Music is the Universal Language

Music has had a very big impact on the last week.

Moon rising over the harbor - We never get tired of this scene.

There was a jam session one afternoon at the tiki hut here at the marina. A sax/clarinet player and a woman on the keyboard played and they were excellent. Then there was the Conch Music Video Festival in the Marathon Park. It was a three day festival featuring lots of local entertainers with varying styles, abilities and professionalism. We spent a part of each of the three days listening to music.

Then last Friday we went to Key West to see our first Drag Queen Show at the LaTeDa. We went with Bill and Michael and I had anticipated that most of the crowd would be gay. I was wrong. The LaTeDa show is a cabaret (two drink minimum) with a single performer and most of the crowd appeared to be hetero, including a bachelorette party group, newlyweds and couples both young and old.

We were expecting to see Christopher Peterson, who portrays Marilyn Monroe and other iconic female singers, but he was sick and so we saw Randy Roberts. Both performers do all their own singing – no lip syncing. We were at first disappointed because Bill had heard great things about Christopher Peterson. But we were not disappointed once Randy started to perform. He did songs as Bette Midler and Cher and then came out as a red headed female singer of his own creation. He has a fabulous voice, had some great jokes and bantered with the audience. There was a particular couple that met working at McDonalds which gave him great material to work with.

Randy Roberts on stage

While in Key West walking around and killing time before the show we went into a bar and Bob recognized a pedal steel guitar player performing that we had heard at Dockside the prior week. Chuck Sherman is perhaps in his 70s, has a grey straggly beard (most of the men here have grey beards) and is an excellent musician. I was surprised that Bob recognized him and at first was sure that he couldn’t be the same guy we had seen the prior week. I will admit it here – BOB WAS RIGHT. He is going to be playing at Dockside again when they have a country music night – and we plan on going to see him.

Enjoyed delicious Thai food at MiSoHappy

Then finally this past weekend was the Celtic (pronounced Keltic) music festival. This was a two day festival with many of the musicians performing twice on Saturday and again once on Sunday. People bring their own chairs and spend the day. This festival was much better attended than the music festival the prior weekend. Performers came from Scotland and Ireland as well as varying places in the US. We loved the heavy drumming of the Albanach (means native Scottsman) and the mix of popular and traditional Irish sounds of the Screaming Orphans. The fiddlers were amazing to watch how quickly their fingers ran along the necks of their instruments. They didn’t seem to tire out even after an hour of fiddling. The beer was cold and delicious as we sat in the hot sun with the cool breeze flowing over us.

Screaming Orphans on stage

I am so in awe of the people we meet here. And music is certainly one thing that everyone can enjoy. The beat of the drum impacts all hearts. Everyone here has a story and each story has some adventure attached to it. We are meeting people of all faiths, including Bahai. A number of Bahai followers lived or visited the Center in Haifa Israel, so we have much to talk about. Some others have circumnavigated the globe and some have lived in places I had never even heard of. Each story broadens my world and I appreciate them sharing.

More to come….