Are you looking for live music in Key West? Here’s a guide to the hot spots

Want to hear live music while visiting Key West? You have plenty of options on an island where music venues include an amphitheater, outdoor bars and restaurants.

The Key West Theater downtown and the Coffee Butler Amphitheater at the Truman Waterfront have brought in big stars, like ZZ Top, John Fogerty, Steve Earle and Citizen Cope.

But the local haunts along Duval Street in Key West’s downtown feature a growing list of local musicians playing shows with no cover charge.

Some stick to cover songs while others mix in ones they’ve written. Others have worked their way up to playing their own songs at ticketed shows.

In Key West, live music can be found in the afternoon, at happy hour, late at night, on the street and at the famous daily Sunset Celebration at Mallory Square.

Here’s a guide to where to sing along, dance or simply unwind. Key West loves a good time, and this music scene stretches beyond renditions of crowd favorites like “Brown Eyed Girl” and “Margaritaville.”

Green Parrot

601 Whitehead St.

The Green Parrot, a Key West institution, is all about live music, bringing in bands from out of town but also supporting local musicians by regularly putting them on the live music calendar.

Sloppy Joe’s Bar

201 Duval St.

The granddaddy of Key West bars, Sloppy Joe’s has been on the corner of Duval and Greene streets since 1937. It offers a full calendar’s worth of live music, typically booking three acts a day.

Hank’s Hair of the Dog Saloon

409 Caroline St.

Hank’s has a large outdoor seating area and a food truck in back. On stage, you’ll find live, local musicians, three to four acts each day, typically playing from 1 p.m. to midnight.

Schooner Wharf Bar

202 William St.

Schooner Wharf is about as old school as you can get in Key West. Located at Key West Historic Seaport, this open-air spot has a funky old beach road feel and offers live music on a bare bones stage.

Willie T’s

525 Duval St.

You can’t miss Willie T’s, which is coated with dollar bills left by tourists over the years. And it’s smack in the middle of Duval Street. You can hear local musicians play daily from 11 a.m. until 1:30 a.m. at this restaurant and bar.

Smokin’ Tuna

4 Charles St.

The Smokin’ Tuna Saloon was built around live music and offers several shows daily on its courtyard stage, where Key West musicians are fixtures. It’s on a small street off Duval’s 200 block.

Durty Harry’s

Rick’s Bar Downstairs

202-208 Duval St.

These two bars are part of the Rick’s entertainment complex at 202 Duval St. Rick’s is the main spot while the Durty Harry’s entrance can be found inside the complex. Rick’s Downstairs has live music daily with a rotating roster of performers.

The Durtbags, a dynamic cover band also performing original songs, is the house band at Durty Harry’s bar. They play Wednesday through Sunday starting at 8:30 p.m.

General Horseplay

423 Caroline St.

Right off Duval Street, General Horseplay has an outdoor stage in the back that is stocked throughout the month with local singers, bands and DJs.

Margaritaville Restaurant

500 Duval St.

A restaurant chain named after legendary Jimmy Buffett, who created his own industry with the help of Key West, of course has live music. And Buffett has made rare appearances on that stage as well.

Mallory Square

400 Wall St.

Not much goes on at this famous waterfront park during the day. But two hours before sunset, this spot fills with vendors, a machete-carrying coconut hawker, a psychic and street performers. It also has a few regular musicians, including a man who comes seasonally to play the bagpipes. Several local musicians got their start playing at Mallory.

Sunset Pier

0 Duval St.

Located at the Ocean Key Resort and Spa at 0 Duval St., Sunset Pier offers amazing ocean views and a sprawling pier for special events and concerts. It also has a stage for local musicians.

Halo Rooftop Lounge

326 Duval St.

Halo Rooftop Lounge is an intimate spot that sits above Duval Street and can draw visitors who follow the live music up to the top.

Tiki House Key West

430 Greene St.

Tiki House Key West, which could not be more committed to its tropical theme, offers live local music at night.

The Bull

224 Duval St.

Local musicians perform nightly at The Bull, an open-air bar that books rock bands and singers of various styles to play on a small stage in the back corner. The typical music schedule is from 2 p.m. to at least midnight.

Irish Kevin’s

211 Duval St.

“Irish Kevin” English opened this bar in 1998 and is still one of the musicians regularly performing on its stage. The music calendar is packed. January’s schedule has live music starting daily at 11 a.m. and running until 2:30 or 3 a.m.

Coffee Butler Amphitheater

21 Quay Rd.

Truman Waterfront Park

Located at the city’s Truman Waterfront Park, Key West’s premier venue, the Coffee Butler Amphitheater has views of the Gulf of Mexico and the island’s spectacular sunsets. The lawn is for general admission, but there are also ticketed seats.

Key West honored local music legend Lofton “Coffee” Butler, the 93-year-old piano-playing singer who helped shape the island’s music scene, by naming its amphitheater after him in 2019. A grand opening was held in June 2020 to celebrate Butler.

The amphitheater brings big stars — recently it hosted ZZ Top — and events like the annual Mile 0 Festival.

This story was originally published January 12, 2022 at 6:00 AM.

Gwen Filosa

Miami Herald

Gwen Filosa covers Key West and the Lower Florida Keys for FLKeysNews.com and the Miami Herald and lives in Key West. She was part of the staff at the New Orleans Times-Picayune that in 2005 won two Pulitzer Prizes for coverage of Hurricane Katrina. She graduated from Indiana University.