The new Key West-based record label, Conch Town Music, this week celebrates the release of its first two albums by local artists Bill Blue and Juliana MacDowell.
Legendary Keys bluesman Bill Blue’s album, “The King of Crazy Town,” came out on March 6 and has been getting “heavy airplay, rave reviews and top 20 chart positions in the USA, UK, Europe, Eastern Europe, Australia and even Africa,” said record producer Ian Shaw.
Blue will play a celebratory sound check set at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, March 12 at the Green Parrot Bar in Key West.
“It’ll be a great, fun gig,” says Blue. “I’m looking forward to playing the new songs in front of a home audience.”
Guitarist Matt Backer, who has played with Joe Cocker, Julian Lennon and Elton John, features prominently on “Crazy Town” and will come from London to play the Green Parrot show. The band will also include drummer Randy Morrow, bass player Kim Jade, backing vocalists Michelle Dravis, MacDowell and trumpet and sax players Tom Levecchia and Nathan Hengst.
MacDowell’s latest music
Conch Town Music also will wel-come MacDowell’s newest album, “Leaving Home,” on Friday, March 13.
MacDowell will play a more intimate show for her record release in the Backspace at The Key West Theatre on Wednesday, March 18, accompanied by Matt Backer and Randy Morrow. Tickets are $20 to $40 and are available at thekeywestheater.com. The higher-priced tickets are closer to the stage and include canapes and a meet-and-greet with MacDowell before the show.
The talented singer and songwriter has won songwriting awards for two of the songs from her new CD and the video for her new single “Marry You” has just premiered online with the prestigious American Songwriter magazine.
The Conch Town Music team includes British record producer Ian Shaw, photographer Ralph De Palma and local businessmen Danny Hughes and Mat Smith.
“We’re really happy with the positive global response we’re getting to Bill and Juliana, but right now, it’s all about Key West and the Keys,” said Shaw, who produced both albums. “We truly believe music is the lifeblood of Key West and makes a major contribution to the town’s economy.”
“We have many really talented artists here locally and the quality and breadth of the music gets better and better every year,” Shaw added. “We’d like to give more musicians a big push, but we need Key West locals to get behind us. If everyone in The Keys bought a Bill Blue CD or download in the next week or pre-ordered Juliana’s record, we’d get those artists onto a major music chart. And it would show the rest of the world that Key West can compete musically with Nashville, Austin, Los Angeles and New York.”
Bill Blue’s album is available at billblue.online, CDBaby, Amazon, ITunes, Apple Music, Spotify and all streaming services. Juliana MacDowell’s album is available to pre-order at julianamacdowellmusic.com and on ITunes. Go straight to the record label’s online shop at conch-town-music.myshopify.com/.
