Michael Locke & the Repeat Offenders return to the Schooner Wharf Bar tomorrow night, Saturday, June 3, 7 `til Midnight.
Texas harpman Randy McAllister will be at the Green Parrot this Wednesday night and at Schooner Wharf Thursday evening.
McAllister was named the Best Texas Blues Harmonica Player by Real Blues Magazine in 1999. This is how Real Blues described McAllister's music: "Roughhewn and wild at times, this is Texas blues the way it should be."
Michael Locke's three-piece electric blues band covers a range of material, from classic blues masters such as John Lee Hooker, B. B. King and Albert King to the contemporary sounds of Buddy Guy, Albert Collins and the Vaughan Brothers— as well as their own originals.
Locke was born and raised in North Miami beach. He formerly played as guitarist for The Hurricanes, The Night Stalkers, and Johnny Nitro and The Doorslammers. Michael, playing lead guitar and vocals, now fronts his trio based out of San Francisco and South Florida. He has also performed with such artists as Otis Rush, Sam Moore, Dell Shannon, Ben E. King and Little Anthony. He has been named the best blues guitarist in South Florida.
Michael Locke & The Repeat Offenders have opened shows on both ends of the country for
such artists as The Fabulous Thunderbirds, B.B. King, W.C. Clark, Sonny Rhodes, Walter Trout, Co Co
Montoya and Johnny Nitro.
DEBUT— Singer-songwriter Moe La Lon, aka Jon Roger Lalanne, will debut at Jimmy
Buffett's Margaritaville Cafe this Monday, June 5. He will be performing only his own original music,
including "Little Baby Cowboy," which placed 11th in last summer's Billboard International Song Contest.
SINGER-PIANO MAN Larry Smith entertains in the piano room of the Sands Restaurant at
the Wyndham Reach Resort, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 6:30-9:30 p.m.
Broadway star Julia Nixon will be returning to Key West this month to again star in her Broadway review "Hot and Soul" at the Waterfront Playhouse, June 15- July 15. But while she's here, she will also perform at a special Gospel Brunch at Caribe Soul Restaurant on Sunday, June 18.
Also performing at the gospel brunch will be the St. James Choir from St. James First Missionary Baptist Church in Bahama Village, directed by Michael Weston, co-owner of Caribe Soul and the church's minister of music.
There will be two seatings: 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Tickets: $38 per person. Reservations: 296-0094. Caribe Soul is located at 425 Grinnel at Fleming St.
Last year's performances of "Hot and Soul" at the Waterfront Playhouse were sold out. The show is billed as a "Musical View of Broadway and the Blues".
Nixon has starred on Broadway in "Dreamgirls" and "Smokey Joe's Cafe." She has also performed with the likes of Patti LaBelle, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Hamlisch and others.
She has also performed at the White House in Washington.
Local children, aged six to 12 are being offered a unique opportunity to sing on stage with Nixon, performing one of her original songs.
To make this opportunity possible, the Key West Players, the organization that produces plays and events at the Waterfront, recently joined efforts with the Bahama Village music Program. Directed by children's music professional Robin Kaplan, the program is now in its second year and is sponsored by Key West Council of the Arts. It offers after-school music activities in the Wesley House choral room at the Frederick Douglass Community Center.
Right now the program includes 35 children, from five to eight years old.
Kaplan says the choral group needs more participants— especially for the upcoming event at the Waterfront Playhouse. She and the program's assistant director Joan Leggett encourage any child between the age of six and twelve to join them. No experience is necessary.
"It's a great opportunity," says Kaplan, adding that hour-long rehearsals will be held weekdays in the early evening and weekends during the day.
"Julia Nixon is a star, a professional role model," she says. "Any child would benefit from being around a person of her artistic caliber."