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John Bartus: News

John Bartus & Storm Watch to headline Conchtoberfest 2011 - September 17, 2011

John Bartus & Storm Watch are the Saturday Night headliners at Conchtoberfest 2011, held at Hawks Cay Resort at Mile Marker 61 on Duck Key, Sept. 30 - Oct. 2. In addition, John will play two solo sets, Friday evenin g at 5:00 p.m., and Saturday at 11:00 a.m. "Were excited to be a part of this festival in its second year," John says, "and everyone should try and make an excuse to come to the Keys for this great fall event!"

Conch and Florida Keys Seafood are feature dishes, and there will be ten different beers on tap to quench the autumnal thirst. A vendors market featuring arts and crafts, as well as cooking demonstrations and fun for the entire family will make Conchtoberfest one of our islands' great events! 

For more information, visit www.keysconchtoberfest.com

August Dates Added - July 31, 2011

I've just updated the Calendar page (at www.johnbartus.com) with live performance dates for the month of August -- and there are two Storm Watch dates in a row, August 19 & 20! Progress is happening on the new live CD, and there will be more details soon. Check the Calendar dates, and stop by and say hello!

Final Space Shuttle, Free “Dawn’s Early Light” Download, more - July 8, 2011

I just watched the last launch of the Space Shuttle program, and as someone who grew up at the Cape in the 1960s, I had a tear in my eye. I wrote an article for my Marathon & the Middle Florida Keys Magazine about our 50 years of launching people into space – it can be read on my Blog page.

Additionally, it can be seen as it appeared on pages 14-15 with color photos from NASA at: http://floridakeysmagazines.com

In recognition of today’s final flight of Atlantis, as well as all those associated with the space program for the past half-century, my tribute to the Challenger (and Columbia and Apollo 1) astronauts, “Dawn’s Early Light,” will be available as a free download for a limited time. Find it on the Music page.

Storm Watch on July 4th! - June 24, 2011

MARATHON - Local Keys favorites John Bartus & Storm Watch will again headline Marathon's Independence Day Celebration at Sombrero Beach in the Heart of the Florida Keys, performing from 6 PM until sunset and the greatest fireworks in South Florida. Other acts confirmed for the all-day family-friendly event are local youth band Misery Loves Company, and local performers Dan Sullivan and Christian Brindel. Leigha Fox from US1 Radio will sing the National Anthem at the opening ceremonies. Marathon's July 4th bash, sponsored by the Marathon Rotary Club and the City of Marathon, has become the best Independence Day Celebration in the Florida Keys, as well as most of South Florida.

Clarence Clemons, R.I.P. - June 18, 2011

Words cannot express my sadness at the passing of Clarence Clemons. In every sense of the word, he was a Big Man, and the world is a lesser place as of his passing. I'm just glad I got to know him a little and jam with him that memorable evening a few years ago. My condolences to his extended family and his friends worldwide. Rest in peace, Big Man.

Original Marathon Seafood Festival! - March 4, 2011

Saturday, March 12 at 3:00 p.m., I’ll be performing with my band, Storm Watch, at the Original Marathon Seafood Festival at Marathon Community Park at Mile Marker 49. This two-day festival has become the second largest event in all the Florida Keys, and we’re looking to have another great year. Other performers include rising country star Buddy Brown (and his great band), Howard Livingston and MM 24, The Regs, Island Vibes, Mojito, and a whole lot more. We’re going to have some big fun, so come on down to the 35th annual Original Marathon Seafood Festival! For other gigs, you can find the complete schedule right here on the Calendar page.

What’s Up With Storm Watch? - March 4, 2011

There are some new things to report with my great band, Storm Watch. Christian Davis’ life on the mainland has finally progressed to the point that he’s too busy to make it down to the Keys on a regular basis (and that’s a good thing!). Veteran drummer (and my friend and partner in crime) Glenn Faast and I are proud to welcome new bassist Jason Poff to the band! Jason has worked with some of the greats in his relatively long career (for such a young guy), and you can find out more about him by clicking on the Bio page. Keyboard man (and solo entertainer) Chris Thomas will join us for the larger festivals like the upcoming Seafood Festival. Help welcome Jason to the band at the Seafood Fest or any of our upcoming Storm Watch shows!

Key West Seafood Festival! - January 12, 2011

This Saturday, I’ll be performing with my band, Storm Watch, at the Florida Keys Seafood Festival at Bayview Park in Key West!!! Drummer Glenn Faast, bassist/guitarist Christian Davis, and keyboard man Chris Thomas will help me rock out the festival at 4:00 p.m., with an encore set at 8:00 p.m. Other performers include country star Amber Leigh (and her great band), Hot Tropic, Craig Eubank, and a solo set from Chris as well. We’re going to have some big fun, so come on down to the Seafood Festival in Key West! For other gigs, you can find the complete schedule right here on the Calendar page! I hope to see you there!

