When coming home from a Island retreat one of the best ways to help the feeling last is to immerse yourself in the music that made your getaway so memorable and relaxing. I often sit and listen to any kind of tropical music while I work. Not only does it make it seem like a working vacation but it may have medicinal properties in helping to keep my blood pressure down. All kidding aside we would like to share some of our favorite Island music with you with the hopes it will help you escape and remember that last island vacation or look forward to the next one. This is by no means meant to be an all inclusive list. We hope it will encourage you to share some of your favorite Island music and artists as well.

First let’s start with the obvious choices. No island vacation can be had without hearing at least a few Jimmy Buffett or Bob Marley songs. Songs like “Margaritaville”, “No Woman No Cry”, “Volcano”, “Three little birds”, and “Changes in Lattitude” or “Jammin” are still some of the first songs mentioned by most when asked what songs they think of when they think Island Music. A quick trip to Jimmy Buffett’s website (http://www.margaritaville.com) and a click on his label Mailboat Records (http://www.mailboatrecords.com/) with also yield a number of ParrotHead artists like Mac McAnally, Jake Shimabukuro, Ilo Ferreira can be found there. Jimmy does cut a wide swath when defining “Island Music” and a couple of hours listening to Radio Margaritaville on Sirius Radio will prove that by throwing in tracks by Boz Scaggs, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Chris Isaak and others.
If you have graduated past the typical Island Music and are maybe feeling a bit nostalgic there are 1980’s favorites like UB40, Big Mountain, and Ziggy Marley to help you with the Island vibe.

If you are looking for some truly island grown talent and music that ranges from the typical steel drub Caribbean / Soca flavor to acoustic pop / blues then we would like to help with some suggestions. One of the artists we discovered on a trip to St. Lucia in the British windward islands was Kofi. His Very Reggae Christmas is one of our holiday favorites. If Hawaiian grown music is more to your liking you can go with “Tiny Bubbles” by Don Ho or try artists like Israel Kamakawiwo‘ole for more traditional Hawaiian music. There are also artists like Anuhea (think Colbie Caillat) or David Tamaoka (think Jason Mraz). Also Mark Keali’i Ho’omalu has had some fame since his brief appearance on the Lilo & Stitch soundtrack.

Even Tommy Bahama is producing it’s own collection of Resort and Tropical CD’s to help you extend those tropical vacation vibes all the way home.
It is always easy to find Hawaiian Hula music and a good ukulele song or some steel drum music at any local beach stand on just about any coast. So sit back, put the headphones in and relax and enjoy the sounds of the islands.