Trop Rock Music - Some More Artists

I would have to say yes -- and no. These aren't straight cover bands. The answer isn't that easy, just as the definition of Trop Rock can be elusive.

TROP ROCK (trop-rok) -- a mixture of rock-n-roll and country music blended with an island style theme and lyrics. See also Buffettesque, and Caribilly.

These folks play some Buffett music - that is where most of them started. But, that's not where it ends. Almost all of them also have a catalog of their own music that they showcase, and they all have other songwriter's whose music they are influenced by and play also. They've got their own style, their own music, and most all have their own CD's out too.

Jimmy Buffett is widely acknowledged as the inspiration for the trend - but it grows from there. For now, on to the trop rock -- just follow your ears.

from their website:
Whether inclined to waste away in Margaritaville, devour a cheeseburger in paradise or investigate a crime of passion in Cuba, audiences are whisked into a feeding frenzy by Northeast Ohio-based Gypsies in the Palace. Opening and closing each show with every ParrotHead's second national anthem, the band encourages audience participation - although admittedly, little encouragement is needed. When Gypsies in the Palace opened its annual tour with a one-week stand at Buffett's own Margaritaville at Key West, FL, a palette of wild tropical-print shirts, as well as fruit, palm tree, sunset, and parrot hats, adorned flock members in attendance.

The band seeks to perform Buffett exactly as his recordings and have studied his mannerisms at concerts. The genesis of the Gypsies goes back to 1989 and the formation of Goldfinch and Springdale, an Ohio rock-and-roll group. But in 1996, capitalizing on lead-singer Dave Hill's Buffett look-and-sound-alike traits, the band switched to the music of Key West's favorite son. Since then, band members leave their day jobs behind on weekends to embrace music that conjures up images of sharks, volcanoes, and brown-eyed girls (or blue-eyed, green-eyed or hazel-eyed ones, you name it!). Traveling from the Lake Erie islands to the southern conclusion of U.S. Highway 1, they blend Jimmy's classics with three CD's worth of their own trop rock music, including "Mumbo Jumbo", "Key West Blues", and "Why the Worry".

from his web site:
A long time resident of the Clear Lake, TX area, Kelly McGuire is known for his original 'gulf coast flavored' songs ranging from country to calypso/tropical, folk and rock. His CD "Redfish Island" was released in 2000 and contains a collection of songs he wrote inspired by his sailing experiences in the Bahamas, Florida Keys, Mexico, and on the Texas Gulf coast.

Listening to his music, one notices a Jimmy Buffett influence and Kelly readily admits, "after hearing Buffett sing about sailing and islands, I dreamed of getting a boat and writing songs about that whole lifestyle." A few years later his dream began to materialize.

Kelly McGuire on MySpace

from his website:
David Lapio's life mirrors the eclectic nature of his music. A native of Connecticut, David received a degree in Chemistry and Music from St. Michael's College. His musical training in classical and jazz piano, as well as percussion, was subordinated to "hobby" status while he pursued a career as a chemist.

After hearing Andy Narell's album "The Hammer" in 1988, followed by a first trip to the Caribbean, David was hooked. He purchased a tenor pan from Paul Real Sales and began to teach himself to play. Having discovered his true vocation, David left the Chemistry field in 1991 and moved to Florida to pursue a musical career playing steel drum. Shortly after the move, he formed Tropical Steel, a one to three-piece band that immediately met success in the Southwest Florida club scene. He also freelanced with several local area bands in percussion and steel drum.

