In May, Taj Mahal turned 80 — and everybody knows the blues only get better with age. One of the last of a generation from the later heyday of American […]
Music
GOSPEL TRUTH
The Blind Boys of Alabama Have a Vision
The celebrated gospel singers believe you can be what you want to be
Eric McKinnie, who is known as Ricky, has been a member of the Blind Boys of Alabama since 1989. But the renowned gospel group launched 50 years before that. Clarence […]
CHAMBER MUSIC
The eGALitarians Make Brass Better
A quintet challenges the jazz world’s lack of gender diversity
Kate Amrine is a professional trumpeter and co-leader of the eGALitarian Brass Quintet, which will be presenting a free concert at the Salt Pond Visitor Center in Eastham on Tuesday, […]
THE BEAT
Provincetown Jazz Festival Pairs Professionals With Newcomers
Festival founder Bart Weisman finds freedom in the swing of things
When Bart Weisman arrived in Provincetown in 1980 to pick up the woman who would become his wife and take her home to Washington, D.C., where they both grew up, […]
ANTI-IMPERIALISM
Mali Obomsawin Questions ‘Good Old American Values’
The activist, bassist, and songwriter creates music and community
The systems of the colonized Western world tend to put things in boxes. We categorize and separate music by genre. We separate politics from emotion from community from art. Mali […]
THE KEY
Chamber Music for the Heart, Soul, and Spirit
The Verona and Ariel quartets believe in egoless collaboration
Abigail Rojansky, violist of the Verona String Quartet, remembers having an out-of-body experience while rehearsing for the quartet’s upcoming performance in Wellfleet. “I forgot that I existed,” she says. “It […]
ON TOUR
Graham Nash Brings Songs Old and New to Payomet
The 80-year-old singer says he’s still curious
Graham Nash is 80 years old now, and he’s still on tour. The singer-songwriter of Crosby, Stills & Nash fame has a new live album (and, because one art form […]
MUSIC
Dar Williams Comes to Our ‘Little Town’
Singing for the return of a diverse America
In the little town his family has called home for generations, a man holds onto the old ways — including xenophobia. But the fairy-godfather-esque mayor begins to welcome outsiders, and […]
STRING THEORY
Roseminna Watson Seeks ‘Weightlessness’ With Her Violin
In her aunt’s Truro studio, she practices the art of ease
On a dirt road in Truro, in a small, weathered house, the atmosphere spins with creative energy, says violinist Roseminna Watson. The house is her aunt Cammie Watson’s studio. Her […]
THE RUB
A Symphony of Crickets combines poetry and music
Charles Coe’s ‘musical autobiography’ comes alive in a multimedia show
Charles Coe’s poem “Symphony of Crickets” doesn’t begin in springtime, or dusk, or even between two blades of grass. For the Toronto- and Cambridge-based poet and academic, the symphony began […]
Coming to a Venue Near You
Independent staff and contributors preview some upcoming performances
Brett Dennen at the Beachcomber, Wellfleet Instant attraction to a new artist is rare, so I could barely contain my excitement after listening to Brett Dennen’s “Wild Child” for the […]
PERFORMANCE
Quiet Myths Animate Hiroya Tsukamoto’s Songs
The guitarist sometimes stops mid-song to tell the story behind it
The guitarist Hiroya Tsukamoto tells a story. About four years ago, in Hamden, Conn., he made a friend, a professor at Quinnipiac University. “He took me to this mountain,” says […]
LONGING
A Journey Back to Portugal With Sonia Bettencourt
The award-winning fadista channels heartbreak, joy, and her home country in song
PROVINCETOWN — At the start of each performance, Sonia Bettencourt, dressed to the nines, takes center stage with a warm smile. But as soon as she opens her mouth, she […]
CLASSIC ALT
Bob Mould Brings His Howl to Town Hall
Raging from punk to alt-rock to club
The term legend can be bandied about a little too casually in the music world, but let’s just say it: Bob Mould, the legendary punk singer and guitarist, is coming […]
BUSKERS
Music in the Air
New acts and old tunes on Commercial Street
PROVINCETOWN — A walk down Commercial Street is a bit like traversing the paths of Coachella these days. Fashionable, semi-clad young people wander down the middle of the street in […]
