Recently the world, and Key West in particular, lost a blues icon, one Mr. Bill Blue. Many great articles and tributes have been written about the man, his music and his effect on those who knew him. If you love the blues, may I suggest his albums “King of Crazy Town” or “Mojolation”?
With his passing, the state of the blues in the Florida Keys took a hit, but its roots run deep and the thick saturated tones of the blues still shake the thatch of many a local tiki hut.
Among the perennial old-school blues performers still honing their craft among the palms is Lady A. As lead singer and “face of the franchise” for the Lady A Blues Band, she confides, “It was sometimes a tough sell to bar/club owners … since blues music is construed by some to be ‘sad’ or ‘depressing.’”
After relocating to Islamorada in 1993, Lady A found that people felt differently. “When visitors would hear us break into a B.B. King or Muddy Waters tune, the audience would be pleasantly surprised that this type of music was being played in the Keys,” she said.
Lady A and her husband, Ric Arra, continue to lay down old-school blues between Islamorada and Key West every week, with no plans to stop any time soon. “Though we could probably do well in a more urban environment, we would not trade the Keys for anything. We love the people and everything this place has to offer,” they said.
Another local blues icon roaming the Keys in various forms of transportation is one Ellard-James Moose Boles. “Moose,” as he is affectionately known, is front man for Moose and The Blues Bandidos, and is a big man with a big presence. Having been Lou Reed’s bass player for six years and after having performed with Gregg Allman, Stevie Ray Vaughan, David Bowie, Buddy Miles. Steve Miller, John Belushi and several others, he made the Keys his home and has based himself here since 1997.
With all that history, he regards the memory of standing between Caffeine Carl Wagoner and Carl Peachy at the Green Parrot, playing what he called some “Memphis downhome gutter blues” to cheering fans, as one of his greatest memories. With the subtle smirk of an inside joke he says “When a crowd down here finds something they like, they are a bit more responsive than some places I’ve known.”
When asked about playing the blues on an island, he said, “Playing the blues is playing the blues, and I’m a blues player. I like to take songs people like and intertwine them with the blues. It becomes something of its own, people love it, and I love it.”
With a new CD being released, Moose is also in no mood to quit bringing the blues to the Keys.
There are other great blues players in our island chain, including Ericson Holt (winner of Album of the Year at last year’s Key West Music Awards) who is a must-see on the piano. Larry Baeder champions blues guitar regularly around town, and the Little Jazz Room supplies us a spot to hear some of the most talented ladies in town sing the blues so well as to make you cry, laugh, and text an ex-lover.
Yes, even in a place where the sun always shines, drinks are always flowing and the sand is just the right temperature, you can still find the blues.
