Grayton Beach

Kyle, who had been traveling out west, called Duke Bardwell, and said he wanted to come home to Grayton Beach. Kyle grew up in Destin, surfing, spearfishing, and fishing. And playing music, with Duke, among others. He asked Duke if he knew of any cheap places to live. He could work as a waiter at The Red Bar.

Duke, who was playing music with Balder, said he knew just the place. Balder's trailer. They could split the rent.

Balder and Kyle formed a band, Dread Clampitt, and Ollie hired them to play at The Red Bar.

The first band to play at the Red Bar was called Old Dogs and New Tricks.

It was Potter Brown, Duke Bardwell, Franko Washboard Jackson, and Owen Saunders.

Now, when Owen came down to the coast, on a visit, he'd sit in with Balder and Kyle, that is, with Dread Clampitt.

I remember once they played the Dog Dayz Festival, in front of the mural of Grayton Beach's dogs.

Grayton Beach's town motto is "Interesting dogs, strange people." The dogs have the right of way, in the street.

Balder and them also played at Pandora's, in Grayton Beach.

Later, Justin Lewis Price-Rees joined the band, and then Duke started playing with them. They wrote original songs. They went into the studio and cut a CD.

Then they cut a live CD, playing at The Funky Blues Shack, in Destin. They started touring more.

This weekend the band is playing at Telluride, Colorado, at a bluegrass festival.

Bryan Hand worked as a waiter at The Red Bar. He did the cover art for the band's first two CDs. I had him do a painting for me, for the cover of Bukowski Never Did This.

The publisher ended up using another painting for the cover of my book, but when Ollie saw the painting he recognized me, and asked Bryan about it. He didn't know I was a writer. He just knew me as Balder's father.

Bryan showed him some pamphlets I had given Bryan and Allison and Ollie was excited. He said I could sell my book in The Red Bar gift shop when it came out.

So giving the pamphlets away isn't a dead loss, it's guerrilla marketing. Stealth marketing.

It's hand-to-hand and word-of-mouth.

Once, when I was still working in Atlanta, after Balder moved into the trailer but before Kyle moved in with him, we had a plant shutdown for a week.

I drove down to Grayton Beach and stayed with Balder in the trailer.

I went to hear Net Ban'd play at Fermentations, in Seaside.

I went on side trips, to Florida's Forgotten Coast, and Florida's Emerald Coast.

After I went back to Atlanta I wrote a book called A POSTCARD FROM SEASIDE: MY TRIPS AROUND FLORIDA'S FORGOTTEN, AND FLORIDA'S EMERALD COASTS.

Fuller Warren considered two postcards from Blountstown a draft.

I mailed myself a postcard from Seaside, asking myself to write A POSTCARD FROM SEASIDE: MY TRIPS AROUND FLORIDA'S FORGOTTEN, AND FLORIDA'S EMERALD COASTS.

There was an office supply store near Balder's trailer called Redfish.

I would go in there and type up my day's productions and save them to a floppy disk.

When the Gulf of Mexico gets cold, the redfish swim up into the Aucilla River.

They like brackish water anyway.

Winter fishing, for sea trout and redfish, in the Aucilla River, is good.

We found the vertebrae of red drum in Indian sites.

We called them Swift Creek yo-yos.

The vertebrae would have a bulbous growth on the spine.

Later, I was to write another book about Florida's Forgotten, and Florida's Emerald Coasts. THE SALVAGE ARCHEOLOGIST OF FLORIDA'S CO-OPTED COASTS: A MEMOIR OF 38 YEARS OF GRACIOUS CRACKER LIVING.

So that makes OLD FOLKS AT HOME: A FLORIDA CRACKER'S SUNSET CRUISE the third pass at the subject.

I couldn't sell the first two books. Maybe three will be the charm.