David's obvious talents did not go unnoticed among the elite of the steel drum musicians, leading to his appointment to the faculty of Ellie Mannette's annual steel drum workshop. Mannette, "the father of the modern steel drum", is credited with the creation of the first 55-gallon steel drum in Trinidad in 1946. In recent years, David has played on stage with a succession of steel pan greats: including Ken "Professor" Philmore, Robert Greenidge, Len "Boogsie" Sharpe, Ray Holman, Andy Narell, Jeff Narell, and Tom Miller. He has also played for Royal Castle Potential Symphony in Trinidad during Panorama (the national steel band competitions of Trinidad and Tobago) in 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, and 2003. His subsequent Panorama appearances have included such renowned bands as Starlift, Fonclaire Steel Orchestra, Solo Pan Knights, Humming Bird Pan Groove, and Phase Two Pan Groove. David has demonstrated the amazing capability of the steel drum in the hands of an extremely talented musician.

from their website:
Grab your beach chair, your suntan oil, and your favorite drink, and get ready for a trip to the islands! Since 1998, From the West Indies and Jamaica to cities all over the east coast, Jimmy and the Parrots have been playing to delighted crowds for over 7 years. The band has performed at the annual Meeting of the Minds Parrot Head conventions in Key West, Florida, as well as well-known Key West venues such as Schooner Wharf, Sloppy Joes, The Rum Barrel, and Rick's Cafe. Additionally, the band has rocked the original Margaritaville Café stage on Duval Street several times, including New Year's Eve week, 2006, Internationally, the band has traveled to Ocho Rios, Jamaica (where they performed at both Beaches Boscobel Resort as well as the Ocho Rios Margaritaville) and to Basseterre, St. Kitts, West Indies, where they performed at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort as part of the Turtle & Hughes Circle of Excellence 2007 trip.

from their website:
The Landsharks are a legendary beach band that has become part of beach music history. They have performed in Florida, California, and on the beaches of the world! They've played with Jimmy Buffett in Key West, FL, and they have opened for The Beach Boys in concert on the Coast of Carolina. They've played at concerts, festivals, nightclubs, and many other places from Key West to Tokyo!

The Landsharks have performed for Armed Forces shows all over the world. They even played at last year's Super Bowl Victory party for the New England Patriots!

The Landsharks are currently working on their long awaited CD (part of which was recorded at Jimmy Buffett's recording studio). Jimmy Buffett recently hired The Landsharks to play an event for his new movie, "Hoot."

from his website:
Scott Kirby spent most of the eighties working as a political consultant in his native state of New Hampshire, as well as playing a few solo gigs on the weekends. In 1988, he left his job, packed his guitar, cashed in his last three paychecks and headed for the Florida Keys, to take a break from the real world and New England's bitter winters.
A fingerstyle guitarist and singer/songwriter, Kirby's musical style weaves from pop, to acoustic rock, to what he refers to as "beach folk." His lyrics are often storytelling in nature, much in the vein of Steve Goodman or Jerry Jeff Walker, and reflect the humor of someone who fled traditional New England for the laid back and zany lifestyle of America's southernmost island town. A reviewer from The Musician's Trade Journal writes, "Kirby's a storyteller. Sometimes sentimental, sometimes hilarious, but all with insight, depth and wisdom. You can't help but like this guy's music". Frank Quatrone, of Ticket Magazine, writes, "His writing can be engagingly literate to elegantly simple. The whole place was laughing and singing along to his sometimes outrageous lyrics".

from his website:
Jim Hoehn is a Milwaukee-based journalist and songwriter who discovered early that putting pen to paper was a legitimate way of avoiding any form of manual labor, leading to a career path that has included newspapers, magazines and wire services. A midlife crisis turned Hoehn's writing attention toward music, where he has carved out a surprisingly successful niche as a performing songwriter despite a musical philosophy of "six strings, five fingers, three chords, no problem".

As a songwriter he has performed at numerous festivals and events around the country and has opened for a wide variety of national artists, including the likes of Warren Zevon, Jerry Jeff Walker, Junior Brown, Robert Earl Keen, Don McLean, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and a memorable evening with songwriter-turned-mystery novelist Kinky Friedman. Through a combination of shameless self-promotion and clerical errors, Hoehn also has appeared on a number of radio and TV shows, including The Mitch Albom Show on MSNBC.

In addition to Deadline Penitentiary, Hoehn has released two other CDs of mostly original music, Playa del Pressbox, (which includes such songs as "Bimbette du Jour") and Live at RACAfest. He also is the producer of two extremely successful tropical-flavored compilation CDs, Thongs In The Key Of Life and Thongs In The Key Of Life, Volume II.