The Ghetto Palace – The Music Life

You never know what’s going to happen, but as long as you’re willing to wait and listen good things will come. That’s the unsung theme of the Ghetto Palace and the duet who runs it, Crook and Vicki Stewart – who have known each other 40-some years, but only married 12 months ago.

If you’ve never heard of the Ghetto Palace, don’t automatically tear up your cool card, very few people have. Although if you know of it, and you’ve been to one of its impromptu jam sessions, then your cool card has been upgraded to platinum.

Here’s the scene

Standing on a clean grassy lot is a two-story Spanish mission-style house with the word “Love” stuck to a round window dead center of the second level. A loose line of people leads from the door to the road, everyone milling around and talking but obviously eager to get inside.

The word was that the doors would open at 7:30 p.m., and just before that time Crook Stewart III comes out to greet his guests, a heartfelt smile pushing up the corners of his huge mustache.

“Come on in,” he insists, holding the door open. One of the first couples makes a beeline for two comfortable chairs: found treasure in a room where four or five adults might squeeze onto one of the two red-leather couches. Bar stools are by the bar, of course, but also stand in ones and twos in front of the stage.

Tacked to the ceiling is a kind of gray canvas streaked with white, and hanging from that is an assortment of lights and chandeliers. The stage, with its row of microphones, small drum set perfectly centered, spotless Korg keyboard and row of six electric guitars hung in a laser- straight line on the wall, is stark contrast to the jumble of furniture.

There’s even a small dance floor of light, polished wood, in front of the stage. Next to that is a stripper pole for those who have a more daring dance in mind.

Crook and Vicki mill through the thickening crowd, greeting, laughing and hugging. Everyone is welcome and the couple has no problem making everyone feel that way. Almost all of the 40 or so guests have been there before, and most are old friends, but even newcomers are brought in warmly and offered a free beverage.

There’s no charge for anything at the Ghetto Palace: admission, beer, wine, soda, water. All that is asked, the only thing that is required is that you “support local musicians.” Oh, and don’t park on the neighbors’ yards.

Tour manager

Crook Stewart is in his mid-50s and has worked in the music industry for most of those years. He’s been a tour manager for Joan Baez, Art Garfunkel, The Rolling Stones and numerous others. Currently, he’s touring with Crosby, Stills and Nash.

Seven to nine months out of the year, he’s on tour. The rest of the time, he’s with Vicki in their Springfield home, which is the second floor of the Ghetto Palace. The jam sessions are rare, Bigfoot- sightings rare. He manages to arrange one once a month during the months that he’s home. Otherwise, Crook, an avid drummer, uses the space for his own entertainment.

“I always wanted a place where I could play music 24 hours a day,” he said. “I’m from here originally and I was lamenting the fact that there was no music scene here. A friend of mine said, ‘If you want a music scene in Panama City, make one.’”

When he settles on a day, Crook posts a notice on his Facebook page. His friends and followers then spread the word. While it sounds exclusive, anyone can attend.

“People walk in the door that I’ve never seen before in my life,” he said. “They’re friends now.”

Tuesdays were selected as jam days because the working musicians in town generally play Wednesdays through Saturdays. Many others play Sundays at their churches.

“Monday just didn’t seem right, so we settled on Tuesdays,” Crook said. “I’m just trying to get a lot of good musicians together, get some camaraderie going. There’s a lot of networking that goes on and some guys have gotten together and formed bands after seeing each other play.”

Anyone can play any kind of music. They don’t have to clear it in advance, they just ask to go on stage and they get their three-song set. That lends itself to a lot of uncertainty as to what the audience will hear, and Crook wouldn’t have it any other way.

“We just do it because we love music,” he said. “You never know what you’re going to see here. I never know from jam to jam who is going to show up, if it’s going to be great or if it’s going to suck. It runs the gamut. The other cool thing about the place is it’s a very music-centric crowd. These people come here because they like live music.

“We always cross our fingers and hope that something cool happens.”

Something cool

The crowd took a while to settle in, find seats, grab drinks and chat with friends as the first musician sang her songs.

When LaVada Doyle took the stage, in a pink button-up shirt and blue jeans, she told the audience the backstory to both of the songs she sang. The first was about how St. Andrews women pass the time when their husbands go fishing. The second song was one she wrote for her husband, who was sitting in the audience but refused to go on stage and sing.

After a few bars of that song, the crowd went silent and everyone was watching her appreciatively, with smiles and rhythmic nods of their heads.

Crook Stewart roamed the audience, moving through the crowd smoothly and without the slightest disruption. He held a tablet and would occasionally slide a finger over it to make adjustments on the sound system that maximized the music.

Doyle sang with a sweet, high voice that twanged of Nashville, her second home, and when she finished she stored her guitar and sat by her husband to watch the other performers.

Matt Law was at the jam for the third time. His music leans from the blues to singer-songwriter, which seems to be a countrified adaptation of the blues.

Law said he’s loved the Ghetto Palace from his first time.

“I walked in and saw all my friends,” he said. He sings something every time he comes. “I never miss an opportunity to play.”

Law took the stage: “For those of you who don’t know, I’m Matt Law. For those of you who know me, I’m still Matt Law.”

During Law’s set, Crook drifted by a spectator and said, “You remember when I said you never know what’s going to happen? Well, something cool just happened. Two people just showed up to play, and it’s going to be incredible.”

Charlie and Dana Hunt Black. It’s funny that just saying their names really doesn’t make the seismic tremor that it should. How about this: Songwriters Hall of Fame members Charlie and Dana Hunt Black, writers of more than a dozen No. 1 hits performed by singers like: George Strait, Roy Orbison, Anne Murray, Alan Jackson and Reba McEntire.

They started their set with “Shadows in the Moonlight,” which Murray made famous, and ended with the song that Strait topped the charts with, “Write this Down.”

Afterwards, they practically skipped to a small alcove to the side of the stage to drop off their guitars. The Blacks, who now live in Port St. Joe, had been invited to the Palace several times, but that night was their first performance there.

“I love this place,” Dana said before exiting the stage. “Thank you, guys, for having us out.”

A beautiful life

Vicki Stewart took care of her guests as her husband took care of the musicians. She posed with several for pictures, served drinks and generally made everyone feel at home.

Vicki and Crook Stewart met when they were 11 years old at Parker Elementary. She thought he was cute the first time she saw him. Their relationship, however, was strictly as friends – albeit best friends – until 2011.

“It was scary making that jump to the next level,” she said. “We were just hanging out when a friend commented that we were really a cute couple. That made me think.”

They are very similar people, “cut from the same cloth,” Vicki said. Which accounts for the flow of their relationship. During those 40 years, each had their own relationships and their own lives. But they always just stayed in touch and enjoyed each other as friends.

Music, she said, was the love that they shared the whole time.

“It’s one of those ties that bind,” Vicki said. “It was always an area of common ground for us.”

They both appreciate all kinds of music and their approach to genres is the same as everything else in their lives: let’s try it and see what happens. Fundamentally, they are the definition of easy-going, smoothly flowing through lives that have been punctuated and enhanced by music.

“I couldn’t imagine my life without music. Just look around the room,” she said, indicating the audience at the Ghetto Palace. “Everyone is smiling. Everyone is happy. What else can do that besides music?”

Then she summed it all up: “You should sit back and watch things happen in life. It’s really beautiful.”

By David Angier Photos by Sarah Shipes / Shipes Photography