The Keys Weekly scored some great interviews with some big names in 2022.
From sports heroes, Olympians and a celebrity stuntman to music legends, rock star photographers and famous chefs, here are just a few of the heavy hitters who shared some of their time with the Keys Weekly staff for print interviews and Florida Keys Podcast episodes.
TRAVIS PASTRANA, pro motorsports competitor & stuntman — January & July 2022
Professional motorsports competitor and stuntman Travis Pastrana spoke to the Keys Weekly twice in 2022, once in January with Upper Keys Editor Jim McCarthy and again in July for a full Q&A with Marathon editor Alex Rickert.
Ahead of his jaw-dropping jump over the Boot Key Bridge on June 11, Pastrana was kind enough to sit down with Keys Weekly to discuss the jump, his legacy, and what keeps him going after already securing his place among motorsports royalty.
Earlier in the year, Pastrana brought stunts and action not normally seen on U.S. 1 on Jan. 20.
A portion of U.S. 1 at MM 91 was closed by Monroe County Sheriff’s deputies for brief periods as Pastrana performed drifts in a roaring 1983 Subaru GL Monster. It was all part of a video shoot with film crews. Pastrana used the road leading to Tavernier Creek Marina as a runway to perform drifts onto U.S. 1. Smoke rose from the tires as film crews caught the action.
WARREN HAYNES, music legend — October 2022
Key West Weekly publisher Britt Myers doesn’t typically get starstruck, having interviewed dozens of celebrities. But Warren Haynes is a musical legend and one of our boss’ personal heroes. Haynes is widely considered one of the greatest live performers to ever command a stage. And on Oct. 18, he and his band, Gov’t Mule, played the Coffee Butler Amphitheater in Key West.
Haynes’ career includes stints with the Allman Brothers, Grateful Dead and dozens of collaborations with legendary names across the music spectrum, along with almost three decades of Gov’t Mule projects and solo work.
The Florida Keys Weekly Podcast caught up with Grammy-winning Warren Haynes in October. The discussion ranges from his earlier years, including his first-ever live gig with Gregg Allman on Duval Street, to which artists Haynes believes will carry the guitar hero torch into the next generations of music.
ADAM LAMBERT — April 2022
Musical superstar Adam Lambert joined Britt Myers on the Florida Keys Weekly Podcast in April, before his April 28 concert at the Key West Amphitheater.
Once known for his American Idol fame, Lambert has since become one of the most celebrated artists and stage performers on the globe. He’s now touring with Queen on lead vocals. Lambert and Myers discussed the music man’s fondest American Idol memories, what touring with Queen has meant to him and how he stays grounded while using his meteoric rise and popularity for philanthropic causes.
KEVIN MARTIN, Candlebox front man — February 2022
Kevin Martin, a multi-platinum musician, has a warm demeanor and complete lack of the ego one would expect from a singer with his credentials.
Martin is the frontman of the band Candlebox, a Seattle-based rock band whose chart-topping self-titled debut album has been certified 4x platinum by the RIAA. With singles like “Far Behind,” “You” and “Cover Me,” the album launched a 30-year career that has seen the band release seven studio albums, continuing with their 2021 record “Wolves.”
The band has unique ties to the Keys, as they filmed the music video for their single “Understanding” both above and below the waters of Marathon with legendary director Gus Van Sant in 1995. Martin returned to the Keys in February 2022 for the first time since the shoot to perform an acoustic set at the Key West Theater.
RED BULL WAKEBOARDING TEAM — June 2022
As Tropical Storm Alex churned in the Gulf of Mexico in June, five unfazed athletes from the elite Red Bull wakeboarding team ironed out final details for their Keyswide water adventure.
“We brought a lot of equipment down, we had two boats, two skis,” said Brian Grubb, a two-time world wakeboarding champion and, at 41, the oldest member of the team. “It’s kind of a lifestyle. We’ve been doing this since we were 10.”
