Tunes in a Tropical Key

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When Howard Livingston and the Mile Marker 24 Band step onstage to carry out their trademark tropical rock tunes, they convey alongside an uncommon “instrument”: a 1952 Johnson 5.5-horsepower outboard motor used to mix margaritas for the viewers.

ABC Information persona Ginger Zee, left, and Howard Livingston use an vintage outboard motor to mix margaritas throughout a nationwide broadcast phase within the island chain. (Picture by Andy Newman, Florida Keys Information Bureau)

Odd as it would seem, the funky hybrid blender is the right accompaniment to the band’s infections melodies, which bear titles like “Blame It On The Margaritas” and “Livin’ On Key West Time.”

But much more interesting than the margaritas is the fervour Howard tasks with each lyric he sings and each chord he strums — a ardour for the Florida Keys that, a few years in the past, impressed the dissatisfied Chicago manufacturing firm proprietor to turn out to be a carefree, fulfilled musician who lives on the water within the Decrease Keys.

Howard first visited the Keys within the early Eighties. A crusing fanatic who had a ship on Lake Michigan, he rented a sailboat in Islamorada and started exploring the world.

“I went up and down the Keys and fell in love,” he mentioned. “Each waking second from that time on was spent in questioning, ‘How do I transfer there? How do I stay there?’”

Within the early Nineteen Nineties, Howard purchased a chunk of land on Summerland Key and constructed a home. Although nonetheless tied to his northern company life, over time he spent rising quantities of time escaping to Summerland.

Group in Jimmy Buffett's studio

Howard, his spouse Cyndy and engineer Jake Burns (standing) pause throughout a recording session in Jimmy Buffett’s Shrimpboat Sound Studio in Key West. (Picture by J.L. Jamison)

“I simply felt just like the Keys had been the place I must be,” Howard recalled.

Whereas he got here from a musical household and loved writing songs, he had put his love of music on maintain for many of his grownup life. Then, throughout a enterprise journey to China, his craving for the Keys impressed him to write down a track he named “Livin’ On Key West Time.”

Lighthearted and melodic, it might turn out to be considered one of his signature tunes and the title of his first CD.

The track helped crystallize Howard’s need to stay the Keys way of life full-time. Finally he moved completely to the home on Summerland, situated close to mile marker 24 on the Abroad Freeway that spans the island chain. The transfer gave him the liberty and inspiration he wanted to launch his music profession.

At the moment, Howard and his Mile Marker 24 Band have launched 11 CDs, earned practically a dozen prestigious Trop Rock Music Affiliation awards, and achieved renown each regionally and across the U.S.

In nice half, he says, that’s as a result of the music is an expression of the Florida Keys expertise.

“Being within the Keys is the largest single affect on me as an individual and on my music,” he defined. “We in all probability don’t understand how lucky we’re to stay right here, as a result of nearly everyone on this planet desires to be doing what we’re doing — whether or not they’re a physician or a lawyer or a road cleaner.”

couple and dog by the water Florida Keys

Howard, Cyndy and their canine Anderson share a quiet second by the water. (Picture by Rob O’Neal)

The truth is, considered one of Howard’s best songwriting challenges is distilling the Keys’ perspective and environment into three or 4 minutes of music and lyrics.

“That’s the most tough factor to do,” he admitted. “I can sit down and write a track concerning the Keys that may be 20 minutes lengthy, and I wouldn’t have began speaking about how great it’s.”

To make the method manageable, Howard focuses on capturing small snapshots of Keys life — a life he shares along with his soulmate, spouse Cyndy — and his island experiences. He and the band have revealed these snapshots to nationwide audiences throughout performances on packages together with CBS’ “The Early Present” and ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

Whether or not his listeners are tv audiences, live performance–goers or CD purchasers, Howard hopes the music will evoke one elementary emotion in them: happiness.

“We simply need it to be feel-good music, and maybe a bit little bit of escapism,” he mentioned. “Regardless of how loopy the world will get, that heat, secure, tropical place of the Florida Keys is at all times there.”

To be taught extra concerning the man whose music captures the essence of margarita–kissed days within the island chain, simply click on right here.

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