Cayamo 2020 and a Look Back at 2019
The lineup for Cayamo 2020 has been released, and the 30th year will be another great experience. As usual, the lineup is a mixture of genres. Mavis Staples, Jeff Tweedy and Rodney Crowell will be fantastic, but I’m really looking forward to seeing Lake Street Dive, Anderson East, the Wailin’ Jennys, Dar Williams, and the return of Molly Tuttle, along with many other musicians and artists. The collaborations will be amazing. We’ll be sailing from Miami with stops in St. Croix and Antigua on February 3. Read on if you’re interested, and sign up for the pre-sale.
A Look Back
Last year was my first cruise on Cayamo. I had wanted to go for many years but never had a chance. Finally, last year, it came together, and the lineup was perfect for me. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Amanda Shires, Emmylou Harris, Keb Mo, Dawes, Kasey Chambers, Mary Gauthier, Jerry Douglas, Tommy Emmanuel, Josh Ritter, the Wood Brothers, Billy Bragg, Paul Thorn, Raul Malo, Indigo Girls…. I couldn’t have asked for a better one. But these were only a few of the performers onboard. Favorites on the boat included Steve Poltz, Red Molly, Shawn Mullins, Justin Townes Earle, and Carlene Carter. Buddy Miller is very involved in both performing and recruiting new artists each year. Up and coming artists are featured as well…The War and Treaty, Foy Vance, Ariana Gillis, Penny and Sparrow, Darlingside….and one of the most exciting additions for me was Molly Tuttle, the singer and flatpicking wizard.
The Cruise
Cayamo cruises take place on the Pearl, a Norwegian Cruise Lines ship. It’s a seven-day cruise with two brief ports of call, and it sails from either Tampa, Miami or New Orleans. While the ports of call are the usual touristy Caribbean locations, nobody is on this cruise because of where they’re going; it’s all about the music. Sixthman, a company based in Atlanta, manages Cayamo and other entertainment cruises. These offer a wide range of experiences: blues, rock, country, comedy and performer-specific cruise: Kiss, John Prine, Brantley Gilbert, Melissa Etheridge and others.
The Venues
The ship has five regular venues and a few irregular ones scattered throughout the ship. There are three major venues: The Stardust Lounge, which is a theater; the Pool Deck, which is an outdoor stage that has by far the largest capacity; and the Spinnaker, which is a lounge/bar that converts into a nice listening area. The smaller venues are the Atrium, located in the actual lobby of the ship, and Magnum’s, another small bar area that also serves as a location for spontaneous passenger jam sessions. Many passengers bring instruments, and their jams may last well into the night. Other locations are used as well; one of the dining rooms that has a piano is the home to some late-night jams.
Collaborations
While all the artists performed shows on their own, the most exciting part of the cruise for me were the collaboration events. There were large ones: Emmylou Harris and Friends included Amanda Shires, Mary Gauthier, Carlene Carter, and Kasey Chambers, with Jerry Douglas providing perfect dobro backup. Jason Isbell and Friends included Taylor Goldsmith from Dawes, Josh Ritter, Amanda Shires and Molly Tuttle. One late-night Sadler Vaden jam included Jason Isbell and Jerry Douglas jamming for hours on Allman Brothers tunes.
And there were also smaller ones. Molly Tuttle and Tommy Emmanuel had one of the hottest sessions.
Emmanuel also sat in with Kasey Chambers and her band and did two masterful picking sets with Jerry Douglas, who also sat in with Dawes. It was hard to tell who enjoyed this more: the crowd or the artists.
Some combinations were unusual. Paul Thorn, Carlene Carter and Tommy Emmanuel were billed as the “Unlikely Trio,” and this was one of the most entertaining sets I saw.
The excitement of not knowing who was going to show up where was one of the major attractions to me. An almost spontaneous Woodstock tribute kicked off with Jerry Douglas playing the “Star Spangled Banner” on his electric lap steel. This was a fantastic show put together over 48 hours, including Red Molly‘s stellar harmonies on “Helplessly Hoping,” the Wood Brothers covering Dylan’s “Walking Down the Line,” and it finished with a rousing all-hands-on-deck version of “With a Little Help From My Friends.” A Stardust tribute to Woody Guthrie featuring activist/musician Billy Bragg was a favorite as well. One night Red Molly‘s Laurie MacAllister planted herself on a ship elevator for a few hours and had a sing-along session with everyone who got on. I wandered into the cafeteria one night around midnight to find Molly Tuttle trying to decide what to eat, and one day at lunchtime Dawes came and sat down at a table next to us and chatted.
The Cayamo Family
Regular participants in these cruises are like few fans I’ve seen before. Many of them have been on all 12 prior cruises. They know the Sixthman staff by name, and they have their own Facebook pages. When they travel to other festivals they frequently try to get together with other “Cayamoans.” Performers who have played on the boat are referred to as “Cayamo Alumni.” I wasn’t so sure about this level of personal commitment, but after my first cruise I understood it perfectly. My first festival was the first Miami Pop Festival in December of 1968, six months before Woodstock. I lived in Nashville for over ten years, and I’ve experienced a lot of music, but this was the best and most intense musical experience I’ve ever had in the course of a week. Every day, from 10 in the morning until midnight and after there was constant music. It really is like a festival on a boat with decent food, without Porta-Pottys, and with a much higher ticket price.
It’s a challenge to get on the boat, because everyone who went in the past gets the option to sign up in advance each year before slots are available to new folks. Last year, out of around 2000 passengers, only around 350 were first-time participants. But it can be done. You can join the pre-sale at this website: http://www.cayamo.com/. It will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for you (unless, of course, you sign up again and again). While pictures and words can help describe it, this video, taken during last year’s cruise, summarizes the trip very well.
Cayamo · 12th Edition · A Journey Through Song from Sixthman TV on Vimeo.