MUMBO JUMBO – May 2011
It’s Monday, May 2, and I’m sitting on a Boeing 757 heading for Boston for a much anticipated reunion with my trusted van! I hope it’s not too angry with me for subjecting it to four months of a particularly brutal New England winter and treats me as kindly as last year, when it flawlessly carried me across 30,000 miles of North America.
I finished my last show at The 16th annual Key West Songwriters Festival late last night, and instead of going home to bed in preparation for my 6am flight, I felt compelled to have a few quiet celebratory drinks under bright stars and balmy breezes at The Afterdeck Bar. Moments before I had received a text that we had finally brought Osama Bin Laden to justice.
I’ve been in the Keys for four months which is a long time for me, and a bit of island fever has set in, so I’m happy to be heading home to New Hampshire for a few days before heading out on the road for a while. I find travel to be one of the last great luxuries, so I’m really grateful that it’s such an integral part of my job. Being in Key West for the winter is a battery charging experience, but by spring I’m overflowing with energy and ready to get off the rock to sail around the country.
Once again the tour will take us all the way to the West Coast and back and we’re still adding shows, so please e mail Terry Lederer at terry@scottkirby.com if you have any ideas of where we might perform. The first leg begins on May 4 in Taunton, Massachusetts, and finishes in McAllen, Texas, on May 23rd. Here are the list of venues and dates. Please check the web site for more details, such as performance times and ticket info.
May 4: Baha Brothers’ Sandbar Grill; Taunton, MA
May 5: Rivermill at Dover Landing; Dover, NH
May 6: The Lodge at Belmont; Belmont, NH
May 7: Private Event; Lansdale, PA
May 8: Big Owl Tiki Bar; Grasonville, MD
May 10: Ashland Coffee & Tea; Ashland, VA
May 11: Private Event; Charlotte, NC
May 12: Hemingway’s; Marietta, GA
May 13: Silver Moon Lounge at the Florabama; Orange Beach, AL
May 14: Tropical Isle; New Orleans, LA
May 17: LuLu’s at Homeport Marina; Gulf Shores, AL
May 19: Sweetwater Country Club; Sugar Land, TX
May 20: Sugar Land Town Square; Sugar Land, TX
May 21: Private Event; Rockport, TX
May 23: Private Event; McAllen, TX
WE’RE SMOKIN’ TUNA…and it’s legal!!!
OK, I MIGHT BE SMOKING SOMETHING OTHER THAN TUNA BECAUSE WE’RE OPENING A NEW BAR IN KEY WEST!!!! Yes, that’s correct!! You may think I’ve lost my mind, but I’m joining five other crazy people and we’re opening The SMOKIN’ TUNA SALOON this June in the heart of old town. This has been in the works for a while but we didn’t want to announce until we formally took over the property.
I figured I might as well finally put my 35 years of intense research and PHD (pretty hard drinking) to good use. My rough calculations tell me that the partners in this grand bar scheme have logged over 200 years of flight time in the greatest saloons all over the world (some under combat conditions!), so if we can’t figure out how to build a fantastic one, then we deserve to lose our life savings. Did I mention PLEASE DRINK AT OUR BAR!
Thankfully, my mother doesn’t read the Mumbo Jumbo as I told her I was using the money to go to divinity school.
Actually, we’re not as crazy as we may sound, because my good buddy Charlie Bauer is the brains and experience behind this enterprise and will be the managing partner. They might allow me to play there once in a while, but I don’t expect to be allowed anywhere near the money or the liquor! If you don’t know Charlie, he originally founded the Hogs Breath Saloon in Key West, and managed it for over two decades, and over the course of sixteen years has built the Key Songwriters Festival into the biggest such event in the country. Charlie knows a lot about great bars and good music and we’re working on putting together a killer casual menu of fresh seafood and other local favorites. We’re also striving to have the most friendly staff on the planet!
If all goes according to plan, Dave Edmisten and I will be flying south to play at the opening on Friday, June 10, and will be joined by some special guests ( I’ll shortly find out who my real friends are!). This is going to be a great place to play as almost every seat has great sight lines to the stage and playing outdoors in Key West is fantastic, particularly in an historic setting like this that is also protected from the wind and the noise of Duval St.
THE SMOKIN’ TUNA SALOON is located on Charles Street, just off Duval in the 200 block, slightly south and across the street from Sloppy Joes. It was formally El Alamo Bar. This fantastic open air brick lined courtyard features two bars, a large stage and is framed by three historic buildings which will house the kitchen and merchandise shop. There is an enormous tree on the property that provides a beautiful shaded canopy to the property reminding me of a song I often sing:
“Looking for some shelter from the sun…in a shady bar at the end of old Route 1”
More details will follow in the June Mumbo Jumbo so stay tuned. And did I mention, PLEASE DRINK AT OUR BAR!!!! We’re Smokin’ Tuna…and it’s legal!
AN APRIL FOOLS APOLOGY
In the April first version of Mumbo Jumbo I have to admit I got carried away and spun a tall tale about a visit to our beloved island by the dictator Col. Gaddaffi several years ago. Apparently I was “smoking tuna” and most of you weren’t (including a number of federal and local officials) and didn’t get my perverse April Fools joke, landing me in a small pool of hot water.
I was certain my inclusion of the Wicked Sisters in the story would have alerted folks to the prank, but apparently that was not the case. In fact, the people who know the Sisters the best were the most fooled! Sorry!
As always, thanks for listening!!
Scott Kirby
Copyright Scott Kirby 2009. All rights reserved. www.scottkirby.com
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