Hemingway's Cat's Blog

New Single!
 

We're SO excited to announce the release of our new single, Siberian Surf.  It's also the title track of our upcoming CD that will be out in just a couple of weeks.  To wet your appetite, we're offering the single as a free download for our fans.  Just click the widget below.

We had some great help in the studio, recording this song:

• Lorah Yaccarino: 12-string baritone guitar
• Vonn New: riq
• Michael Mulvey: bass
• Hector Becerra: drums
• Annie Roland: vocals

Occasionally, people ask if there's a story behind our name....

Anyone who has ever been to Key West, probably knows something of the story already.  Yes, Ernest Hemingway really did have a cat.  It was a polydactyl cat - one that had more than the 'normal' number of toes on each paw.

After Hemingway left his home in Key West and came to his tragic end, his cat lived on.  And reproduced.  Now, his home is a museum that is visited by tourists and those tourists inevitably meet many of the descendents of his cat.  A whole colony of polydactyl cats lives on the grounds of his home there.

Several years ago, while I was visiting, I started thinking about the cats and the Key West culture.  Key West is a quirky, unlikely place in Florida that attracts bohemians and artists of many stripes, and has no shortage of folks who show up with the intention of writing the next great American novel.  I imagine the cats are right in the thick of it all.  Winding their tails around the legs of barstools, providing whatever distractions one needs - drink, women, men, fishing....  Maintaining their Papa's place in history by showing the writers much too good a time to get any actual writing done.

The cats are also misfits; literally, they are mutants with their extra toes.  They run outside the 'norm'.

As a band that takes an unusual approach to fusing together so many influences of music, these cats seem like a worthy inspiration.  And what instrumentalist wouldn't be happy to have a couple of extra fingers?