The water temp starts climbing up into the 80’s, the visibility improves for diving and our world class fishing springs to life!
As I mentioned last month, as a lifelong sailor, I feel like I haven’t spent enough time out on the water recently. Between my 175 shows a year, the constant travelling and the associated planning the music biz requires, I’m constantly fighting to get more time out on the water. Unfortunately a day on the water in the hot sun sailing or fishing doesn’t exactly bode well for an energetic show in the evening, so I have to pick my times accordingly.
Each month during the winter, Dave and I get out of Key West for a weekend to play at one of our favorite upper Keys spots, SNAPPERS (mile marker 94.5). It’s a great respite from the hustle and bustle of Key West, with awesome food and a relaxed, rustic bar set right on the water among the mangroves. We always run into our old friend there, Capt. Bruce Pollock, a fishing guide we met up in his home town of Ellicottville, New York, years ago. Bruce often invites us out to fish and this time we took him up on it!
I’ve spent a fair amount of time in the back country waters of Key West, but have never had the opportunity to explore this part of Florida Bay and National Everglades Park. It was a rare cool, cloudy Saturday for April, and Dave and I jumped on Capt. Bruce’s 24 ft flats boat and headed about 15 miles west, skipping across the shallow water comfortably at 30 knots. Bruce had hooked into a couple of big tarpon the day before, so we opted to spend some time touring this beautiful sanctuary and stopping to fish for trout, which we did with great success! Bruce has spent thousands of hours learning to navigate and fish these tricky, pristine waters which is exactly what you want when you’re zipping along in a foot or two of water! What a memorable afternoon!!!!
If you’re spending time in the upper Keys I would highly suggest giving Capt. Bruce a call to check it out for yourself! (305-393-5269) He operates in some of the finest sport fishing grounds in the world and it will be an experience you won’t soon forget!
HOPE TO SEE YOU ON OUR GREAT AMERICAN ROAD TRIP!!
I haven’t driven cross country in a dozen years or so and this just seemed the right year to expand my playing schedule and try to get to a few places west of the Mississippi we haven’t played before, while getting the chance to stretch my legs and scratch my itchy feet! Six months on an island will do that to you!
The first segment of the trip takes us through familiar territory from June 12 through July 6th: Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Western New York, Canada, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. My guitarist, Dave Edmisten will be with me for most of these shows. Check the new web site for details!www.scottkirby.com
From there I head west to play solo in Iowa, Nebraska, and Colorado. Dave rejoins me for three great shows in the Seattle area before continuing solo down the west coast. IT’S HERE I COULD USE YOUR HELP! I hope to book some shows on the west coast before heading east through Arizona, where I hook back up with Dave in Albuquerque on August 6th and 7th. I will be playing a house concert in San Diego on August 1st but if you have any venue or house concert suggestions in Oregon or California July 26 through 31 please e mail Terry Lederer at terry@scottkirby.com for booking assistance!!
We hope to play a couple of dates in Texas on our way to New Orleans and then hit Atlanta on our way back to a slew of shows in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, through the third week of August. After a couple of weeks off (I think we’ll need it!) we’ll start in New England in mid September and tour back down the east coast, arriving back in Florida for appearances in northern and central Florida in early October. Ten thousand miles and four months later… its back to the Keys!!!
We hope to see many of you along the way, so please check the web site regularly. And if you see we’re nearby with an open night and want to bring us to your neighborhood, please write Terry at Terry@scottkirby.com.
As always, thanks for listening!
Scott
“ROW ME HOME” TO BE AVAILABLE ON I TUNES SOON!!
Copyright Scott Kirby 2009. All rights reserved. www.scottkirby.com
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