New Recording Update & Free Downloads - December 22, 2010

I’ve started recording select songs at my performances. The best will be used for an upcoming new Live CD; others will be posted to the Free Downloads area on my website. Keep checking the site to see what gets uploaded!

Happy Holidays!!! - December 22, 2010

The holiday season is firing on all cylinders now! It’s hard to believe that this Saturday is Christmas, and we’ve only got a week and a half left in 2010! I hope this finds you in good health, and that your holidays are truly happy and that your new year of 2011 will be your best yet (with many more to come). Here in the Keys, we’re expecting a partly cloudy Christmas with highs of 75. Then another cold front comes through. When you’re not used to it, 50 is C-O-L-D.

Marc Davis leaves Storm Watch - August 3, 2010

Marc Davis has resigned from Storm Watch in order to pursue more solo opportunities. The split is amicable, and there are certainly no hard feelings involved. We hope you join with us in wishing nothing but the best for Marc as he follows his muse. And our thanks go out to Marc for his work in the band, which will continue to be available on the John Bartus & Storm Watch: Live at the 2009 Marathon Seafood Festival CD. If you don't have it, Marc absolutely shines on this album of originals and covers.

The Guestbook is Back! - April 4, 2010

Since the nice folks at HostBaby put in a security feature to keep those pesky Russian Viagra dealers from spamming the site, the Guestbook has returned! Please sign in and post away!!!

Another Free Download! - March 21, 2010

Tom Petty fans might want to grab this one for their collection -- "Running Down A Dream" from a John Bartus & Storm Watch gig, Memorial Day weekend, 2008.

Blog (Keys Disease) Added! - March 21, 2010

One of the things I do in all my spare time is write a weekly column called Keys Disease for the Weekly Newspapers. Since I write one weekly, and many website visitors don't get the Weekly, I'll start posting the column as my Blog. Feel free to comment away!

NEW! More Free Downloads - August 4, 2009

There are more free MP3 downloads at the Music page -- hope you enjoy them!

CD Release Party Photos Posted! - August 3, 2009

Photos from the John Bartus & Storm Watch CD Release Party have now been posted on the Photos page of the website! Click and enjoy!!!

NEW STORM WATCH CD RELEASE PARTIES IN MARATHON & ISLAMORADA! (CDs available online at CDBaby.com!) - June 16, 2009

John Bartus & Storm Watch release Live at the 2009 Marathon Seafood Festival CD

Release Party at Dockside Lounge (Marathon) Friday, June 26 at 7:00 PM & Hog Heaven (Islamorada) Saturday, June 27 at 8:00 PM.

MARATHON – Florida Keys rockers John Bartus & Storm Watch are releasing their new CD, Live at the 2009 Marathon Seafood Festival, at Dockside Lounge in Marathon, and Hog Heaven in Islamorada. While Florida Keys residents have gotten to know Storm Watch (drummer Glenn Faast, keyboardist Marc Davis, and bassist/guitarist Christian Davis) through a series of successful gigs, there are still quite a few people who haven’t a clue that bandleader and guitarist John Bartus used to be Mayor of the City of Marathon. Bartus is currently celebrating the 25th anniversary of his first gig (as well as living here) in the Keys. FOR MORE INFORMATION: Click on the ORDER CDs page!

John Bartus & Storm Watch headline Marathon's July 4th Celebration - June 16, 2009

MARATHON - Local Keys favorites John Bartus & Storm Watch will again headline Marathon's Independence Day Celebration at Sombrero Beach in the Heart of the Florida Keys. "It's going to be a great day," says Bartus, "and we're really looking forward to be the band that plays right before the fireworks!" Marathon's July 4th bash, sponsored by the Marathon Rotary Club and the City of Marathon, has become the best Independence Day Celebration in the Florida Keys, as well as most of South Florida.

Bartus & Storm Watch to headline Seafood Festival - March 7, 2009

John Bartus & Storm Watch are again one of the headline acts at this year's 33rd Annual Original Marathon Seafood Festival March 14 and 15, 2009. Sponsored by the Greater Marathon Chamber of Commerce and the Organized Fishermen of Florida, the Festival celebrates the best in fresh Florida Keys seafood along with great entertainment, vendors, a nautical market and boat show, a lots of family fun. Bartus and Storm Watch take the stage at 3:00 PM Saturday, as well as host a jam with Brian Roberts Sunday at 11:30 AM.

