Shrimpboat Sounds

Address: Harbor Walk, where Greene Street meets Elizabeth Street

Overlooking the harbor, this hidden gem served as the creative engine behind many albums.

Though this windowless structure looks unassuming, it houses Jimmy’s personal recording space: Shrimpboat Sound Studio.

Built inside an old shrimp storage shed, the studio is outfitted with state-of-the-art and antique recording equipment, including a pre-World War II microphone that Jimmy has used on many of his records. The studio was designed and outfitted by Ross Ritto, a longtime sound engineer on Buffett’s world tours. Ritto now owns Sound Image, an industry-leading sound design company.

Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band have recorded over a dozen albums in this little white building, including 1996’s Banana Wind and 2004’s License to Chill. Plenty of other artists have flocked to Shrimpboat Sound to soak up the Key West atmosphere and use Jimmy’s personal recording equipment. Country legends like George Strait and Kenney Chesney have used the space, as well as Alan Jackson, Toby Keith, and a host of musicians both famous and lesser-known.

The studio is fully soundproofed, but that doesn’t stop folks from pressing their ears to the wall in the hopes of hearing a hot new track from their favorite artists. If you’re on foot, head up Lazy Way behind the studio to get a closer look and check out the art and curio vendors that set up shop there.

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Songs to Play

• He Went to Paris
• Changes in Latitudes

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