Sandbar Sessions
Florida Keys events at Sandbar Sessions.
Only on Little Palm Island…
Imagine your favorite act playing a private show, just for you. Instead of squinting to see small shapes on a distant stage, they’ll be strolling on the sand beside you. What were once blinding lights are now replaced by a backdrop of the moonlit waters of the Atlantic Ocean. An intimate performance for only a limited number of lucky fans. The Sandbar Sessions on Little Palm Island are a once in a lifetime opportunity to truly get up close and personal as your favorite performers serenade a small audience of guests on the shore. Dine, dance and lose yourself in the moment at our Florida Keys events. A limited number of packages are available with exquisite dining options and luxury accommodations. Sandbar Session tickets are complimentary to guests of the island.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Anders Osborne
We are delighted to welcome back Anders Osborne to the Sandbar Sessions on April 2, 2024 for an evening of soulful vocals and expert musicality in the storied Monkey Hut. Reserve your bungalow suite now and gain access to this exclusive island event.
Osborne’s six-string virtuosity, inventive musicality, and poetic songcraft underpin an ever-expanding three-decade catalog celebrated by fans and critics alike. As a sought-after studio talent, his writing resounds through Keb Mo’s GRAMMY® Award-winning Slow Down, Tim McGraw’s number one “Watch The Wind Blow By,” and covers by Brad Paisley, Jonny Lang, Edwin McCain, Aaron Neville, and more. His output live and in the studio spans working with everyone from Eric Church, Toots and the Maytals, and John Scofield to The Meters, North Mississippi Allstars, and Galactic. His extensive touring history encompasses gigs, collaborations, and performances alongside everyone from Derek Trucks, Warren Haynes, and Stanton Moore to The Grateful Dead’s Phil Lesh and Jackie Greene. Not to mention, he lights up the screen on an episode of the HBO hit Treme. Plus, he has garnered acclaim from USA Today, Guitar Player, Relix, Offbeat, and more. We are thrilled to welcome him back to the island.
PAST EVENTS
Ivan Neville
An American multi-instrumentalist musician, singer, and songwriter, Ivan Neville is also the son of Aaron Neville. A nephew to the legendary Neville Brothers, Ivan’s success is attributed to his own unique sound inspired by his family hometown of New Orleans, LA.
This one-of-a–kind experience is limited to only a lucky few. Don’t miss this session!
Gipsy Kings
Nicolas Reyes has been the leader and co-founder of the Gipsy Kings for well over 30 years. In the past three decades, they have dominated the World Music charts and sold more than 14 million albums worldwide. Their platinum compilation, The Best of the Gipsy Kings, was charting for over a year upon its release and their ninth studio album, Savor Flamenco, was awarded the Grammy for Best World Music Album in 2013.
This iconic legacy began when Nicolas’ father, Jose Reyes, formed a celebrated flamenco duo with Manitas de Plata (which boasted fans as famed as Miles Davis and Pablo Picasso). When the pair parted ways, the elder Reyes became even more popular upon starting his own band, backed by his son, called Los Reyes. In later years, Nicolas headed out on his own and began playing in the town of Arles in the south of France. He traveled throughout the country, busking on the streets of Saint-Tropez, playing wherever he could. Having adopted the perpetual motion of the gypsy lifestyle, his band eventually translated “Los Reyes” and became the Gipsy Kings.
The band’s music went on to fuse with popular culture. In addition to the accolades above, the traveling Gipsy Kings have played some of the world’s greatest stages, from the Hollywood Bowl to Royal Albert Hall as well as hitting the big screen. Their rendition of “Hotel California” was included in the film The Big Lebowski and the HBO series Entourage. The 2010 film Toy Story 3 featured a Gipsy Kings version of the movie’s popular, Randy Newman-penned theme, “You’ve Got a Friend in Me”. The Gipsy Kings recently featured in a Big Lebowski spinoff The Jesus Rolls with Reyes appearing in person with the director and star, John Turturro, for some of the promotion.
As active as this remarkable collective remains, they are also confident in the future of their legacy. “Even though it’s been 30 years, we want to keep on making new music because it’s our life. It’s who we are,” says Nicolas Reyes. “But I think there will be a time when we pass down the Gipsy Kings to our sons”.
30 years is an eternity in pop music but the story of the Gipsy Kings featuring Nicolas Reyes has the depth to endure. Theirs is a music that extends through generations, to the sounds of their ancestors—Spanish Romani people who fled the Catalonia region during the Spanish Civil War—and reflects the vibrantly eclectic and peripatetic history of the gitanos.