Bartus wins Best Local Celebrity - March 7, 2009

John Bartus was voted "Best Local Celebrity" in the 2009 "Best of Marathon" contest sponsored by the Marathon JayCees and the Weekly Newspapers. Bartus noted, "It’s a true honor, and I appreciate that it comes from the people who take time to see all the things that are right within our community. We have a great town, and I’m honored to be a part of it." Read all about ti, as well as John's weekly column Keys Disease at www.keysweekly.com.

New Year, New CD? - January 6, 2009

Happy New Year! I hope 2009 brings nothing but the best for everyone, and that there will soon be a major turnaround on a lot of the bad stuff that's been happening. There will be a new CD out this year (!), and I'm looking toward a springtime release. Although it can be slow going at times, I'm really happy with the way the tracks are shaping up. There will be more to come in the weeks ahead -- promise!!! Hope to see you in Paradise. MARK ON YOUR CALENDARS: March 14-15 -- yours truly and Storm Watch will be playing the Seafood Festival again! More details to follow.

John Bartus & Storm Watch on YouTube - August 26, 2008

Click this link to see John and Storm Watch perform "Carolina" live at a recent gig. WARNING: Audio quality isn't the greatest, but it's really live. Special thanks to local video guy Pete Kouris!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EunxV7cP9yM

Fay (and other F-words) - Keys Disease Column 8/23/08 - August 26, 2008

Tropical Storm Fay visited the Keys this past week, and the word most often used by 25,000 displaced evacuating tourists—and the business owners hoping for one more week of business before autumn—is not a word I can write in this family publication. Feel free to look it up if you must; it contains exactly five fewer letters than the word “firetruck.” There are, however, plenty more words that come to mind. Each one, surprisingly, begins with the sponsor of this week’s column: the letter F.

A little history: Dr. Jeff Masters, of Weather Underground (www.wunderground.com) originally named the storm now known as Fay “The Joker.” This was long before it had a name, and no, Joker doesn’t begin with the letter F. Anyway, the Joker grew almost instantaneously from a tropical wave (albeit a large wave) with no closed circulation into a full-fledged named storm. That, however, was not the Joker’s only trick.

Fay’s uncertain course and divergent model runs (we all know way too many meteorological terms, don’t we?) left many of us glued to a computer screen, Following each update. As it seemed that Fay would be coming closer, we began to Freak and then to Fasten plywood and storm shutters to our homes and places of business. We would Fill up our vehicles and make sure we had plenty of Food and water.

After a Fitful night’s sleep, Monday morning was our last chance to Finalize preparations before Fay’s arrival. Marathon took the worst weather Fay dished out, with nearly seven inches of rain and wind gusts near hurricane strength. Still, we watched and waited, and got some seemingly good news mid-afternoon: the center of circulation had passed Key West, and since the storm’s bad weather was in the northeast quadrant, our conditions would improve very soon. Conditions may have improved for Key West, but not so for Marathon and other areas of the Keys. Six hours after the official announcement of improving conditions, we were still feeling the wrath of Fay. This brings us to a very important (and forgotten by the Key West NWS) F-word: Feeder bands. Fay’s demonic tail kept lashing us long after the calm in Key West. But really, I’m not bitter.

You see, while Fay was with us, she couldn’t get her act together. As long as she spent spinning over water, she remained a disorganized tropical storm that couldn’t wrap convection around her central core. Remember how Dr. Masters called Fay the Joker? After Fay made landfall on the Florida mainland, she intensified. Over land. Here is how Dr. Masters described it in his blog: “Tropical Storm Fay (AKA "The Joker") is pulling a trick that may be unprecedented—significantly intensifying over land, developing a full eyewall… Remarkably, the pressure has fallen over 10 mb since landfall, and I can't ever recall seeing such a large pressure fall while a storm was over land… To have a storm intensify over land and maintain that increased intensity while over land for 12 hours is hard to explain.” Not if you’re a Joker.

Let’s digress for a while and talk palm trees. Yes, those stately and beautiful trees that are the silent spokespersons (spokestrees?) for the tropics. After another hurricane years ago (Georges, and it’s still not pronounced like the plural of George!), after I had cleaned the muck and seaweed and debris from the storm surge in my yard, I noticed little palm trees starting to sprout. I didn’t know what kind they were, but I knew they were palm trees. I dug them up and planted them where I thought we could use some palm trees. Now, for those of you into horticulture, you already know what a Washingtonia palm is. They’re those big fan palms that grow rather tall and leave a “hula skirt” of dead fronds hanging just below the fresh green ones at the top of the tree. The frond stems feature sharp jagged edges that are just about the most vicious cutting tool found on any plant. Anyway, ten years after hurricane Georges, we now have five of these fifty-foot palms in our yard. Tropical Storm Fay managed to dislodge a couple hundred of those hanging fronds, still attached to those “stems of death.” Our cleanup of this mess involved four F-words: Fronds that Fillet your Flesh.

