Tag Archives: Pensacola

Irish/Celtic, Music, Uncategorized

JJ Smith, the Balladeer

I naturally met JJ Smith at McGuire’s Irish Pub in Pensacola a couple years back.  Kilted in the tartan of the Lamont clan, JJ runs a show that is not just a folk music performance but a bit comedic shtick as well.  His crowd-interactions make for some of the evening’s high points.

JJ’s style stands out from the majority of the singers I’ve met on the Irish pub tour in several ways.  To begin with, his personalized renditions of the classics reveal significant blues, and American country music influences, which bring the Celtic style home to the American South.  Live, JJ makes use of a lot of bass runs on his guitar which often helps to add a subtlety and a sense of motion outside of the songs’ basic chord structures.

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JJ hails from Stonehaven, near Aberdeen, Scotland, but has resided in St. Petersburg, Florida for the past several years.  While in the States, he has steadily toured the southeast and managed to produce two album releases: Druid Roots Going Home, and his solo album JJ The Balladeer.  They’re both great and very distinct from each other.

         

Druid Roots was a trio JJ was a part of, a rather eclectic mix of folksy styles.  The album projects a heavy Celtic theme with very noticeable elements of East-Indian drumming, country-western music, and a hint of rock and roll.   My favorite track is Stonehaven Waltz, a traditional sounding Celtic ballad, but the whole album is worth the listen.

The Balladeer contains 15 tracks of excellently produced Celtic ballads.  JJ’s resounding baritone voice coupled with the full and sometimes booming open strings of his guitar create layers of richness within each song.  The songs are mostly mellow, somewhat nostalgic pieces.  The highlights include Galway Shawl (my personal favorite); a cover of the classic U2 hit I Still Haven’t Found what I’m looking For; and Whiskey on a Sunday.


Irish/Celtic, Music

Rich McDuff: Pioneer of the McGuire’s Music Scene

Rich McDuff is Northwest Florida’s most popular Irish folk music performer.  With a loyal and regular fan base, Rich helped build and define the music scene at McGuire’s Irish Pub while performing there for more than twenty years.

Although the moose-kissing tradition at McGuire’s predates Rich’s arrival on scene, he is responsible for writing the accompanying, and now entrenched “Kiss the Moose” song.  He explains “When I began playing here, asking a first-time patron of McGuire’s to kiss the moose might be met with a bit of confusion and resistance.  The traditional aspect was lost on them.  I figured if there was a song to go along with it, it would give the tradition a bit more validity for first-time visitors to the pub.  And it has worked out pretty well.”  Now every act that performs at McGuire’s plays this song, and the moose-kissing tradition has expanded to include not only the moose but a couple other McGuire’s fixtures as well.

Rich is also known or pushing the bounds of the debauchery which is naturally as part of McGuire’s slogan.  His “Dirty Limerick” song, played to the classic mariachi tune of “Cielito Lindo” contains rhymes that could even surprise a hip-hop fan.  Many of Rich’s regulars eagerly look forward to this point in the evening, awaiting their opportunity to share the stage with him and recite their own limerick specially prepared just for this song.  The best and most classic limericks are written on a scroll and tucked away in the secret archives, only to be taken out upon the performance of this tune.

Even more entertaining, energetic, and amusing is Rich’s version of “Seven Drunken Nights,” with extended responses – a wee bit too naughty to be written down here.  This point of the night is when you are likely to see the most crowd participation.  This rendition of the classic Irish song is memorable, if not for the increasingly lengthy responses, but the reactions and looks on the faces of new comers to the McGuire’s scene.

         

Crowd interaction is a major part of Rich’s act.  You never know just where the night will lead or how ridiculous the antics are likely to become.

Rich’s set also contains a set of American country, and acoustically played classic rock songs familiar to everyone.  As a classically trained guitarist, Rich McDuff’s musical talent becomes most apparent when he plays a traditional jig or reel or the occasional classical guitar piece.

Rich’s revolving schedule alternates between the pubs in both Pensacola and Destin, Florida.  While he is away, his regulars in Pensacola always look forward to his return.  Some will even make the drive to Destin to see him when he is performing there.


