An open-window drive down the island’s main tourism artery, past scores of bars and restaurants, once sounded as if someone had pressed “scan” on their car radio. Snippets of country, rock, blues and jazz punctuated the day and night. Drums pulsed like a heartbeat while singers belted out original tunes and longtime favorites while guitar, bass and horn players brought their instruments to life.
The same drive today sounds as if several radio stations are off the air, with pockets of silence once filled with music. The coronavirus pandemic has lowered the volume on the downtown music scene.
Key West music photographer and author Ralph De Palma has been documenting Key West’s live music scene for more than a decade, compiling images and biographies in his book, “The Soul of Key West.”
De Palma has been observing the pandemic’s impact on Key West’s live music scene. “Pre-pandemic we had a weekly average of 300 live performances at 55 venues. Some places had three music shifts per day,” De Palma told Keys Weekly on Oct. 25. “As of this past week, we’re down to about 19 live music venues, including the amphitheater and Key West Theater, which don’t have daily performances. And last week, there were only 115 live performances.”
And many places that usually host entire bands are down to solo players or duets, either because they don’t have the money to pay more people, or they don’t have the space to enable proper social distancing, De Palma said.
But he and Key West’s musicians are eternal optimists.
“The pandemic is changing the music scene, but not our musicians,” De Palma said. “There’s no other live music scene like Key West.”
Larry Baeder, who’s been a mainstay on Key West stages since the early ‘90s, shares De Palma’s concerns — and his optimism.
“The state has made it virtually impossible for musicians to get unemployment,” Baeder said. “People don’t realize how out of the normal fold musicians are. The majority of musicians I know have received no government money. We’re 100% on their own.”
“But no matter how difficult it is, it’s still better here than anywhere else,” Baeder emphasized. “I really do have to thank the hotels and live music venues who have brought people back to play. Places like Rams Head, Blue Heaven, Viva, Casa Marina, Key West Theater and so many others. For a long time there was nothing. I just got one of my hotel gigs back and I wanted to run over and kiss them. A lot of venues are only paying what they can and I appreciate them for that. I’m so grateful. It’s not an adversarial relationship between the musicians and venues, not at all, but this is the most difficult time I’ve ever seen to make a living playing music. But I’m optimistic. This is a city with a deep commitment to live music, and we as musicians have to be thankful for the venues that are bringing us back as much as they can.”
Jesse Wagner, of the Happy Dog Band, pointed to the discrepancy between concerns for public health and the dependence of live music venues on high volumes of people in order to survive financially.
“It’s hard to complain, given the suffering that all industries are experiencing now,” Wagner said. “That said, this has had an incredible impact on venues and musicians as the total available economic flow to us has been decimated for the foreseeable future.”
Wagner said he’s grateful to the people and places that are adapting to this transition period. “Locally, it’s great to see venues like Green Parrot, Sloppy Joe’s, and many others reducing capacity, but maintaining a steady flow of loyalty and with it a moderate sustainability in the short term.
“From the musicians’ standpoint, the money is very low and a lot of us survive because of patrons of the arts and their generosity by way of donations via live streams, merchandise sales, etc. Live streaming is saturated, so it has become rough. But at least we have the technology and some beautiful people to support it.”
Wagner is also concerned about the permanent loss of several venues that have closed.
“It’s heartbreaking,” he said. “These people loved what they did, and through no fault of their own simply lost it. And with each venue that closes goes the staff’s jobs and the potential gigs. Not to mention a piece of our culture.”
But he also has hope for better days and a happier tune.
“Ultimately there is a good bone in our society that continues to hold us together despite the obvious major differences in social hierarchy and philosophy,” Wagner said. “Thank God there are venues like the Coffee Butler Amphitheater, the Sunset Pier that continue to provide the safe outdoor capacity for some level of normalcy. Conch Town Music has also been a huge help for local musicians.”
