Ilo Ferreira was playing his guitar in a small cantina on an island off the coast of West Africa just three years ago.

That was before a guy named Jimmy Buffett walked into the Cape Verde restaurant and heard him sing.

Since that fateful day, Ferreira has played in front of 60,000 screaming Buffett fans, spent time in a Nashville recording studio and this weekend takes the stage for three Key West shows.

Ferreira will join Seattle guitarist Kyle Rife and saxophonist Klem Klimek for shows Saturday and Monday at Margaritaville and Sunday night at the Fury Surf Shack on Duval Street.

"I play world music, but it's based on many English and American influences," Ferreira said Friday while driving to Key West from West Palm Beach.

He grew up listening to vinyl records by Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Credence Clearwater Revival, but is only 30 years old.

"I'm an old spirit," he said in the softly accented voice of someone from Cape Verde, where African and Portuguese influences collide in a unique island culture.

Ferreira taught himself to play guitar at age 6 and has been writing songs since he was 8 or 9, he said.

Buffett was amazed by what he heard on Cape Verde in 2007, when he was on an "adventurer's holiday" with five music-industry friends, Bill Flanagan wrote in an article for Margaritaville's Web site called "Finding Ilo."

Buffett and company stopped in Cape Verde during a trip that also would include Timbuktu, Mali and Morocco. He met with Ferreira after his set, and the two exchanged e-mail addresses and phone numbers, Flanagan wrote.

When Buffett returned to the United States, he got in touch and invited Ferreira to join him and the Coral Reefer Band on stage at the New England Patriots' stadium for a concert outside Boston.

Ferreira possessed a cool demeanor and instantly charmed the crowd of screaming Parrot Heads.

The recording studio was his next stop, and Ferreira now is pursuing his own American music career.

He has been staying in Rhode Island this winter, but now will be in the Florida Keys for the next few weeks, Klimek said.

The trio also has opened shows in Orlando and Delray Beach.

"We're mostly doing originals, but with some Bob Marley covers thrown in," Klimek said.

"And a few Buffett tunes here and there. But Ilo is not trying to be a Buffett clone or cover guy. There's influence there, but Ilo's standing on his own."

The Ilo Trio will play from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m. Saturday at Margaritaville, from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Sunday at the Fury Surf Shack and from 8 to 9:30 p.m. Monday at Margaritaville.

The Surf Shack is at 2129 Duval St. and Margaritaville is at 500 Duval St.

mbolen@keysnews.com