It’s hard to believe that Cayamo has come and gone. This was my second and it sure won’t be my last! It’s also difficult to believe that an entire month plus has passed and I’m still working on this blog post.

What a week of music and friends and sun and sea! What an amazing experience! From the sail away show with the stowaway surprise of I’m With Her (which I had been hoping for since I noticed that all three of these fantastic ladies were going to be on board) to the final Cayamo After Dark at Magnum’s with Shawn Mullins and his superb band calling up special guests, it was a week of pure pleasure. Even with the rough seas and the cancellation of pretty much all pool deck shows on the last day, I couldn’t have asked for more.

Here are the highlights of the shows that I saw. Note that this is not, by any means, a complete list of the shows that I saw in this week.

• Day 1:
  • I’m With Her (mentioned above and again, I couldn’t have been more pleased that this was our stowaway!)
  • Emmylou Harris. I don’t think I have to say more than Emmylou Harris. Legend!
  • John Fullbright. It’s been WAY TOO LONG! You were fantastic EVERY time I saw you.
  • Jaimee Harris calling her dad up to the stage to perform his song “Don’t Eat Your Weed”. He’s a lawyer in TX; it’s a PSA (not about edibles).
  • Jim Lauderdale. I had seen Jim Lauderdale at Americanafest the last time that I went and I enjoyed him, but Cayamo was a whole new level. (Also, every time I saw him on board and I saw him a lot, I could not stop myself from saying ‘Jim Lauderdale’ out loud which would then make me laugh.)
  • Seeing all my friends
  • Our balcony room
• Day 2:
  • Breakfast at The Garden Cafe / sitting on the bench and laughing so hard that I cried because I could hardly reach the table. The bench seat was so low! This led to meeting Mikey who became a highlight throughout the trip.
  • All of the Black Opry Revue was great, but I particularly liked Roberta Lea’s song and Hubby Jenkins plays a mean banjo; I was sad that his second song was short due to timing. Also, my first time ever seeing Julie Williams who wasn’t actually part of the talent this year but opened the Black Opry Revue
  • Gabe Lee, especially because his band from last year was back and they were a highlight – this year and last year. King Margo and Kelly Halloran. So good!!!
  • Mary Gauthier! It’s been too long since I’ve seen her and she was so good! I’m really hoping to be able to see her and Jaimee when they play The Freight this summer. It’s a perfect venue for them.
  • Whitney Mongé – new to me and I’m looking forward to seeing her again! Perhaps a house concert later this year?
  • Devon Gilfillian telling the story about ‘Love You Anyway’ and hearing that song multiple times in one day, each version a little different
  • Nickel Creek – I realize how much I miss you whenever I see you play again! ❤
  • Jeff Tweedy – perhaps my favorite curmudgeon and just as good (and curmudgeonly) as always!
  • John Craigie and Steve Poltz performing as Big Fish Tales – They are always a treat when they are together. This was no different. John Craigie’s story about ‘Santa Baby’ and the new 4th sub-genre of Xmas songs (I’m gonna fuck Santa) might have put me over the edge. And of course, ‘Dear Elon’ (both times / versions I heard) was a highlight.
  • Cayamo After Dark with Gabe Lee, Susan Werner and John Fullbright all sitting at keyboards. Susan Werner performed The Logical Song. I wish it had been less crowded and I had not been so tired as I’d have liked to stay for all of this, but sadly could not do it!
• Day 3 started with a wedding officiated by Steve Poltz and also entertainment provided by Lisa Saunders and Brown Sugar, in addition to the obvious entertainment that Steve Poltz provided. It was super special to be included in this event! Mazel Tov Heather and John and thank you for including us!
  • Introducting Leah to Susan Werner’s music was an absolute highlight of the trip
  • Jon Muq is new to me and I definitely want to see him again. I liked his music and I liked his story.
  • This is only the second time that I’ve seen Ani DiFranco which is not entirely my fault as her last SF shows sold out in a blink. Regardless, I’m glad I got to see her again
  • The Shawn Mullins Variety Show is always a highlight in my opinion.
• Day 4 started on St. Croix. We spent the day at Cane Bay. We rented snorkel equipment from SweetBottom Dive Center and had a great day!
  • Turtles
  • John Fullbright – Turns out his guitarist *may have been (read: was)* one of the people who got stranded and had to jump in our taxi to get back from the beach. They were talking about having to get back for a meeting; I didn’t realize that his Pool Deck gig was the meeting.
