- November 7, 2024
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Rob Peck (right, blue shirt), and other musicians, jammed at the Hammock Wine and Cheese Shop. Photo by Jacque Estes
Rob Peck plays an antique Gibson guitar at the Hammock Wine and Cheese Shop. Photo by Jacque Estes
Rob Peck jammed with other all-star musicians at the Hammock Wine and Cheese Shop on Thursday, Oct. 13. Photo by Jacque Estes
Carol Mathis, owner of the Hammock Wine and Cheese Shop, and her landlord Steve Gallagher Photo by Jacque Estes
Missy gets a special treat from her owner Moya Krohn at the Hammock Wine and Cheese Shop on Thursday, Oct. 13. Photo by Jacque Estes
Will Lopez started sitting in with Rob Peck year and a half ago, now he's a regular in the band on Thursday nights. Photo by Jacque Estes
Bobbi and Russell Miller enjoy a night out at the Hammock Wine and Cheese Shop in the Hammock. Photo by Jacque Estes
The strum of guitars, the beat of the drums, and the occasional wail of a harmonica, went down as smoothly as the wine, as people took a night off from hurricane horrors, at the Hammock Wine and Cheese Shop on Thursday, Oct. 13.
“It’s a reset night,” Carol Mathis, owner of the Hammock Wine and Cheese shop said as the restaurant patio began to fill with music and people. “It’s time to reset your mind and emotions and come together as a village.”
Mathis estimated about 70 people attended the event and it was the first of many Thursday night jam sessions for Peck at the restaurant.
Ken Yarborough approached Mathis about having a special jam session at the restaurant on State Road A1A after Hurricane Matthew destroyed the Matanzas Inlet Restaurant, where they normally play on Thursday nights.
“We have a beloved friend, Rob Peck, who suffered a devastating loss in the hurricane, and that’s all I am going to say about that,” Yarborough said. “It was a crazy idea, to move it down the road and give everybody a reason to smile for a few hours.”
The devastation was the loss of Peck’s home in St. Augustine, and many of his musical appearances, due to restaurants, like the Matanzas Inlet, which were also lost or closed because of damage.
“The hurricane hit and I…umm…I lost my house,” the words didn’t come out of Peck’s mouth as easily as the songs later that night. “What happened at Matanzas Inlet, this is what sort of evolved, an incredible jam session of all-star musicians. That’s what we are recreating here tonight.”
Peck, originally from Gainesville, worked out of Nashville as a sideman for George Jones and others, before returning to Gainesville to “settle down.” In 1999, he moved to St. Augustine and began playing up and down the East Coast of Florida.
“Many months ago Rob started playing a weekly gig at the Matanzas Inlet Restaurant,” Yarborough said. “Something happened along the way, and musicians started showing up on Thursdays and sat in jammed with him. He’s gracious and lets them; a lot of musicians won’t let other guys come up. It evolved into this weekly jam that would pack the restaurant.”
“You would never know who was going to show up, Alabama, Stella Parton – Dolly’s little sister,” Peck said.
Will Lopez was one of those who began sitting in the Inlet with Peck, and he was there Thursday night. Lopez’s wife Judy was one of those in the audience.
“Rob allowed him to sit in with his guitar and he didn’t even know him,” Judy Lopez said. “It’s been that way for a year and a half. He’s a beautiful guy.”
Peck and friends, musicians who preferred to take the Traveling Wilbury’s approach to identification, giving names like “Chevy” and “Ford” and “Porsche,” did bring some smiles, on and off stage.
“I want to thank everybody for coming out,” Peck said. “It’s all my friends and they’re very supportive, and it’s very much appreciated.
