Tropical rock (or trop rock) is a genre of popular music that incorporates elements and influences of rock and roll, reggae, country music, caribbean, Calypso music and zydeco, with themes and musical compositions inspired by an island style.
Although today tropical rock is usually associated with southern Florida, lower Alabama, and other areas of the Gulf Coast of the United States, trop rock has its roots in calypso, rock, and country by artists such as Jerry Jeff Walker.
The origins of the genre may be related to the musical sound of Jimmy Buffett and his folk singing style. Buffett and his Coral Reefer Band helped create a tropical sub-culture beginning in the early to mid-1980s, along with other artists including Bertie Higgins. Mainstream artists like Jack Johnson, Zac Brown Band, Alan Jackson and Kenny Chesney have songs in the trop rock genre. Other popular Trop Rock artists include Don Middlebrook, the Boat Drunks, Conch Republic, Dr. J, Fins, Howard Livingston, James "Sunny Jim" White, Jimmy & the Parrots, Kelly McGuire, Latitude, and Tropical Soul.
Trop Rock Radio
In 2000, WBWC-FM, Dennis King of Island Time Radio began programming this format on the air in Cleveland, Ohio and streaming worldwide on Monday nights. Radio Margaritaville, available on Sirius XM Radio, also plays many of the genre's hits.