  • Tweedy Creek – This was 100% the highlight of the week and wins the Mies for 2025 Cayamo. I had no idea how good this could be. I mean I wasn’t even 100% planning to go to this. The next morning Leah asked for my phone so she could send some videos to herself and she was like ‘Do you realize that you took 27 videos at the Tweedy Creek show?’. To which I replied ‘I bet they only played 30 songs in the set.’ It was honestly *that* good! I was not alone in this assessment (not that it matters because in this case it’s all about MY favorite).
  • Sarah Jarosz with her husband playing bass and doing almost all of the talking because apparently Sarah wasn’t feeling well. You couldn’t tell; she sounded great!
  • Getting to ride in the elevator with Susan Werner (to her show) and talk about her lego earrings that she made was the icing on the cake. It was so good that I forgot to ask her about The Deer Park in the 1990’s.
  • Erick Baker – We were told to go check him out and it was good intel. I really liked him and hope to see him again!
• Day 5 started on Antigua. We spent the day at Darkwood Beach on the south end of the island. The water was super calm and beautiful so we hung out in the ocean all day! We had a nice lunch of barbequed chicken with some delicious local rum punch on the beach and then headed back for some more music.
  • Ani DiFranco was our sailaway and she was delightful. Watching Carsie Blanton watching Ani DiFranco was so good
  • John Fullbright and his song ‘High Road’. Again really everything about John Fullbright but that song almost broke me
  • We only caught the end of Will Hoge which was disappointing so I had to find another show of his to attend for all of us. I think that this is when I found out that Mikey was Will’s +1 on the boat (from breakfast the first morning)
  • Carsie Blanton was political and fiery and fantastic as always
  • Rainbow Girls were magical on the pool deck in their Haunting outfits and their haunting harmonies
  • John Craigie closed out the night for us and he was highly entertaining as always, via story and song.
• I started Day 6 with Tai Chi + Qigong exercises with Jim Lauderdale on the pool deck. This was really a highlight and I wish I had gone sooner. Thank you to the awesome woman (whose name I’ve forgotten) who ‘convinced’ me to go to this. I should have probably used more sunscreen as I needed to cut out early because I got paranoid about my feet getting sunburned
  • The portion of the BGS discussion with Ani DiFranco and Carsie Blanton that I attended was really interesting. I wanted to stay, but I also wanted to see more music.
  • Jaimee Harris broke me when she played her song “How Can You Be Gone?”. It always reminds me of Rod and today is his birthday so imma finish and post this blog today in his honor. #alwaysgototheshow
  • Dancing to Jim Lauderdale on the pool deck
  • I had actually forgotten how much I liked Will Hoge and was super glad we went to see him in the Stardust
  • John Moreland was fantastic and I wish I had seen more of him
  • Stepping out from the Spinnaker into the warm Caribbean night air and hearing Little Feat playing ‘Fat Man In the Bathtub’ on the Pool Deck and dancing all the way to the stage. Dancing carefully, of course, because the boat was really rocking.
• Day 7 was our last day and so it was a bit of a shit show because we were trying to see everyone that Leah had missed and / or I hadn’t seen before AND the ship was rocking so much and there was so much wind that all the pool deck shows were cancelled which meant rearranging and more rearranging of the schedule. In the end, the highlights included
  • Songs of No Redeeming Social Value was a true highlight with Susan Werner leading Gabe Lee, Jaimee Harris and Robby Hecht through a song circle that was AH-MAZING complete with a mini-striptease
  • All of the people that joined Steve Poltz because… Steve Poltz is great. Hearing the story of how he had met Carsie Blanton when she was just a kid and then having her come out and sing with him was cool.
  • Because of the trying to see everyone, there was a lot of only seeing 3 – 4 songs of each of the performers we saw before the next location change. That said the performers were really incredible and I’m glad that we were able to see as many of the performers as we did.
  • Shawn Mullins bringing it to a close in Magnum’s. I thoroughly enjoyed everyone who hopped up and performed with him and his band, with one exception. Grace Potter’s cover of (and lack of familiarity with) Janis Joplin’s ‘Me and Bobby McGee’ was frankly an embarrassment of monumental proportions. I’m still offended if we’re being totally honest here and I can’t lie that that performance, coupled with her weird banter during Echos of Her has made it so that I will likely never deliberately go see her live. I can enjoy her recordings and not her, right?

As stated above, Tweedy Creek was 100% the highlight of the week and wins the Mies for 2025 Cayamo. Looking forward to Cayamo 2026! See you there?