Gardner’s guitar playing, like that of James Taylor and the country star Steve Wariner, is so rich and tasty that it can often sound like several instruments are playing at once. The beloved pooch, who passed on earlier this year, remains a constant inspiration for Micah’s lyrics. Pepper appeared at most of Micah’s shows for 12 years, until a few months ago, often stealing the spotlight from Gardner.
The family who shared their home in Islamorada with him during this crucial creative period – Micah calls it his “Tropical Hibernation” – will always hold a special place in his heart. He delved into writing and created a life on the water, paddling and sharing Florida history on kayak tours through the mangroves.
On that day, he took his irresistible tan dog called Pepper, picked up the acoustic guitar, and made the Florida Keys his permanent home. One red-letter day about a dozen years ago changed Micah’s focus from teaching to music. He became both a high school teacher and cross country coach. His major was Florida History, a passion he has maintained both in his teaching and his music ever since. It wasn’t until he took an acting class at the University of Miami that he began to shed his reticence and seriously consider a career in teaching. “And I would recreate music from other artists in my head as I was out on the course running.”ĭespite his sports prowess, Micah was a pretty shy kid in high school. That influenced my early writing,” Micah says. “I looked at running as a personal competition, pushing myself to the limit. Gardner was a true scholar athlete, and was even named to the Hall of Fame at his Fort Lauderdale high school, Cardinal Gibbons. He became one of the Hurricanes’ all-time great distance runners, setting a school record in the 10K and the indoor 5K, and often running 100 miles per week. His unique sense of humor can be traced back to watching Monty Python with his Mom in the 1970s.īut early on, Micah enjoyed his greatest success on a very different sort of stage - the athletic fields of the University of Miami. Gardner’s other influences are amazingly diverse, such as the California Ska-rock trio Sublime the Keys’ most famous musical export, Jimmy Buffett and the iconic singer and songwriter John Prine. That included the Grateful Dead and the band’s famed lyricist Robert Hunter the beloved 1970s singer, songwriter, and guitarist Dan Hicks and his group the Hot Licks and more recently the Americana star and Nashville product Todd Snider. The island is the inspiration.”īoth Micah’s father and his younger brother had eclectic musical tastes, which exposed him to several genres and dozens of singers and songwriters whose work he admired. “That’s where you write your songs,” he says in a phone conversation from the Keys. The young Micah discovered paddleboarding, and knew early on that he felt just as comfortable in the water as on dry land. His love for the beach actually started on the opposite coast, as a kid growing up in California.
KEY LARGO YOU TUNELYRICS TV
TV producers have also recognized his gifts, with placements of Gardner songs in three programs. Radio has taken a real shine to Micah’s music in 2012, with airplay already on five of his originals. Whether playing solo or working with his band the Barstool Sailors, Micah’s songs such as “Tan Girl” and “The Last Keys Critter,” and his full-length musical The Adventures Of Humphrey The Manatee, magically and musically transport listeners to the place and the peace of mind he loves and knows so well. “My philosophy is that if people can’t come to the Keys,” Gardner has written, “I will bring a little of the Tropics to them.” It’s fitting that the passionate Florida singer and songwriter Micah Gardner is based near the Keys town of Islamorada, which is Spanish for “Purple Island.”Īfter all, Micah has made the beautiful, exotic, and mysterious islands of the Keys his musical, spiritual, and lifestyle home for years, and through his signature style of songs called “Islandgrass” Gardner is spreading his own joy and passion for the Florida Keys to fans nationwide.
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