Anthropology, Music, Native America, Profiles, Uncategorized

Shadowyze, Native America’s Hip-Hop Activist, Advocate

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Shadowyze is not the typical Grammy-nominated hip-hop celebrity. Though his dress may be in the current urban fashion his attitudes certainly are not. Upon first meeting him, many hip-hop officiandos take immediate note of his lack of gold. In fact he has been accosted for not sporting more ‘bling.’

“Some people just want to challenge your hip-hop credentials” Shadowyze explains; “for not being absurdly materialistic or boastful. But I want my listeners to be inspired to do more than just be showy and greedy. I mean, financial success is a good thing, but with the more bling you can afford, I think the more you should be focused on making your community better. Besides, gold really bothers me. I relate so much negative history to it regarding conquistadors pillaging Indian communities for gold throughout the Americas. That’s what greed does to people and I don’t want to encourage that.”

From a background of Muskogee Creek and Scots-Irish heritage, as a writer and producer Shadowyze represents in many ways an atypical strain within an extremely active and empowering social dynamic called hip-hop. Not only does he produce bumping’ tracks and deliver catchy hooks’ but he also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Anthropology from the University of West Florida. His lyrics are woven within a fabric of insight and social awareness.

Shadowyze was born in San Antonio, Texas as Alvin Shawn Enfinger and relocated with his family to Pensacola, Fla. at the age of eight. He began rapping as a means to express his ideas on the many issues he witnessed growing up. “My mother was really poor and as a kid a lot of times we weren’t sure if we could afford enough to eat. We were always about one paycheck away from living under a bridge. Some days I’d see cops abusing suspects and on others I’d see street criminals shooting at cops. Through rap I found a way to express my views on these things.”

When he was eighteen, Shadowyze launched his hip-hop career in 1989 when his group, Posse In Effect, released the official theme song “Knock em out the Ring Roy” recorded for then Olympic boxing Silver Medalist Roy Jones Jr. This song received strong support on regional radio as well as NBC Sportsworld. But the big turning point in his career came after spending ten weeks in Central and South America and Mexico in 1998 where Shadowyze witnessed the cruelty of the “low intensity war,” military oppression and poverty imposed upon the Mayan Indian population in Chiapas, Mexico. This life lesson inspired him to speak out and compose his 1999 multi-single Murder in Our Backyard which received a lot of media attention and an endorsement from Nobel Peace Prize winner Betty Williams of Ireland.

In addition to the music Shadowyze delivered on this subject, he also involved himself directly by assisting Ricky Long with his Mayan Indian Relief Fund, taking supplies of clothing, books and medicines to the Indians in Chiapas Mexico where Shadowyze was called Corazon de los Zapatistas or Zapatista’s Heart.

Many publications vigorously supported Shadowyze during this point in his career by running stories on his causes and endeavors. By 1999 Shadowyze was featured in such international Native American Centered periodicals as Native Peoples, Aboriginal Voices, Whispering Wind, News from Indian Country and Talking Stick as well as magazines focused in the musical world such as the underground hip-hop magazine; Insomniac, Word Up and Trace.

In the United States Shadowyze has spoken on Native American issues and performed his music on many reservations including Poarch Creek in Alabama, Big Cypress Seminole Res. in Florida, Shennicock in Long Island, The Pueblos of New Mexico and others. But his experience is by no means limited to domestic affairs. As a performer Shadowyze has appeared in Germany and at the Montrose Jazz Fest in Switzerland and his anthropological callings have led him to visit several different Indian communities in Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Belize and Guatemala.

Shadowyze sums up his experiences with this description; “Even though there is a lot of poverty and despair in some of the areas I’ve been to, it never brings me down. I see a lot of great accomplishments made by Natives throughout the world. It’s really very inspiring to see how many of the communities have adapted to their current surroundings often for the betterment of their societies. And far back in the jungles I’ve gained a lot of insight from experiencing their ancient ways of life. It’s like seeing how my own people lived just a few centuries ago.”

