Traveling Music Show From Texas To The Florida Keys

Each of the past three years Radio Trop Rock in conjunction with Trop Rockin’ the USA Radio Show and Donny Brewer, has hosted a rolling tailgate party.
This tailgate party consists of a group of RVs full of adventurous souls that starts at Isla Bella, a house concert venue owned by Fred and Sara Guerrero just outside San Antonio. The party starts there and doesn’t end until the group reaches Key West Florida, just in time for Meeting Of The Minds, the annual pilgrimage for Parrotheads worldwide. (“Parrothead” is the nickname for Jimmy Buffett fans).
The “karavan” makes stops along the way. Sometimes at live music venues such as T-Bone Tom’s at the Kemah Boardwalk, and sometimes stops in casino parking lots, or even Walmart lots. Regardless of the location, a party breaks out for some music and merriment.

One thing of note is, not ALL participants travel in RVs. Some tag along in cars staying in hotels near the stops. This blog will be updated as we move along the route.
This year there were several sponsors for Karavan to the Keys 3. The sponsors included Isla Bella House Concerts, HatLadyBling.com, Yvonne Bukowski with Travel Luxury Vacations, Chip Bell – author of The Jake Sullivan Series and Radio Trop Rock. Karbach Brewery also provided beer to be placed in the Karavan 3 swag bags which was actually a usablebeer cooler. Also included in the swag bag was a lanyard, custom KTTK3 name badge, KTTK3 t-shirt, Joel Block cup, and a license plate with the original Karavan To The Keys logo.
We have already posted the music and highlights of Day 1; click here for the story. And now here’s a review of Day 2!
DAY 2 – OCTOBER 20TH – ISLA BELLA – FLORESVILLE TX

Artists performing: Stoney Gabel, The Detentions, Donny Brewer
Day 2 started with a fantastic, far too early breakfast. Our hosts Fred and Sara Guerrero made the breakfast while I provided a pitcher of my very scrumptious “Trop Rockin’ Bloody Marys”. Once breakfast was done the work began setting up the sound equipment getting ready for the three shows scheduled for the day.
First up was Stoney Gabel. Stoney has a unique view on many things. His songwriting is strong on humor. He played his original songs like Comic Sans, Dessert Bar and Hippie Chic. He also has a great song that fits in at Parrothead events, She Broke My Songs You Know By Heart. The audience “laughed out loud” numerous times throughout Stoney’s set.

Next up was the smooth harmonies of The Detentions out of Austin Texas. They are “School teachers by day, happy hour heroes by night”. They are the current Trop Rock Music Association Duo of the Year, and nominated again for 2018. The crowd enjoyed classic Detention originals such as Salty Dog, and Coast. They also played some of their newer songs such as Beach in Heaven. They shared some great stories about where the ideas for their songs came from such as Bourbon on Bourbon.
During The Detentions show Donny Brewer hosted a Railean’s Distillery tasting with twelve different Railean Spirits. The smiles seemed to get larger during this part of the show. I’m not sure why.
Following the Detentions Donny Brewer’s brand new CD Blues Lagoon was played in its entirety during the dinner break.
Donny then got on stage and performed some of his best hits from previous CDs such as Live Like Jimmy Buffett and Zimzala. He also dazzled the crowd with his game “let’s make up a song” by asking the audience to pick guitar chords. He then asks someone to pick a tempo, followed by topics and subjects for a song. He then uses those chords, tempo, and topics to write and perform a song right on the spot. He used a looper to harmonize and accompany himself on a song about “Oysters at Isla Bella”.

“Left Shark” made a surprise appearance to dance during Donny’s song Skinny Beer. The Detentions then made an appearance on stage to sing two of the songs they’ve co-wrote with Donny, I’m a Professional Drinker and Fishin’ On Credit. Donny then played songs from the new CD.
The night was not over yet. Stoney Gabel, Joel Block, Dan Sullivan, Chris Hillier, and Donny Brewer gathered everyone around the bonfire for song requests.
They day’s performances were broadcast live on Radio Trop Rock as part of the Trop Rockin’ the USA Radio Show.


DAY 3 – OCTOBER 21ST – T-BONE TOM’S – KEMAH TX
Artists performing: Jerry Diaz
DAY 4 – OCTOBER 22ND – CAJUN PALMS RV RESORT – HENDERSON LA
Artists performing: TBD
DAY 5 – OCTOBER 23RD – ISLAND RETREAT RV PARK – GULF SHORES AL
Artists performing: TBD
DAY 6 – OCTOBER 24TH – GLEN LAKES GOLD CLUB – FOLEY AL
Artists performing: Brent Burns, Bill Whyte and Eric Stone
DAY 7 – OCTOBER 25TH – PARKING LOT PARTY – GAINESVILLE FL
Artists performing: TBD
DAY 8 – OCTOBER 26TH – FLIP FLOP STOCK – KISSIMMEE FL
Artists performing: Drop Dead Dangerous, Thom Shepherd and Coley McCabe, Bill Cockrell, Kristine Jackson,
DAY 9 – OCTOBER 27TH – MARGARITAVILLE CAFÉ – ORLANDO FL
Artists performing: None – visiting DJ J.D. Spradlin
DAY 10 – OCTOBER 28TH – CASINO NIGHT – MIAMI FL
Artist performing: TBD
DAY 11 – OCTOBER 29TH – MEETING OF THE MINDS – KEY WEST
Artists performing: All of them!
For more information on Karavan to the Keys visit DonnyBrewer.com.
For more information on Radio Trop Rock visit RadioTropRock.com.
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