JMH: SHIP'S LOG

Hey guys. I have been taking time to recover from surgery. The surgery went great, I just need to have my chords heal up.

I have been traveling the far corners of the world in my time off from singing songs and telling stories. I had to refill my bag of tricks.

What a great time to reflect on life and how lucky I am to be able to travel and sing for a living.

Even if I couldn't return to the stage because of my chords (God forbid) I could still say I had a great run getting paid to do what I would do for free. I am going on 10 years at Kevin's, not to mention all the places before.

Right now, I am typing this on my cellphone, sitting outside the surfbreak off of Laniakea Beach. The waves are rolling past me as I am sitting on my standup paddleboard bobbing in the water.

To my left the sun is setting over the Pacific. In the distance I can see three huge honu (sea turtles) lying on the beach catching the last rays of the dying sun.

I better put this phone back in my dry box around my neck before an outside wave hits me . . . what a life!

The other day some friends and I were headed out past kingfish shoal off of Key West. We planned on catching some lobster and grilling out that night. Well, the sun was shining, the water was clear and we were speeding out to sea.
Once we were past Key West Harbor, my engine went out. We tried and tried, but no dice on restarting it. Instead of getting pissed off and calling seatow, we had a passerbye tow us to a nearbye sandbar that I knew of. We hung out there all day. Caught a bunch of lobster and shot some mango snapper. Then, when the sun was setting, we called seatow and went in for our cookout. It was a nice save.

btw, my stuff is now available on iTunes!!!

Well, I am up in Boston getting surgery on my vocal chords. I will be out for some time (3-4 month recovery). I am not sure if I can do maybe one show a week or something during that time. But, I am having my surgery done in the same hospital that Steven Tyler had his- so at least I am in good hands. Send all of your positive vibes my way and be easy!

Hey, if you don't have one of my three cds yet- or know someone who doesn't, check out CD Baby (www.cdbaby.com or click on my cds on the DRY GOODS page).
They are running a special where you get 30% off if you buy 2 or more of my cds!

Hey guys. I am trying to come up with a short description of my music. Send me some suggestions and the winner gets a free numbered copy of my new cd, "The Hardest Working Man in Key West (once i find the right cover photo.)" FOCUS ON THE MUSIC ON MY CDs, not so much the live show!!!

I have some new tropical t-shirts coming out when I get back to the States around the middle of June. They are based on my alter-ego "MOJITO JOE." Hope you like them.

check out my "out of town shows"

What a weekend at Merry Makers on Davis Island. Every year keeps getting better and better. This year was my biggest hangover yet!

Had a blast playing at the Club in Vail this year-- as usual. Snowboarding all day and singing all night. What a life.

There are a couple songs from my new CD, "The Hardest Working Man in Key West" on the site. Check them out.

Today I went out to kite island and began setting up my kitesurfing gear. About midway thru the wind died. So, I packed up my gear and headed out to Sand Key. It's a shallow reef 7 miles off of Key West. I figured it wasn't too late to watch the parrotfish munch on the coral.
As luck would have it, the wind started kicking up again. Well, I turned the boat around and swung bye Smather's Beach. I grabbed a couple of lobster 200 yards off the beach and pointed the boat towards home.
As I was tying up at the dock a coconut fell from a tree in my yard. Out came my old machete and whack!. It was a young one with meat the consistency of jello.
I grilled the lobster, scraped out the coconut, added some spices and threw it all together with some cream and voila!-- dinner was served. Just another day in Paradise.

I just got back from 10 days in Costa Rica. It was my 6th time down. I have driven all over that country.

Manuel Antonio is where I spent most of my time this trip. MA is like a "mini-hawaii." Mountians that plunge into the sea and beautiful terrain. I even had a monkey eating out of my hand back in the mangroves.

Up in the mountains, near La Fortuna, I was rounding up a blind corner and some fool in a MACK truck came speeding down the corner in my lane. No guard rails and nothing but a several hundred foot drop a foot over my right shoulder. The road is a "two lane" wide enough for a yugo and a half. It was a close call to say the least. Once we arrived in our hotel, the volcano was erupting and our room backed right up to it. What a show that was. I even got to play a few hands of blackjack in my own casino. All in all a wonderful time in Central America.

This morning I slept in til noon. I spent the first part of the day reading in my hammock that hangs from a tree out over the water. Eventually I got motivated enough to go out to an island about 20 miles off of Mallory Square and my buddy and I caught 12 lobster (11 by me).
I threw them on the grill as soon as we got home and they cooked while we cleaned the boat and hung out in the hottub smoking cigars. Before midnight, we had eaten all of those lobsters under a "gazebo tent" I have in the back yard bye the water. Sure beats working for a living.

Well, I was out at nine foot stake again. I shot a couple fish and set my bag down as I took aim at a giant hogfish.
He was swimming by a small head of coral and changing color. White to orange and back again (best acid i ever had).
My dad grabbed my fin and pointed. That freaking shark took my bag. This time I was ready.
I sprinted (underwater ??) over to the shark and hit him with the butt of my speargun. On the fourth try, I got him square on the nose. He hauled ass.
Not to tempt fate, but-- point JMH.

Hey guys,

I am recording a live cd and (hopefully) a DVD at Irish Kevin's and making a weekend party out of it. July 7th & 8th (fri & sat) night we are recording the show. Dresscode for show is all white with red sashes and scarves. July 7th day we are spearfishing. July 8th day we are walking to lunch on duval wearing all white with red sashes and scarves. This date coincides with Fiesta de San Fermin in Pamplona, Spain. THE RUNNING OF THE BULLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am headed up to blarney island in chicago for a couple shows june 16th and 17th. I will keeeeeeel them!

Playing a couple shows at tarpon bend in ft. lauderdale june 14th and 15th. Be there!

Headed over to the speakeasy on siesta key may 4th and 5th. See you there.

I just got back from a week of shows in Vail, CO. What a blast. Thanks to everyone who came out and especially to the staff of THE CLUB and VAIL MOUNTAIN ADVENTURE CENTER-- you guys are awesome.

Hey, if you guys drop me a line in the guestbook, it DOES NOT go to my email nor does it give me your email address. If you want me to respond, you must go to "contact" and email me. Otherwise, I have no way of reaching you. Also, HAPPY ST. PAT'S!!!

I will be playing at The Speakeasy on Siesta Key. The shows are 9pm-12am on Thursday Feb. 2nd and 10pm-1am on Friday Feb. 3rd. See you there.

I had a great time at TBFL last thursday-- even tho i took a header onstage. My arm & knee still hurt. Is there still a Ft. Lauderdale rugby team????

Apparently, over the weekend I was involved with a top secret CIA experiment. The goal was to find out how much alcohol one human being could consume and then observe their behaviour to determine the level of insanity one can achieve before passing out. The experiment was a great success.

I had a great time playing at The Speakeasy this weekend. I probably will be playing there once a month. Thanks for coming out.