In tune with one another

Musician Deven Starr’s assistance from fellow performers after suffering serious injuries is indicative of the Siesta Key way, he says

By Hannah Wallce

Deven Starr had never been in a car accident. But on Dec. 30, as the Siesta Key musician drove home from a gig in Cape Coral, he collided head-on with a wrong-way driver.

The injuries were significant. In the hospital for days afterward, Starr felt lucky just to be alive. He needed physical therapy to walk again. “I couldn’t stand for quite a while. I ended up in a wheelchair for a while,” he said. “Things felt like borrowed time. I thought, ‘It’s pretty cool that I’m still here.’”

Only later did he begin to think about his livelihood. In an ideal month, he played between 25 and 30 shows. But in 2022 he’d already been sidelined once in the summer with sinus surgery. Then his income took a hit again in September when Hurricane Ian devastated southwest Florida. And now Starr faced yet another setback going into 2023. His career was in jeopardy.

“I couldn’t even play a guitar. My hand was out of commission,” he said. “About a week after the accident, I started to think, ‘I need to figure out what I’m going to do.’”

Fortunately, his peers in the Siesta Key music community were already rallying their support.

Starr grew up in a musical environment in the Englewood/Fort Myers area. His father was an amateur guitarist and bassist, and the two even played in a band together.

But the seeds for Starr’s career as a professional performer were planted in Sarasota’s beachy music scene. When he was 14, his dad took him to Cha Cha Coconuts on St. Armands Circle, where Sarasota musician Rodney Shenk was playing.

“I saw money in his tip jar, and I was like, ‘Wait, you can actually do this?’” Starr remembered. “That was my first spark of interest in making it a career.”

After college, Starr stage managed some touring bands and even took a two-year stint as a cruise musician. Then, about nine years ago, he attended an-open-mic-night-turnedaudition at Siesta Key Oyster Bar.

“Nick LeValley was hosting. I just showed up, and we jammed out a couple songs,” Starr said. “Now I’ve been playing there every other Wednesday for six or seven years.”

Starr has been a regular performer up and down the Village, including Blasé Café, Gilligan’s, Daiquiri Deck, and the Hub. He said his success has been as much about reliability as it has musical talent. “I’m not some classically trained, amazing musician. I’m self-taught, I go on vibes. You can be an OK musician, but if you’re consistent, you show up, you’re good to people, you can do it. Be better to people than you are at your job.”

It’s a mantra shared by his Siesta performing peers.

“I’ve seen a lot of cutthroat competition, like the seagulls in Finding Nemo — ‘Mine! Mine! Mine!’ It’s just not like that around here,” Starr said. “I think that’s why the vibes are so good here. I have not experienced anything like this anywhere else.”