Songwriter has Key West roots

Singer songwriter Hugo Duarte has been calling Key West home - off and on - for 30 years and has spent most of that time entertaining around the island.

His music brought him to the Keys when a booking agent put him in an Islamorada club for six weeks, he said recently at Louie's Back Yard. “I fell in love with the sailing and the water,” he smiled. Friends dragged the Charlotte, N.C., resident to Key West for his next visit. “Back in the early and mid '70s the art community in Key West was more predominate,” Duarte, said. “I played at Rick's American Cafe on Duval in '79. It's where Rick's is now.”

Thinking about the times and clubs he played at in Key West made Duarte smile. He guessed he had spent about 26 weeks a year in Key West. “Jimmy Buffett used to come and sit in with us,” Duarte said. Duarte and his band have played benefits for Buffett.

Jimmy was my hero as a songwriter, storyteller,” Duarte said. “He was not as serious as James Taylor, but he was a big influence in my life.”  Every time Buffett sat in with the band, Duarte believed it gave credibility to what they were doing. It meant Jimmy was giving approval of our music, he said.  He and Buffett share more than music. “We're both southerners,” he said.

In the late '70s, Duarte put together his band. “We are the Full Sail Band,” he said, and told the story of how the band was named.

Duarte admired the Loggins and Messina album Full Sail and even had a copy of the cover on his wall. While the band was playing a radio gig, the host decided to interview them. They were supposed to only play.

“When he asked what the name of our band was I just said the Full Sail Band, thinking of the album cover,” Duarte said.

Duarte is happy with his music, though he doesn't believe he has done his best work yet.

The band's 12-cut CD - Another Day in Paradise – is filled with songs of Duarte's adventures in the Keys.

While the 12 songs have traces of Buffett and Taylor's early influences, the songs and music are uniquely Duarte's.

“People listen to my songs and apply their own experiences to them,” he said. “I write about my life, but we all share experiences like love and loss.”

Duarte considers himself an observer of the human condition and knows that someone, somewhere will always relate to his songs.

“My experiences in Key West gave me confidence in my writing,” he said. “A confidence in myself musically and professionally, too.”

When people first see and hear the band, Duarte said, they feel the passion of his music and that is what makes them fans.