The “we” includes Grubb and Parks Bonifay, one of the sport’s premier trick innovators.
Those two, along with teammates Massi Piffaretti, Guenther Oka and Meagan Ethell, spent five days catching big air on their wakeboards from Key Largo to Key West — and still took time to speak with the Keys Weekly’s Kellie Butler Farrell.
DANNY CLINCH, rock star photographer — November 2022
You might not recognize the name Danny Clinch, but you’ve seen his work. Some of the most iconic photo shoots in music, from album covers to documentaries, have been captured by the imaginative eye of Clinch and his camera. From Bruce Springsteen, Eddie Vedder, Bob Dylan and Stevie Nicks to Neil Young, Elvis Costello and Steve Martin, Clinch is the artist stars request to capture and document their moments in time and in musical history.
The Florida Keys Weekly Podcast and Britt Myers caught up with Danny Clinch in November, before his participation in the local Coast Is Clear Music & Arts Festival. The two discussed Clinch’s relationship with Springsteen, how (maybe) he is still starstruck by Bob Dylan and why you might be surprised to hear the details of a particular photoshoot with Tupac Shakur.
TOMMY JOHN, Major League pitcher & surgery namesake — February 2022
Who’s the greatest player to not be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame? We believe it’s former pitching great, Tommy John, so we asked him about that and other topics on the Florida Keys Weekly Podcast.
Tommy John shared his thoughts on baseball’s steroid era, what it was like to pitch in three different decades in the majors and what he said to Mark McGwire that led to a confrontation outside of a team bus. He also talks about the elbow surgery that saved his career and now bears his name.
PAUL WAHLBERG – chef behind Wahlburgers — April 2022
Britt Myers and the Florida Keys Weekly Podcast caught up with chef Paul Wahlberg in April. The oldest Wahlberg brother discusses his love of family (including his two lesser-known little brothers, Donnie and Mark), the family experience he has created at Wahlburgers restaurants across the globe and why he loves the waterfront Wahlburgers Key West location along the island’s Historic Harbor Walk.
During his trip to Key West, Paul emphasized the restaurant’s mission to be a part of the communities they serve and he talked about why the famed burger franchise is so much more than just tasty beef and buns. True to form, even with the notoriety his family name and reality TV has created, the famed chef remains humble and accessible. Enjoy the episode.
JOHN FEINSTEIN, sports writer — March 2022
John Feinstein, one of the most celebrated sports writers in modern history and author of “A Season on the Brink,” joined The Florida Keys Weekly Podcast to discuss his most recent book, “Raise a Fist, Take a Knee.” Feinstein, who eloquently and unapologetically examines racial inequality in sports, interviewed dozens of the most recognized coaches and players to shed a timely light on the outdated ideologies that continue to exist.
He reflects on his own relationships with Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski and the late, legendary John Thompson of the Georgetown Hoyas, the first African-American head coach to win a college basketball national championship. Feinstein is the author of 44 books and has worked as a columnist for Sporting News, Golf Digest and the Washington Post. He also has provided commentary for The Jim Rome Show, The Golf Channel and many other major media outlets.
Britt Myers and Josh Mothner hosted Feinstein on the podcast.
ANN-MARGRETH HALL-FREI (Swedish Olympian) — June 2022
The Upper Keys Weekly’s Kellie Butler Farrell took a chair yoga class at Founders Park in the springtime and found herself seated next to Swedish Olympic figure skater Ann-Margreth Hall-Frei (Margreth spelled the Swedish way), who was, by then, 80 years old.
“1964 was my Olympic year with Peggy Fleming and that was my generation,” she said.
The energetic octogenarian competed for Sweden at the age of 22 and later went on to join the Ice Capades for 16 years.
Now Frei spends several months a year in Islamorada with her son, Capt. Zander Hall, who owns Lightly Salted Charters. Frei loves going to the sandbar with him and enjoys her time in Islamorada so much that over Thanksgiving, she stayed for 10 weeks.
