When Lisa Fischer was growing up in Brooklyn, she was “like a sponge,” she says, “soaking up whatever syrup was around.” The syrup was music. Her grandparents listened to jazz […]
Music
REWILDING
Seth Glier Hears ‘a Symphony of Little Things’
His album Everything is in praise of wandering the wild
Music first came into Seth Glier’s life in second grade, he says, when he “got really interested in singing the national anthem before my sporting events.” He was 12 when […]
TURNING ON A DIME
Wild, Untamed, and Hard to Describe
The Invincible (formerly Incredible) Casuals, reborn, are writing songs and performing again
After a three-decade run, the Incredible Casuals, a Cape Cod rock band described by Rolling Stone as “the Beach Boys meets the Who,” disbanded in 2013. The band had performed […]
HER STORY
Clara Schumann’s Romances
A classical concert of ‘mavericks’ brings a hidden master to light
The obituary of Clara Schumann, who died on May 20, 1896 at age 76, was published on June 1 of that year in The Musical Times and Singing-Class Circular. The […]
MARINE BARNYARD CHORUS
Annie Lewandowski Hears Jazz in Whale Songs
With help from cetaceans, a composer and her students learn to improvise
On their last day in Provincetown earlier this month, a group of Cornell University students piled into a van and drove to Herring Cove Beach at dusk. Though their artistic […]
MUSIC FOR LIVING
When Home Is Where the Heart Is
Cara Brindisi, a singer-songwriter and music therapist, finds a place of her own
Two years ago, Cara Brindisi went into her blind audition for Season 22 of The Voice with a plan: to join Blake Shelton’s team if the country star turned his […]
IN TUNE
Music of the People, for the People
Hildaland waltzes into the hidden corners of quietude and freedom
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 […]
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 […]
