Marty Stonely

 

By Ralph Depalma

 

Marty Stonely was born in London, England to a movie star mother  and a father who was the leader of a jazz band and an accomplished saxophonist.  This helps explain the six different accents that Marty uses from time to time.  Marty’s family arrived in New Jersey in 1959, then moved to California, and, later, Kentucky.

 

 

Marty’s first night in Key West was the night of the Fantasy Fest parade in 1984.  He camped out on the White Street Pier. His first few gigs in town were inauspicious, but in 1985 he became a member of the “Survivors” band and played with them until their break up in 1993. The Survivors scored a six night a week gig at the Sands/Reach hotel and as a musician, Marty started to make a decent living. When asked about the difference in Key West then and now he responded “There were more hippies in town, stoned all the time.” He remembers having to be careful driving around town because the local dogs had a tendency to sleep in the puddles in the middle of the streets. The town was more laid back in the 1980’s and 90’s, Marty recalls.  Today Key West is more of a pressure cooker, and it’s a struggle to pay the rent and meet expenses.

 

 

Marty remembers playing saxophone at Captain Hornblower’s jazz club with Lonnie Jacobson, Dave Burns, and  Reggie Smith. Occasionally the owner, Danny Knowles, an accomplished trumpeter, would join in.  There were curtains on both sides of the stage and local strippers from downstairs would hide behind the curtains and try to “distract” players during a solo. “They made it very difficult” Marty said.

 

 

In 1988 the Green Parrot started to have live music on Friday and Saturday nights.  Marty played with one of the first bands booked.   It was a Haitian band with “a few half-naked women.”  Later the Survivors were booked along with Bill Blue and usually other local bands.  They played where the back bar is currently located and the hardest part was to find enough burly guys to move the pool tables out of the way before the gig.

 

 

Today, Marty plays with several local bands on a regular basis. He can be found onstage with the Paul Cotton Band, featuring the lead singer-songwriter and guitarist of Poco fame, and Howard Livingston and the MM24 Band which recently opened for the Grand Funk Railroad at the Keystock Music Festival.

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