          

Since his musical career has taken off with Murder In Our Backyard, Shadowyze has appeared on over a dozen compilations and released three full length albums; Spirit Warrior (2001), World of Illusions (2003), and his current 2005 release; the self-titled Shadowyze. This newest album features such respectable names in the music business as platinum Latino recording artist Baby Bash, and the production wizardry of Nashville’s DJ Dev of Devastating Music; production engineer of the triple platinum selling album 400 degrees by Juvenile.

2005 was a good year for the 33-year-old artist. Shadowyze won both the Native American Music Awards and the Pensacola, Florida Music Awards for best hip-hop and has been the focus of several stories appearing in Rolling Stone, Vibe, XXL, Billboard, New York Times and the Chicago Tribune. Through Backbone, Records; Shadowyze’s personally owned and operated record company he also released Guerillas in the Mixx, a compilation in cooperation with Big Lo featuring Public Enemy, The Coup, Michael Franti, Spearhead, Afrika and Litefoot. For 2006, there are plans for the production of several compilations including Dirty South Radio and The Best of Florida Hip Hop vol. 1 that promise to be more insightful glimpses of a mixture of funk-driven rhythms and enlightening lyricism.

Though Shadowyze is always the musical businessman, his humanitarian side is never stifled. Recently Shadowyze has attracted national attention once again by helping to organize and coordinate a Hurricane Katrina relief effort delivering several thousands of dollars worth of supplies to the Choctaw Indian Reservation in Philadelphia, Mississippi. This reservation was ravaged by the great storm and the people have gone mostly unnoticed by the media. Shadowyze explained the frustrations he felt that encouraged him to organize this effort; “While there were TV commercials asking for relief efforts to go to the abandoned house pets in New Orleans, the Choctaws in Mississippi were going hungry.” In fact the load of supplies personally delivered by Shadowyze was the first, large, independent delivery the Choctaws of Philadelphia received.

Shadowyze is not the typical Grammy-nominated hip-hop celebrity. With one foot in the music industry and the other in indigenous socio-political activism, Shadowyze has established himself in a world much richer than the standard glamorization of sex, drugs and violence. Not only does he orate on the social issues he is impassioned to inform the public of, but he has also been a first hand witness to many of them. Well traveled, well rounded and gifted with the ability to poeticize nearly any idea that comes to his mind, Shadowyze is quite animate and enthusiastic when he describes his thoughts. As a spokesman for unity, Native American identity and environmental respect, Shadowyze and the subjects he brings to the table have caught the attention of countless fans seeking music with a message even-deeper than the bass that bumps in their rides.

Venues/Bars/Restaurants

Sluggo’s, Pensacola

[Update: Sluggos Pensacola is currently closed]

Sluggo’s bar and restaurant located at 101 S. Jefferson St., in downtown Pensacola is an enigmatic club that has provided its eccentric crowd with a gathering place to revel in their eclectic musical tastes since St. Patrick’s Day 1990.  Over the years, Sluggos has operated in numerous Pensacola buildings, undergoing significant transformations while still remaining true to the Pensacola underground music scene.

The Sluggo’s kitchen offers vegetarian cuisine at reasonable prices and has been featured on VEGCOOKING.com.  Their most popular entrées include the Tai Chili Bowl and the Pecan Dust Sietan.  They have a full bar, a reading room and a stage for performing acts.

Many touring musical acts count Sluggos as a regular stop on tour to and from cities such as New Orleans, Atlanta, Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Gainesville and Orlando. Over the years, many popular acts have performed here including Everclear, Sugartooth, Run DMC, Digital Underground, the Reverend Horton Heat, and Shadowyze.

Sluggo’s also offers the stage for local and developing bands to cut their teeth and attract a crowd, playing original music.  On most weekends and often during the week, there are opportunities for local artists to open shows for larger touring acts.  Presently all of Sluggos’ shows are open to all-ages.

             

Over the past twenty years Sluggo’s has reinvented itself a number of times.  Terry Johnson, the owner explained her vision of the ever transforming Sluggo’s.  “Sluggo’s has to evolve in tune with her environment.  Stagnation equals death.  We shouldn’t separate the arts, we should embrace them all and provide an atmosphere where everyone can express ourselves and share our ideas.  If we limit our options just to how we started, Sluggos would be just another bar scene.”

