In the folklore of Orkney, the wind-and-rain-lashed, green-cliffed archipelago in the north of Scotland, “Hildaland” — meaning “hidden land” — is a paradisiacal island, invisible to most, that is the […]
Music
DEEP ROOTS
Paying His Dues and Playing the Blues
Fred Clayton, the ‘Blues Man of Cape Cod,’ has something to say
Before Fred Clayton had a guitar, he played “a stick with a string on it” — a “giant twig” curved and strung like an archer’s bow. He strummed along to […]
INSTRUMENTATION
Mike Block Plays It All on the Cello
His ‘bluegrass-adjacent’ trio is coming to Wellfleet
Mike Block’s first instrument was the violin. But at nine, he switched to cello. “I was a short kid,” he says. Since he was small, “it was incredible to create […]
FOLK
All That Matters Is Music
For Kim Moberg, writing and singing songs is strong medicine
Kim Moberg’s new album, All That Really Matters, scheduled for release this summer, surveys “the arc of human experience — loss, betrayal, melancholy,” she says. “Indigenous people have forever believed […]
TUNING UP
Breathing In and Playing Out
An Irish band sizzles with a signature sound
For Shane Hayes, playing traditional Irish music feels as natural as breathing. “You don’t think about it,” he says. “You just play.” Hayes was born and raised in Ennis, in […]
GRACE NOTES
First Chords and Blistered Fingers
Austin Smith patiently guides adults in the art of learning an instrument
In Wellfleet Elementary School’s basement music room, five adults sit strumming guitars, led by their teacher, Austin Smith. “Was anyone able to get a little practice in this week?” Smith […]
IMPROVISATIONS
The Key Is to Show Up
The Volunteers have found a regular home at Wellfleet’s Wicked Oyster
The air hums more than usual on Thursday evenings at the Wicked Oyster in Wellfleet. From 6 to 8 p.m., the Volunteers, a small jazz combo, occupies one low-lit corner. […]
VIRTUOSO
For Beppe Gambetta, Music Is Like Magic
The guitarist from Genoa whose life was changed by Doc Watson’s flatpicking
Beppe Gambetta grew up in the ancient port city of Genoa, Italy. His mother and father were “opera people,” fond of music, he says. Gambetta was more than fond of […]
MUSIC
Indie Playlist: New Sounds
Songs to soundtrack a new year, and a new you.
Every new year is an opportunity to renew ourselves: to plan new experiences, start a new exercise routine, or quit drinking (at least temporarily). It’s also a great time to […]
MUSIC
From Eastham to Hollywood and Home Again
Natalia Bonfini is a different musician after American Idol
Four years ago, Natalia Bonfini, who grew up in Eastham, found herself in Nashville, face to face with American Idol judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, and Luke Bryan. She would […]
MUSIC
Shannon Davis Sings Stories That Seem Real
A debut album weaves loneliness into love and betrayal and back again for more
When Shannon Davis was 16, she picked up her uncle’s jumbo acoustic Epiphone guitar. She had never known her uncle — he had died when she was a baby, but […]
MUSIC
Through Song, She Travels
On Susan Werner’s recent albums, she tries to understand the unfamiliar
Susan Werner grew up on a farm in the “pretty part” of Iowa, she says. That is, five miles southwest of Manchester, where there are hills and trees. She picked […]
SCHOOL OF ROCK
The Kids Are Better Than All Right
The young rockers of Watch Your Step will take the stage at Preservation Hall
Twelve-year-old Alison Long stands front and center onstage, a bass guitar in her arms, her face shadowed by long brown hair. Behind her, nine-year-old Trent Burritt holds his drumsticks above […]
CABARET
James Jackson Jr. Likes to Change People’s Minds
The Broadway star favors the unexpected in music and social activism
Singer-actor James Jackson Jr. doesn’t take well to other people’s preconceptions about what he should and shouldn’t be doing. He’s turned defying expectations into something of a trademark in his […]
REVELATIONS
For a New Album, Women Are the Muse
In Silver City, Amy Helm turns secrets into songs
For her fourth solo album, Silver City, Amy Helm had a muse: a young fan. “The first time I met her, she was in the deepest, darkest throes of addiction,” […]
