Trying to track all the random shows and parties connected to Art Basel can be exhausting — so here's one damn good reason to get away from them for one night. The Skinny Dip, at Kitchen 305, is a multiband celebration of life, whose proceeds benefit the Melanoma Research Foundation and the Richard David Kann Melanoma Foundation. The event is the brainchild of local singer/songwriter Shawn Snyder, who lost his mother a year ago to the disease. Melanoma is the cancer "nobody seems to want to talk about, despite having the fastest-growing incidence rate of all cancers," Snyder says. "It's stuck with a black ribbon, a starkness that speaks on multiple levels." The sad irony is that although it can be one of the most unpredictable and aggressive cancers in its advanced stages, it's one of the easiest cancers to detect. It's also one of the most common in sun-worshipping locales such as South Florida.
To honor his mother and help raise awareness of the disease, Snyder has rounded up some of his local music friends at one of the new venues most supportive of local live music. Snyder himself will perform, and fans of acts such as the Counting Crows will find much to love in his introspective jangle-pop. Other standouts include bluesmen Big Poppa E and Uncle Scotchy, piano/hip-hop crossover band the Big Bounce, and the jammy Latin funk of Lanzallamas Monofónica. The U-School Testostertones, Shauna Sweeney, Michael Shivers, and Arboles Libres will also perform, keeping the music playing until 11 p.m. A VIP afterparty will feature a fashion show at 1 a.m., and goodies such as spa treatments and airline vouchers will be up for grabs throughout the night during a raffle and silent auction.
