Music
Before the rollicking promenade of floats and the bursting of fireworks across Edgartown Harbor, Vineyard Haven will be ringing in the Fourth in a gentler fashion.
At 2 p.m. tomorrow, folks up and down Main Street will ring hand bells, cowbells, tea bells, sleigh bells or whatever bell is handy to celebrate Independence Day. The gesture represents an attempt to resurrect a tradition begun in accordance with the U.S. Senate Concurrent Resolution 25 passed by Congress in June 1963.
Great music accompanies great pizza when singer/songwriter Scott Kirby comes to the Vineyard to play at Flatbread Pizza on July 5 and 6, both shows beginning at 9 p.m.
Offstage, while having dinner at Smoke ‘n Bones in Oak Bluffs, singer/songwriter Ryan Montbleau is quiet and unassuming, just another approachable friendly guy eating ribs.
But onstage at the Pit Stop, later that same evening, Mr. Montbleau transforms into something much larger, captivating the audience with his spirited singing and playing.
Whether you’ve just always wanted to hear your own singing voice played back to you, or are planning on becoming the next breakout musician, there’s a place on the Vineyard for musicians to record their art. Studio 57 at the Alexandra Gagnon Teen Center at the YMCA is a state-of-the-art recording facility with professional engineers, and they are waiting for you.
Studio time is free for teens ages 13 through 18, and available for rental by the entire community.
Musicians Wanted
The Vineyard Haven Town Band is looking for musicians, especially percussionists, to join their group. All ages from junior high and older are eligible. The criteria for membership are an ability to read music and a love of playing it. The band rehearses on Monday nights and performs on Sunday nights. There are also three special concerts on July 4, August 15 and August 17.
For more information, contact the band director at [email protected].
When Ben Taylor was visiting friends in Boulder Colo., he spent a lot of time in the bathroom. He was trying to write a song and needed to find some space to think.
“It was just so peaceful in there,” he said.
The song he wrote during that visit is called Worlds Are Made of Paper, a folk song characterized by a melodious harmony, which appears on his new CD, Listening, to be released on August 14.
Listening is Mr. Taylor’s first album in four years.