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.

The Island art community will witness a double debut this weekend — the opening of Lanny McDowell’s solo painting exhibition and the first solo art exhibition held at the Tashmoo Spring building.

The building, known as the Tisbury Waterworks, has undergone extensive renovations in the past few years. The town has begun renting it out as a venue for weddings, art exhibitions and a youth theater camp. Once used to house water pumps, it now has high ceilings, brick walls and tall windows.

When Charles (Cee Jay) Jones opened the door to his Oak Bluffs living room last week, he held out his arms for a hug and greeted the visitors with

Want cupcakes? Well, you won’t find any at Johnny Cupcakes, the new store that opened last Saturday on Circuit avenue in Oak Bluffs.

The store may smell like frosting, and the décor may include a giant whisk and a stack of cupcake tins, but the pastry display cases aren’t refrigerated because they contain non-perishable items: limited edition T-shirts.

“We trick a lot of hungry people,” said Johnny Earle, founder and CEO of Johnny Cupcakes.