Indigo Girls
The iconic Sandbar Sessions at Little Palm Island Resort are delighted to welcome back the Indigo Girls this February 9th, 2022. Over a 35 career that began in clubs around their native Atlanta, Georgia, the Grammy-winning duo has recorded 16 studio albums, sold over 15 million records, and built a dedicated, enduring following. What an honor to have them back to the island. Suites are still available and include tickets to the concert. Join us for an extraordinary evening.
We also have an extremely limited number of “off-island” concert tickets available. Call us at 800-343-8567 soon, as these will sell out quickly. Tickets are $250 per person.
Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn
Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn, “the king and queen of the banjo” (Paste Magazine), have a musical partnership like no other. Béla Fleck is a fifteen-time Grammy Award winner who has taken the instrument across multiple genres, and Abigail Washburn a singer-songwriter and clawhammer banjo player who re-radicalized it by combining it with Far East culture and sounds. With one eye on using the banjo to showcase America’s rich heritage and the other pulling the noble
instrument from its most familiar arena into new and unique realms, Bela & Abigail meet in the mean, head-on, to present music that feels wildly innovative and familiar at the same time. Whether at home, on stage or on record, their deep bond, combined with the way their distinct musical personalities and banjo styles interact, makes theirs a picking partnership unlike any other on the planet.
We also have an extremely limited number of “off-island” concert tickets available. Call us at 800-343-8567 soon, as these will sell out quickly. Tickets are $200 per person.
Stephen Marley
The iconic Sandbar Sessions at Little Palm Island Resort will come full circle on December 1st, 2021, when it welcomes back the artist that started it all! Stephen Marley first performed at Little Palm Island in 2009, when the resort debuted its exclusive Sandbar Sessions. A member of the celebrated Marley sibling group, The Melody Makers since the age of seven, Stephen Marley is a Grammy winning producer, singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Join us for a magical night and experience the “new” Little Palm Island.
Keb’ Mo’
Keb’ Mo’s self-titled release under his coined Keb’ Mo’ moniker, reached it’s quarter century milestone in 2019, and over the years, Keb’ has proven that he is a musical force that defies typical genre labels. Album after album, 14 in total, he has garnered 5 GRAMMY awards, including his most recent 2019 release, Oklahoma, which won in the Best Americana Album category. Keb’s list of GRAMMY recognitions continues with 12 GRAMMY nominations, in total, including his 2014 self-produced release, BLUESAmericana, earning three nominations on its own as well as a producer/engineer/artist GRAMMY Certificate for his track on the 2001 Country Album of the Year, Hank Williams Tribute – Timeless. The talented artist has also been awarded 14 Blues Foundation Awards and 6 BMI Awards for his work in TV & Film.
All guests on the island May 19th, 2021 will be invited to this special event.
Emmy Lou Harris
A 14-time Grammy winner and Billboard Century Award recipient, Emmylou Harris’ contribution as a singer and songwriter spans 40 years. She has recorded more than 25 albums and has lent her talents to countless fellow artists’ recordings. In recognition of her remarkable career, Harris was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008 and earned a Grammy Lifetime Achievement award in 2018.
Harris is known as much for her eloquently straightforward songwriting as for her incomparably expressive singing. Admired through her career for her talent as an artist and song connoisseur, Harris shook up country radio in the 1970s, and established herself as the premiere songwriter of a generation selling more than 15 million records and garnering 14 Grammy Awards, three CMA Awards, and four Americana Awards.
Harris is one of the most admired and influential women in music. She has recorded with such diverse artists as Linda Ronstadt, Daniel Lanois, Bob Dylan, Mark Knopfler, Neil Young, Gram Parsons, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Roy Orbison, Ryan Adams, Beck, Elvis Costello, Johnny Cash, Lucinda Williams, Lyle Lovett and most recently Rodney Crowell. Few artists have achieved such honesty or have revealed such maturity in their writing. Forty years into her career, Harris continues to share the hard-earned wisdom that—hopefully if not inevitably—comes with getting older, though she’s never stopped looking ahead.
A longtime social activist, Harris has lent her voice to many causes. She has performed at Lilith Fair, helping promote feminism in music and organizing several benefit tours to support the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation. Harris is also an avid supporter of animal rights and is actively involved in Bonaparte’s Retreat, the dog rescue organization that she founded.
