Many of the musicians on St. John, as well as some from St. Thomas, will be getting together at Skinny Legs in Coral Bay on Sunday, April 16, to put on a benefit concert in memory of a fellow musician and friend, Michael "Smitty" Smith.
Organized by Denise Kinslow and presented by her, Skinny Legs and Zozo's, the event is being billed as a Coral Bay Music Festival and Benefit. The music and a raffle will go from 3 to "at least 9 p.m.," with proceeds to be donated to Smith's wife, Susan.
Smitty was "a Coral Bay drummer who played with Chris Carsell, Magickal Childe and a couple of other bands and also worked at Zo Zo's," Skinny Legs co-owner Mo Chabuz said. "He was just one of those wonderful guys that everybody liked." He passed away earlier this year on St. Thomas, where he had started a business, Chabuz said.
Funds will be raised in two ways, Chabuz said: through the raffle and via a special bar Skinny Legs and Zozo's will set up where "every dollar will go directly to the benefit."
According to Kinslow, the participating musicians, in addition to herself, include Barbie and Michael, Adrianna and Eddie Bruce, Wanda Burgos, Electric Blues.com, Emily, the Hatch band, Greta and Greg Jones, Linda, Marigold, Rebecca and Tom, Sarah and Ryan, Stepho, Swan, T-Bird and Treading Water.
Topping the raffle prize list is a package that combines a sunset sail for two aboard the Adventurer, dinner for two at Zo Zo's and a two-night stay at the Westin Resort. Another is a Martin Backpacker guitar that comes with a one-hour guitar lesson and a set of hand-painted bongos. Still another is a two-night stay at the Kokomo Cottage with dinner for two at Chateau Bordeaux.
Other prize contributors are All Glazed Over, Awl Made Here, The Clothing Studio, Grapevine, Low Key Watersports, Mongoose Restaurant, Mumbo Jumbo/Flashbacks, Open Palms, Shady Days, Shipwreck Landing, Sun Dog Cafe, Syzygy Gallery, Today's Flowers and Verace/Freebird.
"Come dressed in your best western garb!" Kinslow says.
"It's a family affair," and there will be free toys for the kids and security, Chabuz says.
