We contend that it’s the geography that attracts the geniuses we get to go see play music every weekend all over Cape Cod.
Sure, some musicians want to be famous. A few have what appears to be a legitimate chance to make it big from little old Cape Cod.
But as Kami Lyle told us years ago, “I don’t think that people think, ‘I’m going to go to Cape Cod and make it big.”
Many, if not most, it seems, enjoy the lifestyle of playing on the Cape. Perhaps it is better than going through the hassle of chasing an elusive lottery ticket. Maybe some have realized that living on Cape Cod is a winning ticket.
Whatever it is that nurtures or brings musicians here, we feel lucky to get to listen.
There are, in fact, different ways to be rich and this magical peninsula feeds the soul. If the soul happens to be musically brilliant, the shows are too.
Here are ten music videos in which we either put Cape Cod music with our videos of local Cape Cod scenes or shot a live show. Let us know if you liked one of these instead:
Enjoy, and thank a musician.
- Cape Cod Summer in 4 Minutes, Music By Crooked Coast – We shot video across the Cape all summer long. Crooked Coast has a great song called, “Summer.” This is one of a handful of videos we edited together this year while using music from local musicians.
- Wellfleet Oysterfest, “Just Too Good To Be True” – We have seen The Rip It Ups, led by Jodi Birchall, play this song in a loving energetic way many times in many places, but none better than at the Wellfleet Oysterfest, which we again turned into a video we edited together.
- Four Ponds Conservation Area, Music By Bert Jackson – Another video we edited together from one of the most spectacular autumn walks we have been on, with the perfect music by Bert Jackson
- Crooked Coast, May 5 Metamorphosis, “People Say” – The scheduled outside block party for Cinco De Mayo had to move inside to The Landfall because of inclement weather and so it took a while for May 5 to become Cinco De Mayo. But it happened, thanks to Crooked Coast. Here they are doing that thing they do, getting the crowd to sing along to their original songs … and bounce with joy.
- The Ticks, “It’s A Wonderful Life” – An Adaptation – The greatest Christmas tradition, perhaps in the world, is when the ever-entertaining band, The Ticks, show up at the Christmas Cavalcade For the Homeless and put on one of their epic 20-minute long rock operas. This year’s was based on the classic movie. We edited it down to 6 minutes.
- A Cavalcade Of Cape Cod Musicians – Speaking of the Cavalcade, it raises money for a very worthy and necessary cause on Cape Cod, and it features some of the best musicians on the peninsula singing Christmas songs. Here is a mashup.
- Patstock, A Celebration of PJ O’Connell – P.J. O’Connell, friends and collaborators with members of NRBQ, the Incredible Casuals and others, passed away this year and Cape musicians put on a concert for the ages of them playing his songs in his memory.
- Sarah Burrill – “Don’t Stop Believing”: We are not a fan of cover songs and this Journey classic is maybe the ultimate cover song short of “Freebird” and yet… charismatic Sarah Burrill, who we had never seen before was a revelation. She was so good. And besides, it was Carnival night and no one seemed ready to stop believing.
- Woods Hole Hot Five – “On The Sunny Side Of The Street” – Playing on the back of a truck in the village of Woods Hole, this one-time band imported from Boston helped the Woods Hole Community Association celebrate its centennial.
- The Incredible Casuals – “Summertime,” “Another F***ing Song About The Beach” Etc., Mashup From Patstock – We certainly saw a lot of musicians having a lot of fun this year, but there was none happier than Rikki Bates playing drums again at The Beachcomber with the Incredible Casuals. She is our favorite drummer and it certainly was great to see her again – especially with this band.
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– If you like Cape Cod music, here is a 6,000-word story that Cape Cod Wave did on the Cape Cod original music scene. We interviewed 20 musicians, four club owners, and two radio deejays – Cape Cod Music And The Joy Of Being Originally Alive
And here is a link to our growing collection of local music stories, and more than 100 music videos of local bands playing original music – MUSIC