Ronnie Spector
Only a few artists in history have been capable of defining an entire era in pop music. Ronnie Spector is one of those artists: the embodiment of the heart, soul, and passion of female rock and roll in the 1960s. And to this day, no one has ever surpassed Ronnie’s powerful trademark vocals and her gutsy attitude. For these qualities and more, Ronnie Spector and the Ronettes, were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.
The Ronettes—recorded a long string of classic pop hits: powerful, poignant teen anthems like the Grammy Award-winning “Walking in the Rain,” “Do I Love You,” “Baby I Love You,” “The Best Part of Breaking Up,” “I Can Hear Music,” and the international Number One smash “Be My Baby.” These records are among the best-loved and most-emulated recordings in the history of rock and roll.
Jana Kramer
Just ask Jana Kramer and she’ll tell you she’s: “Just getting started.” And it’s that drive and love for music that has been the driving force behind her career. After all, in just a little over three years, she has become one of country music’s brightest new stars. Her platinum debut single, “Why Ya Wanna,” rocketed to No. 3 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in 2012 making her the most played new artist of that year. Her self-titled debut album hit No. 5. In 2013, the Academy of Country Music honored her with its Top New Female Artist Award.
That’s a lot to have accomplished in just a little time. And Kramer is grateful for the success that has come her way. ”I still have a lot to prove,” she insists. “I’m better at what I’m doing than I ever was before. And I’m not going anywhere.” Kramer, you see, was already a star when she broke into country music, with a massive fan base she had built as an actress in numerous films and TV shows. What few knew was that long before reciting her first scripted line, Kramer was a passionate lover of country music. In fact, she ended her high-profile, two-year run on The CW’s “One Tree Hill” to focus on her singing, songwriting and onstage performance.
Fabulous Thunderbirds
For over 30 years, The Fabulous Thunderbirds have been the quintessential American band. The group’s distinctive and powerful sound, influenced by a diversity of musical styles, manifested itself into a unique musical hybrid via such barnburners as “Tuff Enuff” and “Wrap It Up”. Co-founder Kim Wilson, the sole original member, still spearheads the group as it evolves into its newest incarnation.
John Hiatt
This American rock guitarist, pianist, singer, and songwriter has played a variety of musical styles on his albums, including new wave, blues and country. Hiatt has been nominated for several Grammy Awards and has been awarded a variety of other distinctions in the music industry. He remains one of the most respected and influential American singer-songwriters
Dave Mason
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee, songwriter, and legendary guitarist Dave Mason has been making music since the age of 18 when he teamed up with fellow England native Steve Winwood to form the band Traffic. Since then he has penned dozens of hits, and has been linked with numerous other members of rock and roll elite, including Eric Clapton, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Fleetwood Mac,The Rolling Stones, Graham Nash, Stephen Stills, Rita Coolidge, Leon Russell, Ron Wood and Mama Cass Elliot. Mason has been performing to sold-out audiences for years and has sold millions of recordings worldwide.
Lee Ritenour
Grammy award winning guitarist Lee Ritenour has received a rich cross section of exposure to jazz, rock and Brazilian music. From one of his first sessions at 16 with the Mamas and Papas to accompanying Lena Horne an d Tony Bennett at 18, his forty year eclectic and storied career is highlighted by a Grammy Award win for his 1986 collaboration with Dave Grusin, Harlequin; 17 Grammy nominations; numerous #1 spots in guitar polls and the prestigious “Alumnus of the Year” award from USC. He has recorded over 40 albums, with 35 chart songs, notably the Top 15 hit “Is It You,” which has become a contemporary jazz radio classic. For island packages call 800-343-8567
Jefferson Starship
Performs & Celebrates The Music of JEFFERSON AIRPLANE 50th Anniversary
Jefferson Starship, created by Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee and Jefferson Airplane founder Paul Kantner; and, David Freiberg, also a former Jefferson Airplane member and co-founder of the legendary Quicksilver Messenger Service – celebrated their 40th Anniversary in 2014. The band, descended from Jefferson Airplane – who performed at Monterey and Woodstock, at Altamont with the Rolling Stones, and shared the bill countless times with Grateful Dead & Janis Joplin, and whose music helped define a generation focused on civil rights, environmental awareness and anti-war activism – is set to perform the landmark recordings “Dragonfly” and “Red Octopus” – the latter catapulted them to the top of the charts twice in 1975.
In 2015, the band performs & celebrates the 50th Anniversary of Jefferson Airplane & The San Francisco Sound, Kantner & Freiberg were instrumental in creating.
Dr. John
A legend with his unique blend of voodoo mysticism, funk, rhythm & blues, psychedelic rock and Creole roots to the island.