See if you can figure out what the other F-word was.

SATURDAY IN THE PARK - July 8, 2008

My band and I will take the big stage at the Marathon Amphitheater for the 2nd Annual Saturday In The Park Concert for C.A.M.P. This concert event will benefit the Cultural Art and Music Program, and it happens this Saturday, July 12, from 4 until 10 PM.

KEYS DISEASE - Guitarists, Part 2 - July 8, 2008

Six strings, three chords, and the truth. As promised last week, here’s my take on some of the most influential guitarists of the rock era… part 2.

Jimi Hendrix: Monster player, killer tone, studio wizard, great writer, indelible presence… perhaps the quintessential rock musician. Just shows you what somebody can do with an upside-down Stratocaster and a Marshall stack. His star flamed out way too early, and it would have been incredible to watch what he would have come up with had he survived. What he left us has inspired countless thousands of players, and his legacy will live forever.

Pete Townshend: The Who’s legendary guitar smasher was actually a very talented multi-instrumentalist as well as being the main songwriter for the band. His windmill strums put the show into his talent of combining rhythm and lead parts into a seamless unit that nicely filled out the guitar area of the guitar-bass-drums band. At a concert in Germany many years ago, a cop walked onstage, pointed his gun at Townshend, and told him to stop smashing his guitar. Party pooper.

CSNY: Yeah, including Graham Nash may be pushing things, but Crosby, Stills, and Young more than make up for anything otherwise missing. David Crosby’s inspired acoustic playing meshed so well with Steven Stills’ impeccable acoustic and electric lead work on so many great songs. And what can you say about Neil Young? His acoustic songs are among the best ever written and played, and he invented grunge (with Crazy Horse) years before it was ever called that. The four of them last toured together in 2006, and their long and energetic 36-song set (!) put many younger acts to shame. It’s true: Old Guys Rock.

James Taylor: While his songs helped define the acoustic guitarist singer/songwriter archetype, his understated yet elegant fingerpicking and use of passing chords and moving bass lines added a lot to what otherwise would have been a standard three-chord progression. It may sound easy, but try playing a James Taylor song the right way and you’ll find out how easy it’s not.

Joni Mitchell: Speaking of chord progressions, Joni took that singer/songwriter archetype and turned it on its head. Not satisfied with the sounds she was hearing in the guitar’s conventional tuning, she would create her own alternate tunings that served to frustrate other guitarists trying to learn her songs. Her unmatched rhythm guitar playing is the foundation of nearly all her songs, and the driving force of all the various bands she has had throughout the years.

David Gilmour: The legendary Pink Floyd axeman brought the soul of a blues guitarist to the psychedelic banquet, serving up memorable lead lines on his Stratocaster. There are a million players who can shred at close to light speed, but few can make one note count the way Gilmour does. His tone, taste, and technique (as well as his compositional skills) provided the musical foundation for Waters’ conceptual ascensions. Floyd reunion tour ’09?

Jimmy Page: What Clapton and Gilmour did for the Stratocaster, Page did for the Les Paul. Building on the foundation of the blues, Page would pry, cajole, pound, and even bow his Les Paul into producing what became for many the soundtrack of the 70s. His accomplished acoustic work is often overshadowed by his unmatched body of work on the electric. Zep reunion tour ’09?

Andy Summers: The Police’s guitarist is one of the best ever at filling out the sounds of a guitar-bass-drums trio. While many bands overkill with screaming distortion and bombast, Summers used unusual chord shapes, effects, and a relatively Spartan approach that was the perfect counterpoint to Sting’s bass lines and Stewart Copeland’s syncopated reggae-infused drumming.

The Edge: Just like Andy Summers, the Edge (Dave Evans) provided the only-guitar-in-the-band (mostly) for U2. He used tone and effects (especially delay lines) to fill the holes in the band’s arrangements, and did so in as uniquely inventive a way as Summers did with the Police.

Well, there’s still more left to cover, as we’ve barely gotten out of the 70s! E-mail me with your suggestions for Part 3, and we’ll see you next week.
Don’t forget to rock on.
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