Not just another bar-scene, the Sluggo’s scene is diverse in tastes and styles.  Tending toward modern, progressive and punk rock, Sluggo’s has also hosted hip-hop open mic nights, several charitable events and other cultural expositions.

Irish/Celtic, Uncategorized, Venues/Bars/Restaurants

McGuire’s Irish Pub, Pensacola

McGuire’s Irish Pub is a Pensacola landmark, rich in atmosphere and tradition.  Located in the Old Firehouse at 600 E. Gregory St. Pensacola, Florida, McGuire’s boasts “Feasting, Imbibery, and Debauchery 7 nights a week.”  Themed as “a turn of the century New York Irish Saloon” McGuire’s features nightly performances of traditional Irish Music and sing-along.  Such artists of note include Rich McDuff, The Guinness Brothers,  Dun Aengus, and JJ Smith playing a majority of classic and traditional Irish folk music.

Established by McGuire and Molly Martin in 1977, but only located at Gregory Street since 1982, this pub has a few traditions that have grown up with it.  The ceiling and the walls are covered with over 1 million one dollar bills, signed and donated by the pub’s patrons.  In the late night hours, as the debauchery gets a-going new comers and those overcome with that Irish spirit may be called up to kiss the moose as the featured artist sings the traditional moose-kissing song.

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Moody View publisher Jay Moody with Larry Kernagis (banjo) at McGuire’s Irish Pub

As a restaurant McGuire’s serves lunch during the day and dinner until the wee hours of the morning and employs some of the hardest working wait staff in Pensacola.  Dining at McGuire’s is always fun and satisfying, with very large portions.  The nacho plate alone is piled up the size of your head.  And the quality is top of the line.

McGuire’s is a winner of numerous awards including Beef Backers “Best Steaks in Florida,” for their USDA Prime Beef steaks.  Their Molly’s Cut is the best steak I’ve ever had.  It is also an 11 time Golden Spoon Award Winner, and a Florida Trend Magazine Hall of Famer.  McGuire’s has also been featured on the Food Network’s Outrageous Foods during which the “Big Daddy Burger” made with bacon, cheddar cheese and jalapeno peppers was created.

McGuire’s is also celebrated for its selection of beers.  They proudly display a quote by Carrie Nation; “Life’s too short to drink cheap beer.”  McGuire’s operates an onsite brewery where are created a selection of quality ales and porter.  They include a light ale, Irish Red, Raspberry Wheat, Porter, Stout and root beer.  They also brew and serve a rotating variety of seasonal ales.  Visitors may tour the McGuire’s Brewery and home brewers are offered a sample of McGuire’s own brewing yeast for use.

            

The bartenders are very friendly, professional and offer quick service.  They pour 1½ oz shots and double shot martinis.  McGuire’s is the home of the aptly named Irish Wake, a green concoction served in a mason jar with a green and a red cherry, so potent that no more than three are allowed per customer per visit.  Amongst its many awards, McGuires with its 8,000 bottle wine cellar is also the winner or the 2009 WineSpectator Award of Excellence.

To new folks, the McGuire’s layout may cause some initial consternation.  Much like the TARDIS from Dr. Who, McGuire’s seems to be bigger on the inside than it is on the outside.  Like Disney World, much of McGuire’s is virtually unseen from ‘above ground,’ with 400 seats throughout several different themed rooms.  Then there are the bones of Bridget McGuire.

McGuire’s is a regular stop for many celebrities and politicians who live in or pass through Pensacola, including 2008 Presidential candidate John McCain.  This is a fantastic pub in which to be a visitor or a regular.  With good food, good drink, and great atmosphere, you won’t be disappointed.  Just be sure to pay close attention to the restroom signs when ye stop by.


Uncategorized

Pensacola, The Place I call Home

I’ve called Pensacola home for the majority of my life.  I’ve lived plenty of other places, but my roots run deep in Northwest Florida. Casually strolling down Palafox Street, I’m often amazed at just how much history is packed into such a small space.  Along with art galleries, music venues, and bars that specialize in craft-beer, are mixed the small Plaza Ferdinand VII and at the end of the road the circular Plaza de Luna situated on the front of Pensacola Bay where you are confronted by a bronze statue of the conquistador Tristan de Luna.  Downtown Pensacola contains several little archaeological sites and reminders of its colonial past.

