Green Parrot Bar No Snivelling Zone: 12/01/2009

Key West Annual Dachshund Walk or get-a-long little doggie

Walkin' in a Weinie Wonderland

A record 168 dachshunds gathered with their humans at high noon on New Years Eve on the steps of the Monroe County Courthouse for their annual promenade.

Either simply on the end of a leash or in more elaborate costume...

it was quite a sight

they provided their own crossing guards

smiling faces

a poser

the real deal

a double dapple

a candy striper

Hey man, how'd he get on our blog

apres stroll, drinks at The Parrot, no dogs allowed you say....

moved by the sight of all these pooches walking together, Amnesty was declared for the day.

All were welcome

And the word spread fast.

Festivus (for the rest of us)

Wayne Hammond

Bobby DeVito

Teddy Molet

Festivus at The Green Parrot

Wayne Hammond's Festivus, with Bobby DeVito on Guitar, Teddy Molet on trombone and Keyboard, and Randy Morrow on drums cover a Jeff Beck-inspired version of Albert King's "Down".

Festivus at The Parrot plays I Dream of Jeannie theme

Wayne Hammond with Teddy Molet on trombone, Randy Morrow on drums and Bobby Devito on Guitar stun the audience with a complete, uncut cover of the I Dream of Jeannie theme, including the bridge and a "thank you, master" homage to Barbara Eden.

Festivus at The Green Parrot channels Dion

Wayne Hammond and Festivus do a ska version of Dion and The Belmonts' version of Teenger in Love with a little Santo and Johnny and some TV cultural references worked in.

Ben Prestage at The Green Parrot Bar 12/20/09 Part One

Ben Prestage at The Green Parrot Bar 12/20/09 Part Two

Ben Prestage

Hailed by some as "the future of Southern music", Ben Prestage
performs true American roots music and down-home Southern Country
Blues on slide guitar and diddley-bow.

To the unique sound of
Ben's homemade diddley-bow (made by a friend, John Lowe of Memphis,
TN) he adds another homemade instrument, the
lap-steel-guitar (made by his father Kenneth Prestage.) The
combination of these two instruments creates a fresh, new sound that
is the perfect canvas for Prestage's wordsmithing.

To his show, he added a cigarbox
guitar (made by Memphian an one-man-band John Lowe) which has stereo
guitar and bass strings that can be played independently, at the same
time. Then Ben added a series of four foot pedals that can be
manipulated by the heels and toes of both feet to play a drumkit. The
final result is Ben playing guitar, bass, and drums while singing his
own brand of Blues which leaves bottles empty and dance floors full
wherever his music takes him.

The Year Before the Flood: The Ponderosa Stomp

A great post among several great posts from Boing Boing guestblogger Ned Sublette with an excerpt from The Year Before the Flood wherein author, historian, photographer, and roving singer-songwriter Sublette "replays the last year the city of New Orleans was whole, 2004-05."

The exerpt is memorable for so many reasons not the least of which is a cameo by one of the Green Parrot's favorite performers. I'll let you discover who it is for yourselves.

WPA-Produced Depression- Era Guidebook

A story in today's citizen about an upcoming Monroe County Public Library retrospective of Key West during the Great Depression made me think of this post I made from a few years back after I found an old WPA-sponsored brochure designed to market a down-and-out Key West as a tourist destination

Please note that the story referred to below is a story that appeared in the citizen when I first posted this in 2005
I know that some of my recent posts on first glance don't appear to have much to do with the Parrot. This post appears to be another one of those. There was a story in this Sunday's Key West Citizen about an early Key West Guide Book, published in the 1930's, with the purpose of improving the Depession-era economy of Key West by attracting tourists. The guide book that was named in today's Citizen story was titled "Key West in Transition: a Guidebook for Visitors". It was published in 1934 by a Federal redevelopment agency: The Key West Administration.
Where the Parrot figures in here is that I remembered seeing a similar guidebook in the Parrot archives. I found it, and although it appears to be a different book it too was published by the Key West Administration and in the same era. In addition to the text listing area attractions that would attract tourists it contains a handsome watercolor on nearly every page.. I'll post a sampling of those paintings here. I supposed the artists were hired by the WPA as were the writers. If nothing else it is an interesting window into the Key West of the '30's. I wonder what became of those artists that came here on the WPA dole in those depression years.

Rest Beach by Richard Sargent

Black Angel Fish:a watercolor by Klir beck

A map of Key West engraved by A.J. Dornbush

Deep Sea Fishing:a watercolor by Avery Johnson.
Why does this make me think of Hart Crane in Key west?

Ben Prestage

Late Night

Amin of Suenalo, and myself, last month, late night.

'Aint No Party Like a Lee Boy Party

People Get Ready: Lee Boys Bring Sacred Steel Gospel Music to The Green Parrot

People Get Ready! The Lee Boys, Florida's finest African-American
Sacred Steel artists are ready to transform the Green Parrot into the
Green Parish with shows at 10 P.M. on Friday and Saturday, December 18th and 19th.
Fans of all different genres of music will definitely not want to miss
out on this amazing group. The Lee Boys deliver powerful music with an
exciting new sacred steel twist that never fails to thrill an
audience. These guys will funkify your soul and help you see the
musical light.
Sacred Steel Gospel Music has lately crossed over to the
mainstream from gospel thanks to the tumultuous energy and power
brought by bands like theLee Boys, Robert Randolph and the Family
Band, Aubrey Ghent and Willie Eason to name a few.
It is the music of praise, faith and hope but with a lot more funk and
enjoyment than has ever echoed through any church. The sacred steel
style is rooted in gospel, but is infused with rhythm and blues, funk,
hip-hop, country, and the world music genres in a powerfully jamming
mix. When the LeeBoys bring their joyous spiritual sound to the
stage, audiences instantly recognize that this is not "sitting and
listening" music: dancing, shouting out, and having fun are considered
essential parts of their tradition. Their style of music is unique and
different from any other music that's ever been heard before. It
features the pedal steel guitar as the central instrument. It is music
with the exciting sacred steel dimension that uplifts you and makes
you feel good like nothing else can!!! Guaranteed.
Peter Katel of Newsweek magazine said, "For American music fans,
it's a find like a scientist's discovery of a new species. The steel
guitar is central to country music. But no one outside Southern
Pentecostal House of God churches had heard of black gospel steel.
Robert Stone a Florida folklorist, stumbled onto the haunting sound
when a music-store owner told him about a steady stream of
African-American customers for steel-guitar supplies. With an NEA
grant, Stone made the first ever compilation tape of five gospel steel
masters playing at services and revivals. 'Sacred Steel' was an
instant hit."
Featuring massive-toned, tear-it-up versions of gospel standards,
the "Sacred Steel" sound developed its roots in the House of God
church and is the hottest movement on the music scene these days.
Their church served as the foundation from which the LeeBoys
developed and perfected their style, talents, and skills. There are
six members who are brothers and nephews. Each member began making
music in the church when they were 7 or 8 years old, and they have not
stopped playing since.
The Green Parrot, your Southermost Center for Blues Culture at the
corner of Southard and Whitehead Streets. For more information call

The Green Parrot at 294-6133.