This Trop Rock "thing"

Many of you have wondered about all the Facebook posts I make about "Trop Rock", etc.  Here's the history.

Most of you know my history, that I was a band director, member of the Ohio State Marching Band, etc.  Connie always enjoyed live music.  One of our first dates was to Hara Arena and the Marshall Tucker Band Concert.

We've had XM Radio since sometime in the 1990's.  Then, they merged with Sirius Radio, and we got Radio Margaritaville.  We'd been listening to it on the laptop for a few years, but this was huge.  Once we became full time RV'ers, we always had a way to listen to SiriusXM.  Around 1p or so, Radio Margaritaville would always come on.  It was JD Spradlin's time slot usually, except for Fridays when Steve Huntington and Greg Dumas would do this Happy Hour show at 5p ET from New Orleans.  That was always a must listen.

Connie got diagnosed in 2013, so the trip from Ohio to Texas (and back) was about the only traveling we could do.  In the fall of 2014, there was this Music Festival in Panama City Beach, FL (called "Chasing the Sun") that was going to feature Peter Mayer (lead guitarist) on Friday, Nadirah Shakoor (backup vocals) on Saturday and Mac McAnally (guitar player) on Sunday.  They were all members of Buffett's Coral Reefer Band.  How cool!

There were a bunch of other acts, we figured to all be Buffett cover bands, OK.  We'll deal with that.  Should be a good party.

On Friday, this band called the Boat Drunks come on.  Man they were good.  Not only doing original music, but all these people knew the music.  How could that be?  I'd never heard of them, let alone their music.  Come to find out, "they were a thing" at Meeting of the Minds in Key West.

Another group that caught my attention was "Jerry Diaz and Hannah's Reef".  He said he was from Texas.  Wait. Did he just say he played in Port Aransas, TX?  We'll have to look him up.  Kind of liked his group.

That's how it all began.  We were going on a cruise out of Galveston later that fall, and stayed the night before in Kemah, TX because this Diaz guy was playing at this joint called T-Bone Tom's.  Came to learn it was "the" place for Trop Rock in Texas.  We always started catching the Boat Drunks at different venues they played.

A couple years later, Radio Margaritaville started playing this song "Coast" by The Detentions.  Connie was sure it was about Port A.  I wasn't sure.  Could be anywhere.  That February, we found out about the Pirates & Poets Songwriters Invitational was going to be held in Port A.  One of the Detentions was playing in it, Jerry Diaz was playing at Shorty's.  Let's do it.

Never been a good audience member.  Always too critical.  I listen to things differently.  I'm much more comfortable hanging back stage and shooting the shit with other performers.  All of sudden, I'm having to be a fan boy and mingle as an audience member with the performers.  All I wanted to know from this Sullivan guy was if Coast was written about Port A?  I finally got the nerve up to introduce myself as a fellow teacher during intermission.  He couldn't have been nicer.  Then I asked about "Coast".  He looked at me like I was idiot.  "Of course, it was."  Then, I felt like an idiot and got the hell out of the conversation.

Needed to delve deeper into these artists and this genre.  Subscribed to a few things.  Downloaded lots of music via Apple Music.

Since then, we've gone to Trop Rock festivals in a few different cities.  One of them was Pardi Gras in New Orleans, hosted by Jerry Diaz and his wife, Mary.  There, I met Eric Babin (and later on his wife Gina) who broadcasts these shows live on RadioTropRock.com.  Game changer.  Events we never would have known about we were listening to.

So now, as my wife literally can't travel, we can hear many of these artists, many of whom (including the Detentions) we've become friends with over the last few years.  I know Eric and Gina think they provide a great job of serving the fans of Trop Rock.  Not sure they know the joy they bring the shut ins who really enjoy this genre of music and can't get to the shows they would like to go to.