Hospice cuts deal to retain Kripitz at picnic
but musicians view music collective warily
BY TERRY SCHMIDA
The show will go on at the annual Visiting Nurse Association/Hospice Fourth of July Picnic, with musical entertainment coordinated, as in years’ past, by Key West drummer and bandleader, Skipper Kripitz.
This press-time announcement from the picnic’s organizers comes despite rumors to the contrary which have been circulating on social media sites for the past week or so, that the longtime musical compere had been fired from the non-paying post he has occupied for 14 years now.
A number of Kripitz’ colleagues placed the blame squarely on a recently arrived music collective known as Good Company, [incorporated as the Music City Bottling Company,] for the shake-up.
Old guard performers such as singer/guitarist Larry Baeder have even insinuated that Good Company, led by Nashville musician and businessman Mike Willis, tried to horn in on Kripitz’ niche at the VNA fundraiser, in much the same way the group has systematically undercut and displaced many local musicians from their regular gigs.
“We’ve heard the community,” said VNA/Hospice Human Resources Manager Michelle Chennault, who is one of the event’s coordinators. “And Skipper will run the show at this year’s event.”
Kripitz confirmed Monday that he had come to terms with the non-profit organization, which depends heavily on the annual picnic – and the free entertainment provided by local musicians.
However, the incident has struck a jangly minor chord with many locals, and a situation that has been simmering for some time now. The conflict pits the area’s established, long-term talents, against Willis and his rotating entourage of troubadours, who live cheek-to-jowl at a Summerland Key house owned by a local club owner, and where they pool their earnings at the end of the day.
It’s a business model that has die-hard local players upset – and worried about the future of working musicians in the county.
To that end, Baeder, Kripitz, lounge singer/pianist Larry Smith, and singer/guitarist Gary Rivenson have formed an entity they call the Key West Musician’s Benevolent Association, to look out for the interests of full-time music-makers in the Southernmost City. New members are welcome to contact the founders through their Facebook pages, or in person.
“We’ve been talking about doing something like this for a while now,” Rivenson said, “modeled along the lines of the Sister Season Fund, to help out our local musicians when they run into financial difficulties due to an illness, or some other family emergency. But this Good Company issue has changed our focus somewhat. What they’re doing is the antithesis of what Key West is all about, taking care of each other. At first they were kind of a minor annoyance, but I think this July Fourth thing really woke some people up as to what they’re trying to do here.”
At a hastily convened meeting at the VNA’s William Street office Monday, Board Chair Richard Grusin conceded that Kripitz had occasionally made organizers nervous with his seat-of-the-pants entertainment arrangements at the popular Casa Marina Resort event, but that “in the end, he always comes through with a great show.”
This year, Chennault said, Kripitz had admitted to her that having the event fall on a paid gig-friendly Saturday, was causing him more trouble that usual, getting the schedule together.
“He hadn’t confirmed a full-line up, so we reached out to another local group [Good Company,]” Chennault said. “And we accepted Skipper’s resignation.”
The anxiety among locals raised by Good Company’s arrival is palpable.
In a recent email to Chennault, Steve Gibson, of the Love Lane Gang, signaled his band’s intention not to perform at this year’s event, saying “I am dismayed to learn of the recent sequence of events which has led to the sudden removal of Mr. Kripitz as talent coordinator this year. He has performed this challenging task for many years on a voluntary basis, and always has done an exemplary job. I understand part of the reason for his dismissal is his adamant refusal to include members of the Good Company Collective (sic) as performers. This group of interlopers has been engaging in rather unsavory business practices since they came to the area, taking work away from musicians who have been living and working here for years as part of this community. This is their business model, which they have used in other communities, and which led to them being banished from Atlanta before they arrived here.”
Not all Key West musicians feel the same way, however,
“This is far from the first ‘invasion’ of the Keys music scene,” bassist Dan Simpson wrote on Facebook. “I was part of one in the ’70s, though I like to think that I tried to fit in and contribute to the soul and culture I found when I landed here. I’ve lived through many incursions since. I remember one large influx of musicians in particular whose cutthroat tactics reduced musician wages to half almost overnight, and the pay scale has never recovered. No doubt some of those folks are complaining about the current horde. The only thing I can say is: be the best musician/ artist you can be… reinvent and diversify. The Key West pie is getting sliced thinner and thinner every day for everybody, not just musicians.”
For his part, Willis claims to be nothing more or less than a musician with a dream who’s found a way to make Key West his home.
“I’m a singer/songwriter who first came down here with the Songwriter’s Festival,” he said. “I immediately fell in love with the place, and I’m just trying to share that experience with some of the really great friends I play with all over the country. Conversely, I’m bringing some of them with me to England soon. My goal is not to come to Key West to set up shop, it’s to create a network that gives and takes.”
Willis also categorically denied stealing work from anyone.
“I can tell you that our prices and what we deliver are similarly priced to what’s out there right now,” he said. “There is no undercutting happening. That’s the end of it.”
Willis also said that few local musicians had discussed their concerns with him in person.
“They have never approached me directly,” he said. “They’re just talking about it publicly on Facebook, which is a shame. I relish the opportunity to talk with these guys. I don’t think they understand what we’re doing here.”
Willis also offered an olive branch to Baeder, who, while refusing to play at a Kripitz-less picnic, had stated his intention to present a personal check to the VNA nonetheless, in support of its cause.
“If I have one thing in common with the folks who are negative, it’s that none of us have any ill will toward VNA,” Willis said. “We don’t want the VNA to suffer. We want them to succeed.”
None of the club owners or managers Konk Life contacted for this article wished to speak on the record about the current controversy.
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To clarify the headline of this article. All parties involved agreed the mission of VNA/Hospice was far too important to allow a problem in the music community to tarnish our reputation ability to provide care in Monroe County. There was not a DEAL cut, Good Company graciously made the offer to step away from the event on Sunday, Monday Skipper unexpectedly sent a text message offering to return and we accepted the offer…Personally, my hope is there will be a dialog among the two music factions and they will come to an understanding of how each can live and perform in harmony in the town we call paradise and our home. Remember what this town is known for, being “One Human Family” accepting and being tolerant of one another, regardless of philosophies, orientations, race, or socio-economic status. We are all here because we love the Key West Community.
Having said all of that, Skipper and Friends have assured us this will be the biggest and best show the Fourth of July Picnic has ever seen. We are all looking forward to seeing the entire community come out to enjoy the show and our very talented local musicians. http://www.4thofjulykeywest.com for tickets.
Thank you for running this article. This is a potentially dangerous situation for many local musicians. At least this time a crisis has been averted and order has been restored.
However, while Mr. Schmida says at the end, “None of the club owners or managers Konk Life contacted for this article wished to speak on the record about the current controversy,” it must be noted that he did not contact me either for permission to reprint an excerpt of what was originally a private communication. I will grant that this had been shared with a group of local musicians and others involved in the local performing arts scene. But still, permission should be requested and given before someone’s written statements is run in the press.
With that said, I stand by my statement, even if parts of it are based not on my first-hand experience but what I have heard from others. first-hand
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This article is a bunch of BS! Filled with false, made up statements and baseless opinions. Good Company are a group of generous, hard-working professional musicians and some of the most talented musicians this island has ever seen. The Key West ‘local musicians’ (most of whom have come from far and wide to live here) are clearly just feeling threatened and jealous because these fresh faces are better. Period. I know for a fact they are not undercutting or displacing anybody. They just get lots of work based on their undeniable talent. Sad to see this community turn against such good people. Sounds to me like the hospice was bullied, rather than convinced.