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Pensacola at a Glance

The City of Pensacola is a quirky, moderately sized metropolitan area in Escambia County on the Northwest Gulf Coast of Florida, situated on the bay which shares its name.  It’s also known as the City of Five Flags, because the flags of five separate nations have flown over it; Spain, France, England, the United States, and the Confederate States of America.

Pensacola has a bit of an identity crisis, part beach town, college town, military town, and a large part traditional southern community.  It’s large enough that there is always an abundance of new people to meet, but small enough that there is a good chance they already know someone you do.  If you are active enough moving around the town you will almost certainly run into friends and acquaintances on any given day.

To tourists, Pensacola is known for its snow-white sandy beaches and the emerald green waters which surround them. The summers are warm and sunny.  Late summer is brutally hot and muggy, but the winters are mild.  And there are plenty of trees.

A Brief History of Pensacola

Although Pensacola is often treated as Florida’s secret, it bears a significant place within American history.  The indigenous inhabitants of the Northwest Florida territory were participants in the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex; part of the Mississippian mound building cultures.  The earliest records of this land were made by 16th century Spanish explorers.  Tristan de Luna landed here in 1559, establishing a short-lived Spanish colony, making Pensacola the first European settlement in what is today’s continental United States.  De Luna established a port where Naval Air Station Pensacola is located today.  A few months later the colony was devastated by a hurricane and abandoned.

Pensacola means “Hair People” or “Hair Clan” in the Native language, closely related to Choctaw, in the Muskogean family.  We know the Pensacola tribe occupied the area by 1677 AD, and in 1686 they were at war with the Mobile Indians to the west.  In 1698 the Spanish established another colony here, making Pensacola an important port town and the primary exporter of hides during the deer skin trade.  Since those days, Pensacola has been a regular settling place for Eastern Creek Indians.  It was traded back and forth between the Spanish, English and, French until finally being acquired by the United States in 1821.

          

Lifestyle

Today, Pensacola is the home of the Center for Naval Aviation and the Center for Naval Cryptology.  This is also the home base for the Blue Angels flight squadron.

The local University of West Florida has graduated over 67,000 students and is well respected for having one of the best southeastern archaeology departments with full-time terrestrial and maritime projects at work every summer.

For a cool place to hang out I recommend McGuire’s Irish Pub.  Seville Quarter is also very popular among the younger, pop-culture driven crowd.  For large popular musical acts there is the Civic Center, while Vinyl Music Hall provides a more intimate venue.

If your  interests lie in an independent music scene, Pensacola has that too.  Two clubs stand out the most in this area; The Handlebar, and Sluggo’s.  These two venues have been a part of the Pensacola alternative music scene for so long that any discussion of Pensacola nightlife without mentioning them would be incomplete and uninformed.

Outdoor Activities

Ecotourism is an abundant resource in the Pensacola area.  To begin with there is of course Pensacola Beach, a barrier island of some of the whitest and most beautiful beaches you’ve ever seen.  For camping, the island provides spaces near the Civil War era Fort Pickens which also served as a prison for Geronimo and his band of Chiricahua Apaches.  Back on the main land Big Lagoon State Park provides camping spaces with plenty of access to water.  My personal favorite area for outdoors excursions is the Blackwater River State Park in nearby Santa Rosa County, with endless trails of undisturbed natural flora and fauna.

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Local Celebrities

Pensacola has also produced its share of celebrities including WBA Heavyweight Champion Roy Jones Jr., NFL running back Emmitt Smith, multiple platinum winning producer Larry Butler, and Native American Music Award winning rapper Shadowyze. Former presidential candidate, Senator John McCain attended flight school at NAS Pensacola.

Pensacola inspires artists of various sorts and every craft.  It has a diverse culture, more cosmopolitan than most of the surrounding area.  It holds a significant place in American history as the first European colonial city in what would become the United States.  With multiple festivals and cultural expositions celebrated throughout the year, Pensacola is one of Florida’s hidden treasures.