Key West Misfits

Key West lost one if its best songwriters last week, and today would have been her birthday. I encourage you to stream and listen to her beautiful music today. Rest easy Luna. Coconut Koalas

Sunpie Island - Album by Coconut Koalas | Spotify Coconut Koalas · album · 2022 · 11 songs

Happy Songwriters Festival Key West! Here’s a great story about two of Americas best and their mutual admiration for each other.

“Well before Jimmy Buffett became king of the Parrotheads, he was a highly regarded singer-songwriter with an obvious gift for storytelling — and among his admirers was Bob Dylan. Dylan first made his fandom known in 1982, when he rendered a surprise appearance with Joan Baez even more shocking by launching into Buffett’s “A Pirate Looks at 40.” Then, in a 2009 interview with Bill Flanagan, Dylan named Buffett as one of his favorite songwriters (along with Gordon Lightfoot, Warren Zevon, Randy Newman, John Prine, and Guy Clark). As Buffett discusses in an episode of The Rolling Stone Interview: Special Edition, the two men also spent some time together — and as with most Dylan stories, there’s a twist. The meeting took place not long after Dylan’s duet with Baez, on a harbor off the island of St. Bart’s, where Dylan had a schooner named Water Pearl.

“I was walking by the marine-supply store,” Buffett recalls, “and I heard a voice say, ‘Hey, Jimmy, that’s a nice-looking pair of shoes. And it was Bob Dylan! He was seeing a girl that I knew on the island, and I knew a couple of guys that worked for him on the road. And he invited me out on the boat, and we sat there and talked. We got stoned all day long.” Buffett came away convinced he’d made a deep connection with Dylan: “I’m thinking, man, we have a bond here.”

“Five years later, he went to see Dylan perform with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in Paris, and a mutual friend who worked security told Buffett that Dylan would be excited to see him backstage. “And I go backstage,” says Buffett, “and Dylan was sitting there. He had these gloves on. He’s got his hoodie on. I said, ‘Bob, how doin’?’”

Dylan responded with just a grunted “eh.” “He never said a word,” says Buffett. “I sat there, ate my meal and said, ‘Well, have a good show. See you later.’ That was it. I haven’t seen him since!”” - By BRIAN HIATT
MAY 29, 2020

If the Key West music scene was a comic book full of cosmic characters, Mark King would be the staples that hold the book together.

“I had been playing bass four years ago, with Joe Samba, who was based in New Hampshire at that time,” King explained. “He had just moved to Key West, and got this opportunity to make a video, at Sugar Shack Springs, in Bonita Springs, so he flew us all down there. My intention was just to do those sessions with Joe for our video, but when I went down there, no singing was allowed in Massachusetts and work was tough for musicians with the pandemic restrictions. But we found that Key West was hopping. You had to sing behind plexiglass, but it really was a prime area if you wanted to be a fulltime musician. You could stay on the island, and just gig relentlessly, so I eventually moved down.”

King grew up in a family of music fans, with three older sisters.
“I really grew up on 1990s pop,” he noted. “My three older sisters had control of the radio in our house. But about the time I hit middle school, I began getting into punk rock, and attending some of the Warped Tour shows was a big thing. Eventually that led me into music like Led Zeppelin, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who played the kind of high-energy rock and funk I wanted to play.”

“I had picked up bass in the eighth grade, and jammed with the high school band on that,” King said. “It was the first year Pembroke High had ever had a concert band. But before my sophomore year of high school, the band director, Mr. Glass, was desperate to find a tuba player, which we really needed, so I switched over. Mr. Glass always said there were a lot of similarities between those instruments and the roles they play, and I have personally found my experience on tuba was very helpful to my bass-playing. So, a big thank you to Mr. Glass for encouraging me and playing a big part in my musical education.”

Mark can be seen playing all over the island in various groups he helped create including AstroYeti and his newest hot group Disco Nap. Be sure to keep updated with his schedule by following Mark King Jams and stop by a gig when you’re in town