A Key West musician played parts of two classic rock songs Saturday on a pink-lined shell to take top honours in the island city’s 49th annual Conch Shell Blowing Contest.
Steve Gibson, 58, blew excerpts from the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction” and Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water,” to place first in the men’s division in the annual test of pucker prowess. “The trick is to get the shell vibrating, and that’s how you make the sound,” said Gibson, a repeat contender who has taken second place in past contests.
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The shell of the queen conch is a symbol of the Florida Keys, often called the Conch Republic. Blowing it has been a Key West tradition since the early 1800s, when seafaring settlers used the conch shell as a maritime signaling device. Gibson said he learned the “instrument” about five years ago while working as a 19th-century shipwreck salvage re-enactor.
“I don’t play the conch shell much because it’s so loud,” he said, “but every now and then to scare my neighbour.” The contest drew entrants ranging from young children to seniors, who were judged on the quality, novelty, duration and loudness of the sounds they produced.
You can see more entrants in action here.
1 comment:
I think I would have more luck playing the bagpipes than blowing into one of these shells. I tried about five years ago, and I'm still trying to get my puff back today.
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