United States

Is anyone here familiar with the music scene(s) in SW Florida?
Any of these cities:
Tampa
St. Petersburg
Sarasota
Venice
Port Charlotte
Punta Gorda
Cape Coral
Ft. Myers
Naples
I'm moving there soon, and I'm just curious if there's any kind of musical vitality going on down there.

Thanks

Is anyone here familiar with the music scene(s) in SW Florida?
Any of these cities:
Tampa
St. Petersburg
Sarasota
Venice
Port Charlotte
Punta Gorda
Cape Coral
Ft. Myers
Naples
I'm moving there soon, and I'm just curious if there's any kind of musical vitality going on down there.

Thanks

Well, you've lost me, lol. I live in West Palm, so I am on the East. But, it is probably fairly good over there. I mean Naples is more of a rich mans land to my knowledge, so that may be a bit odd, lol. Tampa though is rather down to Earth, and so are the rest of the cities you named. Look, if the music scene is dead, maybe you can bring it back if you move there, why not try, huh?

Down here it is pretty good, a lot of bands out here in West Palm Beach. A couple of really good bar bands I have seen personally.

Peace out, GuitarAnatomy.

Wow! Bring back an entire scene by myself? You have a lot of faith in me GA! I'm married, poor, and not so young anymore. It would be nice though. Being part of an up & coming scene is a good feeling.
Thanks for the input!
BTW, about how many miles is it across the peninsula? It looks like it might not be that far to travel between the coasts, maybe for weekend gigs? We used to travel to Dallas from Tulsa for a weekend gig (a well paying gig, that is), and it's about 5 hours away.
Thanks again...

Let's see... I have never actually been to the West Coast, but I have asked that question myself once. Across the peninsula to the West Coast from here I think is about maybe 3 hours. I do not think it is all that far, because I have been fairly far west, so yeah. It might not even be that long if you are a good driver, and a bit fast, lol.

As for going to like upstate Florida, Orlando, Jacksonville, etc... Most people I know do those drives from Palm Beach in anywhere from 4-6 hours. I have heard of some people doing the Orlando drive in about 2 and a half hours, and I was like "What were you doing 80 MPH?" Guess the answer I got? "Yep!" Lmao.

If you want like exact timing you could just use Mapquest directions, punch in where you will be and where you would want to go. I could be wrong, lol. However, Florida is more long than it is wide (Apparently). They are said to have nicer beaches on the West Coach, with Sanibel Island being there. My grandfather said the beach is all white sand.

I remember jet skiing in Miami, I think it was Key Biscayne. The beach was not so white, and my dumbell father took us where there were darn oil tankers not more than 5 miles from it, lmao. You would be surprised how many people do not mind swimming or jet skiing in that water, I was petrified, lol.

Back on topic, hey, look, you may not have a lot of money, be married, and not young, but that does not mean you cannot try to revive some of musical scene if it is not already there! The better the musician you are, the better your chances of making some changes.

Whatever you choose to do, I wish you luck! The more veteran guitarists the better, maybe it will show some of those maniacal untalented shredders of our generation what music and guitar playing really is about!

Peace, GuitarAnatomy.

scarlettrust, the scene in tampa and the sorrounding areas is awesome. music and players everywhere. i lived ther for about five years and played 7 nights a week. if you can hang with the players you will work. it's been about three yrs scince i've been there. so it might have changed. tampa has changed alot. but cool thing is
Orlando and tampa are only one hour away from each other. that gives you more venues than yo could play in a lifetime....... Only problem is crime and traffic.. and of course houses and rent are crazy. If you need some contacts over there i would need to check out some stuff of yours and then i would be able to figure something out...GOOD LUCK Don't get caught up in the life style over there it will slam you. it's crazy for real. i've never been in a place where there are more narcotics floating around. be careful......... please.

Sweet...... Thanx skunk. Oh, I'm not gonna live in Tampa. I've heard about the crime. We'll probably end up in Punta Gorda. Was Tampa, et al, a hard rock/metal scene, or was it more diverse? I seem to see a disproportionate amount of metal coming out of Florida. Metal is ok, I just can't get into it anymore. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I like diversity.
The scene I was involved in at the time in Tulsa was nice like that. We were a modern rock band, but we were friends with, and networked with, all kinds of musicians in town. Metal, blues, alternative, jazz, country, avant garde, even some pretty good DJ's.
Thanks for the hook up, skunk! Thanks for looking out for me. Don't worry about me & the "extracurricular activities." Been around it some, and it's no trap for me. I also know the people involved with that stuff are CRAZY! Meth is a bad problem around here. Drugs make a person absolutely mental.....

cool man. actually i hung around everything but metal. the scene is so diverse i just never got to it. if you've never been exposed to afro cuban stuff. like salsa ,fusion. you will blown away over there. it's just a well rounded place.

Punta Gorda, I remember when hurricane Charley struck, I think it was 2004 if I remember right, it destroyed that town. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that is the nightmare of Florida?

We have not seen any hurricanes lately, but when they come, they come. Let's see, I can personally remember like going through about 7. I remember when hurricane Floyd swept across the eastern coast of Florida, wow that was creepy. Punta Gorda was a big deal I remember, so many issues in certain parts of this state with hurricanes.

Andrew tore this place in half, especially in homestead. I do not remember that was so well, way too young, lol. So yeah, that is the one bad part about this state. However, we do have fairly good weather most of the time. The west coast should not be bad, I prefer it over here, I have always wanted to see Naples though.

Good luck with your search man, remember, Mapquest any directions in to get exact timing and direction - I think it is always different.

Peace out, GuitarAnatomy.

Yo Scarlet,
Frig Flori-duh! (and responsibilities)... C'mon up to "Merry ol' Penn's Woods" and jam with us! We seem to be having a blight of good available guitarists in my neck of the woods, so your spot is already reserved! (besides, groundhog sez "spring is on the nigh" so ya wouldn't have to freeze your nutzoff for very much longer).

Yo Scarlet,
Frig Flori-duh! (and responsibilities)... C'mon up to "Merry ol' Penn's Woods" and jam with us! We seem to be having a blight of good available guitarists in my neck of the woods, so your spot is already reserved! (besides, groundhog sez "spring is on the nigh" so ya wouldn't have to freeze your nutzoff for very much longer).

Bwaaaaaahahahahahaha. Man, if I had it my way, I'd travel & try out the scenes everywhere.

BTW, I saw a band name in there........Nutzoff!

^
Nutzoff live at the apollo!

^
Nutzoff live at the apollo!

Hahaha! So, with a name like Nutzoff playing at the Apollo, they've got to be a funky band.

That's it!
"Hello people! We are Nutzoff! And we have come to funk your nutzoff!"

That's it!
"Hello people! We are Nutzoff! And we have come to funk your nutzoff!"

... Talk about a literal "ball breaker." Lol.

Peace out, GuitarAnatomy.

tampa is it , after that is a vast waste land on jimmy b and cover bands good luck