Winter Haven’s historic Ritz Theatre will get an otherworldly dose of dream pop from Spirit and the Cosmic Heart later this month. The band is headlining a show at the Ritz on August 27 at 8 pm, joined by special guest Brett Staska. Spirit’s lineup of local bandmates includes Joshua Miller on guitar and vocals, Daniel Miller on bass, Ian Lopez on drums, Dallas Smith on keyboards and trumpet, and Melody Wells on guitar and vocals. Their sound is an intoxicating meld of synth a

Polk’s “Uncommonly Musical” Sixties, Gram Parsons, and a Cosmic Collaboration to Save the Derry Down The sixties in Polk County, Florida, claimed a transcendental sum total of talent. Some kind of musical magic was in the water, or maybe the stars. It was the birthplace of the Father of Cosmic American Music, Gram Parsons, along with a broad list of other epochal musicians and entertainers who emerged from these sleepy southern towns. Garage band kids from Winter Haven, Aubur

“Some of the best modern Southern rock around today.” - RIFF Magazine “After 20 years, they still make songs that make you want to boogie your troubles away… they have established themselves as the torchbearer of modern Southern rock” - PopMatters “Their best album in years… brings the rock back to Southern rock in a big way.” -Gary Hayes Country “Blackberry Smoke is still on fire… a testament to that tenacity and an unapologetic ode to an insurgent attitude and tradition. Th

Winter Haven’s Shawn Gravitt, aka Skinny McGee, spent his time during quarantine exchanging lyrics between pen and paper, completing songs for a new album. Skinny sat down over a coffee with us, talking tunes and telling band stories. THE SKINNY ON SKINNY Gravitt’s musical nickname is an homage to Gilligan’s Island. He can remember watching the show daily. Gilligan had a childhood friend named Skinny Mulligan and another called Fatty McGee; Gravitt meshed the two together for

Music and country culture are in Hunter Smith’s blood. As a fifth-generation Floridian and fourth-generation Winter Havenite, his roots run deep here. His great grandfather, Dr. Wiley Terrell Simpson was instrumental in starting Winter Haven Hospital in 1928. Smith loves it here. His dad always says, “Another day in paradise” – and Hunter agrees. He left home to attend college but made his way back to Winter Haven where he and his wife Jennifer and two Labrador Retrievers, Wi