coastprojects

In this episode, Mark Baratto sits down with Billy Kearins of Coast Projects. This is our second time sitting down for an interview, the first was about his iconic local brand found HERE.

In this interview, we talk about Billy's music and arts festival know as the COAST is Clear, happening on December 4th. We talk about how he came up with the idea and how he is keeping Key West a boutique music town with big acts, without arena size seating.

ATTENTION!! How would you like to win 2 FREE tickets to this years festival! We are running a contest on our social media channels. All you need to do to enter is go to my Facebook or Instagram account and like the COAST IS CLEAR post (it will be the one with the snippet of this interviewing playing) and TAG 3 people in the comments

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/backyardsofkeywest/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/backyardsofkeywest

1. Tag 3 people in the comment section
2. We will pick a winner on Friday October 29th.

More on the COAST is Clear Music & Arts Festival

In a time of global unrest and uncertainty, it’s often best to take a step back to find respite in the simple pleasures of life.

A weekend in the sun surrounded by close compadres — or simply folks you’ve only just met because of a shared love of music and art — can, at the very least, provide a temporary feeling that things might just be okay when whatever it is that we’ve all collectively endured is finally behind us.

And, at its core, that’s what COAST Is Clear is really all about.

From the start, it has been a time and place to celebrate the end of a difficult stretch — for us, it’s that six-month period we in the tropics call Hurricane Season, that officially ends each year on December 1 — when, quite literally, the “coast is clear”.

We started this festival in 2017, just months after Hurricane Irma ravaged the Lower Keys. That year, a few musician friends of ours agreed to come down to lend a hand and lift spirits by doing what they do best. And since then, we’ve committed to bringing down top-notch, nationally-acclaimed bands, paired with local art to make COAST Is Clear an annual festival — one that has been enjoyed equally by our local friends and traveling fans alike.

This year, for the first time, we are so excited to announce that the festival will be a collaborative effort between one of Key West’s most beloved and enduring arts organizations, Key West Art & Historical Society (KWAHS) and the renegade creative forces at Coast Projects (COAST) — a pairing that offers both a timeless legacy and a raw and relevant edge with regards to the arts on the island.

So join us on the first weekend of December to dance and sing in the sun, to enjoy the fresh salt air and island breeze, and to celebrate the end of the old and the beginning of something new...

Website: https://www.coastisclearfest.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coastisclearfest/

In this episode, Mark Baratto sits down with Billy Kearins of Coast Projects.

We talk about his humble beginnings, his love of Folk music, and how his local Key West shirt company is setting up to make some giant waves.

Also, be on the lookout for Billy's film, "Keasy Rider" which comes out on September 17th at Tropic Cinema for the 72 Hour Film Challenge.

What is COAST?

We get that question a lot. And the truth is, it’s hard to explain — not because it’s abstract — but more so because you can look at it from many angles, and you can take from it as little or as much as you want.

Sure, we’re about bikes and boards and life by the sea — which is why we chose the purposefully ambiguously name COAST. But we’re about more than those tangible things that you see on the showroom floor and in the web store.

COAST is, in a general sense, about life on the edge — where land meets sea and the spirit of exploration and unknowing meet the safety of the shoreline. At COAST, we build the goods we need to lead the life we want to live — just like people did not too long ago. And with these time-honored tools in hand, we set out to push limits and to see what we’re made of – life on the edge.

But we also like to kick back our bare feet and enjoy life — coast along if you will.

And it’s this space — the blurring of work, play, and everyday life by the sea — that COAST is really about.

Coast Projects website: https://www.coastprojects.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/CoastProjects

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CoastProjects

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CoastProjects