Virgin Territory Epic Musical Odyssey on St. John & Share the Sail
By Jimmy Leslie
Engage is the prime directive. When you do, adventure is sure to ensue.
Someone’s got reach out and someone’s got to follow through. As soon as I took on the role of Soundtrack Sensei and announced participation on Share the Sail BVIs, enthusiastic reader Mark Treat sent a warm welcome with an invitation to soak in the thriving music scene on St. John. My wife Kerri prodded me to follow up. Everything synched up and we extended our British Virgin Island excursion with a visit to the American Isles where an epic odyssey unraveled.
SHARE THE SAIL
We arrived on St. Thomas where we wound up catching a roots rock act at Greengos Caribbean Cantina whooping up a churning version of Blackfoot’s “Train, Train.” Speaking with them afterwards, the bassist had played with a litany of blues-rock heroes and the singer/guitarist was a former Bose employee who had been working on cutting edge speaker technology. They’d both dropped out of the rat race and landed points south where they plan to stay. It was clear these would be the first of many meetings with worldly misfits and minstrels.
THE GREAT CATSBY
We hooked up with our captain Kevin Pipes and his lover Susan Lippins that night. Catching the early ferry to Tortola, we boarded our well-named vessel—the Great Catsby—along with crew mates Craig Ratcliff and his lady Lety Quintanilla. She hails from Tampico, Mexico, and Floridian Craig is a country music fanatic who strongly encouraged me to cover Kenny Chesney and his No Shoes Nation. Will do in a future issue.
At a mixer party I met Lats & Atts stalwarts that shared stories of previous Share the Sails with former honcho Bob Bitchin and his minstrel Eric Stone. It was good to get a sense of the magazine’s storied history and draw inspiration from the past as we turn these pages toward the future. Unfortunately, current editor David Levesque had to abort his trip due to a heath emergency. That was a bummer because he was bringing his guitar, but we thank our lucky stars that he avoided potential tragedy, and we’re looking forward to collaborating over the holiday season. For the time being, it was clearly best that he stay “below deck” and rest up. Very little of that happened on the next leg of my own adventure.
THE WINDMILL BAR ON ST. JOHN
The musical wheels started spinning from the moment we arrived at the Windmill and gained momentum all week. The catalyst was the generosity and faith of co-owner Christie Register. She rolled out the welcome mat and included me in a series of shows at her hilltop paradise. The Windmill Bar is part of Neptune’s Lookout, a recreational estate. It includes the Susannaberg windmill, which was erected in the 1780s. The bar is adjacent, and performers play against the stunning backdrop of Hawksnest Bay. Music happens throughout the week and throughout the year, but when tourist season starts in November it kicks into high gear, as artists from all over descend upon the island to share their talents with appreciative music fans from around the globe.
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