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“Sea oats anchor the shore, and the sand crabs shuffle just like some people I know…”
So unfolds the lyrics from musician Del Suggs’ tune “Magic Chair” — an ode to Panhandle living which was listed as number 11 on the Best Trop Rock Songs of all time by KBEC 1390, beating out Jimmy Buffet’s “Son of a Son of a Sailor.” Some call it Trop rock, but Suggs refers to it saltwater music. It’s the soundtrack you want as you relax in the midst of sand and waves on a warm summer day, and is the sound where he has found his niche as a sixth generation Florida musician from Panama City.
“When Jimmy Buffet came along it was so thrilling to hear someone writing songs about the things I could relate to,” says Suggs. “Here’s somebody writing songs about the everyday things in life like going sailing and to the beach. That opened a whole new door for me.”
For the past 31 years, Suggs and his friends have hosted an annual Christmas concert that has become a Tallahassee staple. Not wanting to play anything the same way twice, they began arranging their own Trop rock-infused holiday classics such as a samba ukulele version of We Wish You a Merry Christmas and reggae inspired Deck the Halls.
The Almost Christmas CD came about after multiple requests after shows of where attendees asked where they could find and take home these unique arrangements. The CD features Suggs alongside vocalists Danica Winter and Mimi Hearn, bassist and keyboardist David Murphy, guitarists Jerry Thigpen and Pierce Pettis, and many more. Suggs is proud of the CD and believes it to be the perfect addition to any collection as well as a gift to give this season.
Suggs is especially proud of his song “Broken Places,” his poetic take on hurt and healing. He tries to write universally based off Florida locales and will task himself with “assignment writing.”
On a flight to Hartford, Connecticut, for a show, Suggs assigned himself to write an Irish song for his friends in a Celtic band. Touching down on the landing strip “High Above the Hills of Sligo” was created, revolving around an Irish myth of Suggs’ fabrication, and was eventually recorded and performed. When Suggs teaches songwriting classes, he often gives people random rhymes and 10 minutes to write.
“It’s amazing what you can do if you have to fill in the blanks,” says Suggs. “Take four pairs of rhyming words and write a verse using those words which will begin to create a story, and that’s what creativity is all about.”
During high school, he played in a touring rock band called The Haze, for Jimi Hendrix’s Purple Haze. Not many teenagers can say they had an agent and booking agency, but Suggs toured with his band mates all over the south before they had driver’s licenses, relying on their college-aged tour manager for a ride.