By: Lindsay Cranford
In addition to being one of the nicest (and tannest) guys around, John Brackett is the epitome of the Lowcountry Renaissance man. As owner-operator of both Sweet Pea Fishing Charters and Brackett Photography, and longtime fixture of the local music scene, I was lucky enough to snag a few of John’s precious spare moments to ask him what it’s like to live the dream.
Lindsay Cranford, Southender Staff: When and how did you come to live on the Island?
John Brackett: It’s really by accident. I was 26, I took a week off and I was going to Massachusetts, but there was a snowstorm. My friend called her half-brother who lived down here and said ‘hey, I want to come down’, so overnight we headed to Hilton Head for the week, and I moved down a month later. I originally lived on Coosaw Island, which is near Beaufort, in a house with no doors and windows, just screened in. It was really hot and right on the water – it was a cool place. There were probably 15 people who lived on Coosaw at that time. I was over there playing piano some, waiting tables, doing landscaping, whatever I could, and teaching some piano. A restaurant called Big Rocco’s was being built on the Island and they were auditioning bands, so I auditioned for it and got it and that’s how I wound up here. March of ‘89 I started playing at Big Rocco’s seven nights a week for my first two or three years there.
LC: You’ve played music since childhood. Where’d it all start?
JB: Trombone I really was serious about from third grade on, and still play and love it. Every now and then, I bring it out at Jazz Corner or Red Fish and do a couple of songs. Piano – there was a piano in my grandmothers house which is still the piano I play today. It’s a baby grand that I’ve moved everywhere I’ve lived ever in my life, including on Coosaw in the house with no doors and windows! I’ve always beat on the piano, but never really got serious about it until I was in my late teens, early 20s. I had a roommate who accidentally set the garage on fire in our house that we rented, and burned everything I owned except the piano, I hadn’t moved it in there yet. So after that, I realized I’d lost everything and thought, you know what, I’m gonna focus more on keyboard and piano.
LC: You’ve been known to show up at gigs you didn’t play and help the band load out, amongst other random acts of kindness. Who have been the most impactful supporters of your musical career throughout the years?
JB: I would definitely have to say Kelli and Martin (Lesch) and the crew over at The Jazz Corner have always been there for me. I met Martin years and years ago, before he lived here. His brother Jeb would bring him in to hear me play and we started hanging out then. The Jazz Corner was very supportive and really an institution to help me grow as a player. After our first daughter was born, I started playing less at night. That’s when Jazz Corner was opening up, so I wound up playing there more. I took their Monday nights that they were closed and kind of made that an open mic, jam night.
LC: So your involvement in late night music slowed down when you had your daughters, but until then you used to play and hang out most nights at some of the classic Island venues that have come and gone. What are some of your best memories?
JB: Getting to hear Edwin McCain play at Wild Wings after we got off from Big Rocco’s. Edwin and I going to see Dave Matthews for the first time when he played at the Old Post Office, we sat there and we were just blown away, they were unbelievable. There were a lot of great musicians here, there were some great jams with horn players and sax players.
LC: In addition to being an OG musician, you’ve also been working on the water around here forever. What are some of your best war stories from the boat?
JB: In 1990, I worked for Mike Overton who owns Outside Hilton Head, it was Windsurfing Hilton Head then, and so I taught windsurfing for him and then played piano at night. I’ve had a lot of fun fishing, windsurfing, all kinds of experiences, even kite surfing lines breaking, swimming in. While diving with my buddies about five years ago, we got separated offshore, so I was out floatin’ around for about two and half hours by myself, 40 miles offshore. I catch a lot of big shark. I’ve been with Chip Michalove on one of his first early big shark tags, an 18 footer.
LC: So, where can we find you these days?
JB: I find a good balance between it all. On keys, I’m at Red Fish almost every Wednesday with my quartet, and then we’ll be at The Jazz Corner at the end of August (August 30th and 31st at 7:30pm). For photography, I’m mostly doing corporate work, convention work, headshots, and my boat (the Sweet Pea) does near-shore and off-shore fishing charters.