Taj Mahal
Composer, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Taj Mahal is one of the most prominent and influential figures in late 20th century blues and roots music. Though his career began more than four decades ago with American blues, he has broadened his artistic scope over the years to include music representing virtually every corner of the world – west Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, the Hawaiian islands and so much more. What ties it all together is his insatiable interest in musical discovery. Over the years, his passion and curiosity have led him around the world, and the resulting global perspective is reflected in his music today. Taj has been nominated for nine GRAMMY® Awards.
America
The legendary band AMERICA performed at Little Palm Island as part of the wildly popular Sandbar Sessions. An intimate group of 100 guests enjoyed an unforgettable evening in paradise. With 80 degree temperatures, an ocean breeze and great songs like “Ventura Highway” and “Sister Golden Hair” drifting over the crowd – the night was amazing.
Rickie Lee Jones
Rickie Lee Jones has made a career of fearlessly experimenting with her sound and her persona. Her unforgettable 1979 debut landed her two Rolling Stone covers in two years, and elements of her image were absorbed into the culture, from the Chuck E. Cheese pizza chain to the interest in jazz and signature costume (fingerless gloves, spandex, hat) from so many female pop singers who followed.
Never content with one style or identity, though, she went on to create such masterworks as Pirates and The Magazine, and to delve into such daring projects as the pioneering electronic accompaniment of 1997’s Ghostyhead and her impressionistic representations of the words of Jesus Christ on The Sermon on Exposition Boulevard in 2007. Now she brings this exploratory bravery to The Devil You Know—to the desolation of the New Orleans lament “St. James Infirmary” and the solace of Tim Hardin’s “Reason to Believe”.
Keb Mo
Keb Mo is a master at blending blues, jazz, r&b and soul through melody and rhythm. Keb Mo captured the lucky island gathering with his musical spirit and virtuosity. Many die hard fans of the Sandbar Sessions returned for this event on March 21, 2012. May new guests enjoyed the show as well and vowed to return for the next session in this amazing setting. What a magical night in the tropics!
Aaron Neville
If you were lucky enough to be amongst the intimate crowd of 100 guests to attend the Aaron Neville Sandbar Session on October 19th, then we don’t need to tell you what a spectacular evening ensued. Aaron Neville serenaded the shores of Little Palm Island with his enchanting vocal melodies, inviting nostalgic and romantic memories with his classic hits. New, soulful tunes stunned the crowd as Aaron sang angelically in front of a sparkling ocean background. Make sure you don’t miss our next Sandbar Session. You never know which of your favorite artists will vie to play at this one of a kind venue. Check in regularly for new acts here.
Indigo Girls
Oh what a night! For more than two decades, Indigo Girls Amy Ray and Emily Saliers have presented some of their best music in front of cheering crowds. Sometimes in the cramped confines of a small club, sometimes in a vast arena packed with thousands – but for 100 lucky guests, the sand at Little Palm Island proved to be the experience of a lifetime!
The Grammy-winning singer-songwriters celebrated their long-standing passion for live performances – featuring songs from their upcoming release, Staring Down the Brilliant Dream on IG Recordings/Vanguard Records. Available on June 29th, the two-disc CD features 31 songs, each hand-selected by the duo to capture the most memorable moments of their 2006-2009 shows.
Book your escape to paradise
Book your escape to paradise
PACKAGES & OFFERS
Escape From Reality
Experience a getaway like no other, on a tropical island in America’s Caribbean. Join us soon and we’ll include a one-time resort credit towards all that you desire, as well as daily breakfast for two. Be it a romantic dinner on the beach, a delicious lunch at the lagoon pool, an opulent outdoor massage, or a dreamy breakfast in bed, soak it all up. It’s real, and it’s closer than you think.
Gift Cards Now Available
Give the gift of an escape like no other. Gift cards to Little Palm Island Resort & Spa, SpaTerre and The Dining Room are now available for purchase.
ADDRESS
Little Palm Island Resort & Spa
28500 Overseas Highway
Little Torch Key, FL, 33042
HOTEL DIRECT
ROOM RESERVATIONS
AWARDS & PRESS
MICHELIN Guide
MICHELIN Key for Hotels, Three Keys – 2024
Condé Nast Traveler
Readers’ Choice Awards, Top 10 Resorts in the Florida Keys – 2024
Travel & Leisure
World’s Best Awards – Top 15 Resort Hotels in Florida, No. 1 – 2023 & 2024
