Key West Music Festival
Key West, FL -In only its second year, the Key West Music Festival has already created an anticipation seen with festivals ten years in the running. This little music festival in paradise brings in nationally recognized stars to play, along with some regional favorites.
The music is as diverse as the crowds that attend, as everything will be heard from bluegrass to rock to a little bit of country. With a percentage of the profits being donated to the Key West High School, it's evident that one of the purposes of the festival is to help further the arts... but let's be honest, any festival on the tiny islands south of Miami has one focus in mind - fun and lots of it!
With various venues scattered across the island, each with its own unique atmosphere and musical type, fun is just what one will find at the Key West Music Festival.
In its inaugural year, the festival found itself with entertainers as varied as a musical comedy team to blues players all the way from Chicago to a hard rock ska band whose music was quoted as "it's what goes with beer!"
This year's performers area a varied lot... as are the venues. Hog's Breath Saloon, Sloppy Joe's, and Ocean Key House Resort all are hosting performances.
Everything gets started on Thursday, May 17th, at Sloppy Joe's with Pete & Wayne. Do you think musical comedy is stale, lame, and went out with Martin & Lewis? Then you haven't seen these boys... what they do is disturbing. Down right rude, in fact. Naturally, they're a hit here in Key West! Not for the easily offended... but not to be missed, either!
After that, Seamrippers takes the stage and tears into an eclectic mix of songs. Seamrippers is a high, high-energy band that plays everything from straight-up rock & roll to ska to hip-hop. They're playing till 2am for all you late-nighters.
Friday, May 18th the Key West Music Festival kicks off with Tom Rush at Hog's Breath Saloon. Tom Rush is a legendary musical performer who weaves terrific storytelling and a distinctive guitar stylings into an unforgettable celebration of music - and life. His show starts at 7pm.
At 9:30pm at Ricky's Blue Heaven on Thomas Street The Head Hunter Junkanoos Band brings their energetic show to the stage. An African sound with plenty of beating drums, The Head Hunter Junkanoos Band has a highly original, infectious musical style that's all their own.
Saturday at 7pm Tom Rush returns to the Hog's Breath Saloon. His show runs until 10pm, with tickets going for $20.
Joanna Conner and the Green Parrot Bar team up to bring first-rate Chicago-style blues to Whitehead Street. Joanna is a powerhouse guitarist with a strong, bluesy voice who has gained a wide national reputation. Billboard magazine calls her a "blazing guitarist, with a flaming slide attack."
Joanna's show begins at 10pm, and there's free admission at this Key West Music Festival event.
Sunday, May 20th, the Ocean Key House Resort finishes things up with Grand Finale Event featuring Sauce Boss and the Josh Joplin Group. If you haven't seen the Sauce Boss, you'll want to make a point to go to the show.
Gumbo, as fans of New Orleans cuisine well know, is a mixture of ingredients that somehow becomes more than the sum of it's parts. That's the best way to think of the Sauce Boss's show... a mixture of bluesy music and actual Gumbo prepared on stage. Over 80,000 people have sampled the Sauce Boss's famous Gumbo over the years!
The Key West Music Festival presents the Conch
Republic with outstanding regional and national acts... and three evenings
of great entertainment! 
