Even though lifelong North Beach local Burgess Autrey has surfed for close to 50 years, shaped surfboards for 40 years, and worked with the Eastern Surfing Association for 20 years, you won’t find him hogging any spotlight. No website, no photo galleries, not even so much as a convenient contact number. But don’t assume that means he doesn’t have a story to tell. Drift sat down to shine a little light on this Oldest City legend.

Drift: Tell us about your beginnings surfing in St. Augustine.
BA: I guess it dates back to the early 1960s. My family used to go to Vilano Beach in the early 1950s, but I didn’t really start surfing until the early 1960s.

Leif Kruse never looks at his paintings with a satisfied smile. He never thinks, “Oh, I like that.”

More likely, Leif will just stare. And when that doesn’t help, he’ll make himself a drink or go for a ride on his bike. He’ll get away.

“I’m probably my worst critic,” said Leif, 26. “I’ve gotten some nice comments. I choose to ignore most of them.”

Jim Carroll loves Flagler College more than the tourists love trolleys.

“I think of (St. Augustine) like heaven: sunny, palm trees. It’s 73 degrees all the time. But that’s for just me, I guess,” he said.

Sitting across from Carroll, the first full-time Flagler mascot, outside the Casa Monica, I find myself feeling a bit giddy listening to his excitement about our school and town.

By Kelsey May

Classic Blends is like an abstract painting. Not many people get it.

“Most people don’t understand what we do,” said Hugh Ward, one of the owners.

Ward, along with fellow Flagler grads Aaron Mabra (aka DJ ATM) and Jesse Moore started the multi-functioning art gallery to bring more cosmopolitan events to St. Augustine three years ago. So what exactly do they do?

That’s easier explained in who they are. For example, Ward is a DJ who loves the other end of a party, from the behind the turntables. He’s also a graphic designer with an appreciation of art and a soft spot for starving artists. So instead of deciding on just one thing to do, he’s helped create a company that embodies his medley of talents.

Walking into local band Molta’s practice space, I’m immediately struck by the sound of shuffling funk drumbeats, loping yet steady basslines, shimmering guitars, and soulful lyrics that, when taken together, could represent just about any moment in the last four decades of music history. But when the energy kicks in and the flimsy walls of the band’s practice room begin to shake, this quartet shows they have what it takes to succeed: concise song structures, a solid grasp of far-flung genres, and, most importantly, originality.

GOGOL BORDELLO
SUPER TARANTA!
Side One Dummy 2007

Every once in a while, a band comes along that not only defies categorization but throws any hope of description out the window. In 2007, that band is Gogol Bordello, whose latest album Super Taranta! combines poetic gypsy waltzes, European folk and pulsing punk rhythms to form an exuberant explosion of clashing cultures. Comprised of nationalities from across Europe (lead singer Eugene Hutz was a Ukrainian refugee after the Chernobyl disaster), Gogol Bordello formed in New York City and eventually took that city by storm with feverish performances full of violins, accordions, found percussion and maniacal vocals. And although they resemble some sort of discarded circus side-act, Gogol Bordello fills their gypsy rock out with political, personal, and at times hilarious lyrics detailing the life of America’s immigrant class.